Someone said "let's not just talk about TRA's all the time." Can we finally talk about this? Or are we still too afraid of this, too?

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[–]Realwoman 30 insightful - 1 fun30 insightful - 0 fun31 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

You don't have have to ostracize women for wearing them, it's important to accept all people. But you can still criticize the hijab as oppressive, the same way you can criticize high heels as oppressive or sex work as oppressive. You can criticize the misogyny inherent in both Islam as a religion and the cultural practices of different societies.

[–]fuckupaddams 6 insightful - 2 fun6 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 2 fun -  (3 children)

I'm a feminine feminist and I don't think high heels are oppressive. I also wear makeup. And have done burlesque. That's where choice comes in (because no one's ever pressured me into that stuff (yes really), it's just how I be.) Pushing high heels and femininity in general on woman is oppressive though, of course.

I've been friends with women who wear the hijab. I won't pretend that Islam is a woman-friendly religion because I know it isn't. I don't know if any woman would naturally want to wear one if they weren't told to by their family and religion all their lives. If a woman generally feels more comfortable wearing one, I have no issue with it but I would question why she feels that way. If men have such a hard time with viewing women as sex objects, the response being to cover up the women avoids the root problem. It's like a temporary fix rather than a real solution, then again patriarchy is never concerned with fixing itself.

[–]Realwoman 21 insightful - 2 fun21 insightful - 1 fun22 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

Wow, didn't think I'd see choice feminism on here. Just because you choose something, doesn't mean it's not oppressive. I wear makeup, too, doesn't mean it's a feminist statement.

And high heels are very bad because they're really, really bad for your health, women are ruining their feet, legs and hips for the sake of looking good. Heels are actual oppression because of the health damage they do, I have no idea why so many women deny this. Makeup used today doesn't cause health problems but heels always have and always will. Same thing about tanning - it causes cancer but women are still doing it for some reason.

[–]Anna_Nym 9 insightful - 2 fun9 insightful - 1 fun10 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

"Choice feminism" is a problem because it denies class effects. Talking about one's own personal lived experience and relationship to choices isn't choice feminism. It's sharing life experiences. I think it is an important part of feminism to understand how women navigate that dance between the personal and the general.

I also do think it's important to understand the subjective experience of positive aspects of things that are bad for us. I used to wear high heels because I wanted to be taller. It was straightforward. I generally didn't wear stilettos because they hurt, but when I wore them, I did feel like a bad ass. Of course, the feeling of "bad ass"ness came from media images of the femme fatale. For my generation, the most powerful images of women that we saw were generally also sexy. I think my work as a feminist is to acknowledge that cultural layer and work to critique and change it. But it's also to advocate for shoe companies making better designed heels so that those who want the height boost suffer less to get it. And for what it's worth, platforms never hurt me to wear.

[–]Realwoman 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Platforms are still not good for you. I really wish society cared more about health.