Play "Pockets" by Brittany Law
“I Want a Wife” by Judy Brady opened our eyes to the unjust expectations of a wife. In families, women are demanded of so many things, but they are deprived of many resources required to fulfill these demands. A large example of this is women’s clothing lacking legitimate pockets.
Typically, you will see more women with purses than men. Women need to carry phones, keys, etc. just like any man. Men’s clothing has large pockets suitable to hold these essentials, but women’s clothing does not. Growing up, I thought fake pockets were on my clothes because the clothing companies needed to save cloth and money. However, it was not until recently that I found out that there is a deeper history and meaning to what is thought of as a “pocket-sized problem” (no pun intended).
Prior to the 17th century, both women and men carried bags with them. In that century, however, things started to take a turn. In an attempt to increase convenience, fashion industries began to incorporate large pockets in clothing, but they excluded this concept from women’s clothing. While men had pockets on the outside of their clothes, women had to tie a pocket under their clothes. These pockets had little use because women could not use them in public. Considering how prominent gender inequality was at the time and how the fashion industry then was extremely male-dominant, this was most likely a tactic to take away power from women and make them more dependent on men. At the time, men also overwhelmingly cared about women’s appearances - they viewed women as objects and wanted them all to have an unrealistic slender physique. Pockets were seen as bulky and did not abide by these expectations. Women were not given comfortable clothing options either. It was not until 1891 that The Rationalist Dress Society, whose mission was to fight for more comfortable and convenient clothing, was established and created change regarding this issue. Since then, pockets have been more frequently implemented in women’s clothing.
That being said, it is also important to acknowledge how far we have come regarding this gender divide in clothing. I am grateful to live in an era where I can put my phone and anything else I need in the pockets of my comfortable hoodies and/or pants. There is still room for improvement - I would love to enjoy homecoming night knowing that my belongings are safe with me in my dress pockets and not stashed away in a bag that is accessible to people I have never met. During tennis matches, it would be far more comfortable to have pockets large enough to hold tennis balls in the shorts or skirts - just like boys shorts - instead of putting the tennis balls between my leg and the inner layer of the shorts/skirt. It would be nice to be able to casually go to places where I only need to carry minimal stuff without having to carry a bag. Let’s appreciate how far we have come and continue to strive for more gender equality!
Pocket Memes since my Blogger is not letting me upload pictures :( enjoy
Yes! This is an issue that i’ve seen first hand as many of my girl friends have asked me to hold their phones as their dresses don’t have pockets. I like how you acknowledged the change that has occurred but I do still agree that there’s more that needs to be done.
ReplyDeleteI love this metaphor of how a lack of pockets reflect womens' deprivation of resources to fulfill what is expected of them. I've frequently worn clothes with no or fake pockets, believing it was just a "style," never thinking twice about the historical significance behind it. I also appreciate that we're achieving gender equality in the little ways - it all adds up to a large step in the right direction. Great post, Amritha!
ReplyDeleteI’m so glad you decided to post about women’s pockets, Amritha. I’ve always been annoyed that my jeans don’t have adequate pockets. I’m surprised that the history of women’s pockets goes so far back, but I’m also glad that progress has been made in regards to gender in the last years.
ReplyDeleteI honestly did not know that there was such an unnecessarily complex history to the introduction of pockets. I've heard many of my female friends complain about their lack of pockets, which almost bewilders me. However, I just wouldn't agree with you as much with your recognition of how much we've improved. I feel as if the existence of this problem is just downright stupid.
ReplyDeleteI love how you related the history of pockets (which has a much deeper history than I thought it ever did and also a great unintended pun attached) to the issue of gender inequality as well as the outrageous demands seen in the piece "I Want a Wife". The history of pockets in clothing just goes to show that inequality can be seen in the most inconspicuous of places, like the presence or absence of pockets in a piece of clothing, while also being a deeply rooted problem. I also liked how you both acknowledged current progress but pointed out flaws in modern society that are identical to those back in the 1600s; kind of disappointing that this is still even a problem today. We still have a long way to go, but it's a good thing we are on the right track!
ReplyDeleteI love how you talked about pockets! They’re something that every female deals with and struggles with except it isn’t often thought about in great detail why men have bigger pockets. Your take on this was really well thought out and i thought you did a really great job with explaining your thoughts as well!
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