uglingduckly:

“Why do women have to be modest in order to be respected” is a mighty valid and important point (bc women should be respected no matter what), but also: why do women have to remove their clothing in order to be seen or to take up space in the world?

It’s hilarious the way most feminists (and pop “feminist” celebrities) seem to go on and on about how great and ‘feminist’ it is for women (pop stars, for example) to be in ‘power’ positions while also being nearly naked. Apparently power is about being able to be both successful at your job AND only partially clothed (this only applies to women, though…weird, right? Men get to be powerful and wear pants at the same time). Something about “still being a woman” and “embracing your femininity” while being a boss at whatever you do for a living, because “being a woman” is about being half-naked and hyper-feminine. Or something. Anyway, the reason it’s hilarious is because these feminists seem not to have noticed the fact that they’re preaching to the choir. Most of the Western world is on board with the whole “women should only be allowed to be successful if they’re also sexually appealing” thing.  Women are encouraged to be naked, because unequal nakedness almost always expresses power relations*. Women who cater to male sexual fantasies are more likely to be allowed to take up space as successful or “powerful” career women, because at least they look sexy doing it and aren’t forgetting their true place in the world.

*”Cross-culturally, unequal nakedness almost always expresses power relations: In modern jails, male prisoners are stripped in front of clothed prison guards; in the antebellum South, young black male slaves were naked while serving the clothed white masters at table. To live in a culture in which women are routinely naked where men aren’t is to learn inequality in little ways all day long. So even if we agree that sexual imagery is in fact a language, it is clearly one that is already heavily edited to protect men’s sexual—and hence social—confidence while undermining that of women.” – Naomi Wolf: The Beauty Myth – How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women.