photo courtesy of Emily Hill
Most American women have more pants in their closets than skirts. So why are there no skirts or dresses in men’s closets? A silly question, you say? But think about it. How hard would it be to design dresses to suit the dimensions and lifestyles of men? The Scots used to wear kilts after all. They sometimes still do.
So why isn’t there any interest among men to adapt this feminine style to their needs?
Feminism
Grade 8, Central Grade School, Sedro-Woolley, WA
When I was growing up, my classmates and I wore dresses or skirts to school every day. We weren’t allowed to wear pants. There must have been a sub-conscious connection in our minds between the power men held in our society and the pants they wore. We skirt-wearers would get married. We’d become teachers, nurses, secretaries or stewardesses. Before “Women’s Lib,” we didn’t expect to become lawyers, doctors or CEOs. And certainly not president.
Maybe that’s why Hillary Clinton wears pantsuits.
Pants do have the practical benefit of keeping one’s legs warm in winter. But that’s not why women started wearing them. It was a question of equality, I think, of symbolically identifying ourselves with the group that possessed America’s wealth and power: men. By the same reasoning, men have no incentive to adopt the clothing of a less-privileged group.
No, the majority of men are not about to start wearing dresses. Not in the United States anyway.
Mulan
The Chinese tend to prefer sons over daughters. Fortunately, though, my Chinese husband never complained about us having three daughters and no sons. He assumed that our daughters would grow up to be as brave and strong as any man. They’d be like Mulan, the Chinese woman warrior who fought beside her comrades for twelve long years, never once disclosing the fact that under the clothes of a man beat the heart of a woman.
The legend of Hua Mulan is an old one, possibly dating back to the Northern Wei dynasty (386-534). (See a comparison of the Wei version of Mulan with the Disney version.) My husband told me about the legend years before Disney thought of making Mulan into a movie. Mulan was an excellent fighter, a heroine. Still, she had to dress like a man if she was to have any chance of proving herself.
My husband was right, our daughters did grow up to be brave and strong. And the careers they chose—actuary, lawyer and engineer—were nothing like those open to women in the past … in those “good ol’ days” before women wore pants.
In my novel, Tiger Tail Soup, I write about a Chinese woman whose father, disappointed that he didn’t have a son, insisted that she dress like a boy. He gave her adventure stories to read and toy soldiers to play with. When she started school, she finally began to dress like a girl. But she never forgot her early dreams of heroism on the battlefield.
When the Japanese invaded China, she was a young mother, with responsibilities to her children, mother and mother-in-law. Fighting for her country, she found, would not be as easy as exchanging her dress for a pair of pants.
Next post: “The Magic of Mothers’ Milk”
I think you are right, trousers are seen as to be equal among men, what I call a “flag” – humans need flags to proclaim and justify what they need or want. Actually, a skirt, trousers or any other item of clothing are simply clothing, it is you the individual that makes who you are. As a man I have never had the desire for power, high flying careers etc which many in society seem to need but as long as I have the power of thought I have always considered man and woman may be different by nature but within society each are quite capable of doing anything and forget societies obsession by both genders of gender labeling. I wear skirts and clothing deemed by society as womens wear but I’m still a man and have done since 2011 publicly where ever practical and to me it makes me no less a man as it does the modern women who many these days dress very similar to men – they are still women. Due to freedom of choice in many aspects of life that women pushed and rightly acquired under Feminism they are not constrained to a code of expectation from society and react quite strongly to anyone who queries it. Many still say women are still suppressed, but lets stay within the remit of your blog, clothing for women and or men. Why should it be any different for men who feel they should have freedom of choice and not still be tied to society expectations? I have a web site that states why I do, the build up to why in 2011 I went public and a link to occasional blogs about certain aspects of my life.
Just like some women who do not like some men trying to dictate what a woman should do or wear, applies equally to men like me. Those that do, in my opinion, are no different to what women wrongly endured no so many years ago!
Jeremy, I really enjoyed visiting your blog. You obviously have thought about this topic much more seriously than I have. My main reason for bringing it up was that I have a character in my forthcoming novel who was dressed as a boy when she was a child, and that caused my to think about our expectations regarding dress. I would encourage anyone who would like to explore the subject further, to visit your site.
Nicki, many thanks for your comment and recommendation. Although I agree when you say in your blog not many men will start wearing skirts in the US, I say the western world. Human intelligence works on denial but our societies’ intelligence only goes as far as what one wants or needs but comment on those who do something similar. I’m afraid human attitudes will never change, history is proof, it just has changing disguises.
My web site purpose is simply to highlight human intelligence on the subject and my blogs are to hopefully help those that judge a book by it’s cover that inside most books, people are “quite normal”. But what is normal as I say on my site!
All the best with your forthcoming novel.
Thank you, Jeremy. And all the best to you.
I think it is more to the word “skirt” than the actual shape of the skirt.
I mean, in Indonesia, many men wear sarong all the time. Isn’t it in some way, a long skirt?
I will not, however, bring up this argument to our local men. I am not sure if they are insecure about their sexuality or it is a cultural thing (masculinity vs femininity), but they will rather die than admit that a sarong is a skirt.
😀
A sarong is perfect for the tropical climate of Indonesia. I’m not surprised, though, that Indonesian men don’t want to call it a skirt. Thanks, Hari, for another view.
Iggy Pop sums it up: http://www.canadianwomen.org/sites/canadianwomen.org/files/image%20-%20blog%20-%20Iggy.jpg
Hannah, that’s hilarious. If men did start wearing skirts, we’d have to get used to a whole different look.
My early years of teaching demanded skirts and dressses and high heels (or at least feminine shoes). Both were not fun on cold days, supervising recess or leading our own PE classes. Loved the advent of pant suits! Now it seems so archaic!
Now that skirts are back in style, I see a woman in a short, short skirt on a freezing day and shiver. Skirts are only required now by fashion.
Fourth from the left, right? Like that crinoline petticoat! My favorite dress as a budding teenager was a gray dress with a white sailor collar and a bright red tie. It was practically a second skin, I loved it so. Memories . . .
Right. I’m in the front row, fourth from the left. Mom made my skirts from four yards of fabric. Then I wore a couple of stiff slips underneath to make the skirt stand out. At least we wore practical shoes and socks.
I find this topic rather interesting and thought-provoking. I come from an all girl family as well and I once had one of my friends say to me ‘Your father raised you as boys.’ When she made that statement, I was rather confused. I pointed out to her that I am rather ‘girly girly’ and my sister is as well. I wear skirts from time to time, makeup, have long hair, etc. But she quickly pointed out that our way of thinking is different, we go after what we want, and we have a independent drive. And when I think of it, it is actually true. My father believed that we could do anything and overcome any barrier and he still preaches it to young interns at the company he manages today.
I still see boys favored in Taiwan but it seems that most parents today treat their children, no matter what their gender, as equals. My mother-in-law actually told me that she hopes we have a girl because they are cuter and can’t wait to have a ‘mixed’ grandchild.
It’s interesting that your friend thought you and your sister had been raised as boys because you go after what you want and have an independent drive. I suppose there have always been girls all over the world with such an upbringing. I hope it’s becoming more common as the years go by, even as we continue to wear skirts.
Your mother-in-law sounds sweet.
Hi Nicki, the concept of men wearing skirts is interesting. Practically speaking, pants are more comfortable and modest, that could also be a factor in their popularity for both sexes.
Hi Maureen. Thanks for your comment. I agree that pants are generally more comfortable in our climate here in the Seattle area. But when the weather warms up, skirts are better. I never wore pants when we lived in the Philippines. They were too hot.