celery
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This thread reminds me of a paper I wrote in high school concerning Women's Lib and the feminization of men.
One of the biggest evils that came from the women's movement was the gross sterotyping of men as part of their way to validate their own beliefs of mistreatment (don't worry, I'm gonna stick to the topic relating fashion). Of course, in order to portray themselves as victims of men, women had to define "the devil" so to speak.
Slowly (or should I say, "quickly") they created the image of the lazy slob who sits with a beer in one hand and the other on his crotch while watching sports and yelling at his wife to get back in the kitchen.
This concept, after being constantly pounded into the media eventually stuck with society in general. Men, who once cared about grooming and appearence somehow deceided that it was not "manly" due to this dumb male sterotype.
And it has only been enforced by the entertainment industry since then. Just look at the sitcoms of today.
Everybody Loves Raymond - Dumb husband who dresses like a schmoe and doesn't know how to cook, while being horrible at watching kids, but great at watching sports constantly makes dumb mistakes; and the smart and stylish wife has to show him the error of his ways.
King of Queens - Fat beer drinking, sport watching husband (who isn't too bright) and has horrible style makes bumbling mistakes, and the smart(er) and stylish wife has to show the error of his ways.
Two and a Half Men - Two brothers, one who wears shorts and a bowling shirt everyday, drinks a lot, watches TV, sleeps around with women, and generally shows his incompetence in life (but has money due to royalties), this one is shown as the hero of the show.
Versus the other brother who has earned his college degree, wears "boring adult clothes", is divorced and isn't boorish like his brother is often referred to as "gay" and is constantly shown as a failure with women and is usually the butt of most jokes on the show.
Frasier - Smart psychologist who has an affinity for the finer things in life and dresses quite well is constantly shown as slightly feminine while his own father is a dressed down guy who drinks crappy beer and watches sports all the time is seen as the "masculine" character.
Of course, that's just a sample of the sterotyped male that has been created over time. This is only enhanced with shows like Queer Eye for the Straight guy, which quite obviously tells it's audience "Ha ha look at these straight guys, they totally don't know how to dress themselves or do anything that involves more than watching sports. So we have to make them partially gay!"
How many beer commercials have you seen in which they claim that you shouldn't be ordering any of those "wussy, girly, chick, european beers" but instead you should be ordering this "ultra manly, piss water with barely any alcohol content" because you're supposed to be an American macho guy!
Dressing down in the workplace is men's way of fitting that sterotype and saying, "Hey, I'm a real macho man, and therefore, I don't know how to dress. Wanna fight?" Men have basically been afraid that showing any care for their appearence will make them seem gay to other men.
However, luckily (and sadly) we have celebrities, douchebags and amkjacks in general that are helping to change that. I know it's horrible to say, but because of the amjacks and such, men have started paying more attention to themselves . . . to get chicks in bars and clubs. Of course, we haven't really solved our problems with that, but the more men go shopping the closer we get to breaking the sterotype of "manly man hate clothes!" followed by pounding your fists on your chest.
I am one of 3 males at my workplace. The others dress like pure crap and I usually wear a suit and tie, while the women wear damn near anything they want (as long as it's not jeans), even though we're supposed to be "business formal."
One of the biggest evils that came from the women's movement was the gross sterotyping of men as part of their way to validate their own beliefs of mistreatment (don't worry, I'm gonna stick to the topic relating fashion). Of course, in order to portray themselves as victims of men, women had to define "the devil" so to speak.
Slowly (or should I say, "quickly") they created the image of the lazy slob who sits with a beer in one hand and the other on his crotch while watching sports and yelling at his wife to get back in the kitchen.
This concept, after being constantly pounded into the media eventually stuck with society in general. Men, who once cared about grooming and appearence somehow deceided that it was not "manly" due to this dumb male sterotype.
And it has only been enforced by the entertainment industry since then. Just look at the sitcoms of today.
Everybody Loves Raymond - Dumb husband who dresses like a schmoe and doesn't know how to cook, while being horrible at watching kids, but great at watching sports constantly makes dumb mistakes; and the smart and stylish wife has to show him the error of his ways.
King of Queens - Fat beer drinking, sport watching husband (who isn't too bright) and has horrible style makes bumbling mistakes, and the smart(er) and stylish wife has to show the error of his ways.
Two and a Half Men - Two brothers, one who wears shorts and a bowling shirt everyday, drinks a lot, watches TV, sleeps around with women, and generally shows his incompetence in life (but has money due to royalties), this one is shown as the hero of the show.
Versus the other brother who has earned his college degree, wears "boring adult clothes", is divorced and isn't boorish like his brother is often referred to as "gay" and is constantly shown as a failure with women and is usually the butt of most jokes on the show.
Frasier - Smart psychologist who has an affinity for the finer things in life and dresses quite well is constantly shown as slightly feminine while his own father is a dressed down guy who drinks crappy beer and watches sports all the time is seen as the "masculine" character.
Of course, that's just a sample of the sterotyped male that has been created over time. This is only enhanced with shows like Queer Eye for the Straight guy, which quite obviously tells it's audience "Ha ha look at these straight guys, they totally don't know how to dress themselves or do anything that involves more than watching sports. So we have to make them partially gay!"
How many beer commercials have you seen in which they claim that you shouldn't be ordering any of those "wussy, girly, chick, european beers" but instead you should be ordering this "ultra manly, piss water with barely any alcohol content" because you're supposed to be an American macho guy!
Dressing down in the workplace is men's way of fitting that sterotype and saying, "Hey, I'm a real macho man, and therefore, I don't know how to dress. Wanna fight?" Men have basically been afraid that showing any care for their appearence will make them seem gay to other men.
However, luckily (and sadly) we have celebrities, douchebags and amkjacks in general that are helping to change that. I know it's horrible to say, but because of the amjacks and such, men have started paying more attention to themselves . . . to get chicks in bars and clubs. Of course, we haven't really solved our problems with that, but the more men go shopping the closer we get to breaking the sterotype of "manly man hate clothes!" followed by pounding your fists on your chest.
I am one of 3 males at my workplace. The others dress like pure crap and I usually wear a suit and tie, while the women wear damn near anything they want (as long as it's not jeans), even though we're supposed to be "business formal."