Skirt-wearing men in Turkish protest against murder of woman

[pleated]

Following the murder of a woman who resisted rape there has been a protest by skirt-wearing men-
http://www.thejournal.ie/turkish-men-mi ... 8-Feb2015/
'GROUPS OF TURKISH men have donned miniskirts after the death of a young woman following an alleged attempted rape.
Ozgecan Aslan (20) was reported to have been killed after resisting attempts to rape her.'

[skirtyscot]

The trouble with protests such as this, from our POV, is that the men wear skirts because they are women's clothing. We want skirts to be men's clothing.

That said, each time people see men in skirts, the more the sight gets normalised, so it's not all bad.

[Couya]

It seems to be a growing movement.
There were similar protests for similar reasons on the part of schoolboys in France and men in India last year.

Martin

[crfriend]

This found its way into the US media as well: an MSNBC story.

[dillon]

I concur with Alastair, but the fact that those guys were rockin' their skirted looks doesn't hurt us any.

[Caultron]

The interesting thing about this Turkish phenomenon is that men are dressing like women as a statement that women deserve equal treatment and protection to men. It's unisex meaning not only equality in dress, but everything.

It's also quite a statement against the bizarre idea that miniskirts force men to rape the wearers.

I don't imagine this trend will continue on very long but it sure would be cool if it did.

[Sinned]

I see that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is toeing the Neanderthal line and mocking the demonstrators. To quote:

"Unfortunately, they are wearing skirts and think that they manage to hide themselves," said Erdogan. "Be honest, be honest. They are terrorists and using every means possible."

Hmmm, just don't see it myself, how you can compare a peaceful demonstration with violent protest? Not posting a link - just goggle it.

[Caultron]

So, for men, a skirt is a form of disguise?

Funny, I tend to observe the opposite.

Or does Mr. President here just think no one would suspect a guy in a skirt of being a terrorist? Because it seems to draw extra security in airports for me.

[dillon]

Aye, Dennis. Erdogan is closer to a terrorist himself in his pandering to the Islamists. Turkey is begging for a coup. But I am a solid advocate for secular government everywhere.

As for the statement of men wearing miniskirts, it could be argued that the gesture was as much derogatory as it was supportive. It seemed to make skirts a symbol of weakness and helplessness. The wearing of skirts, heels, etc. is a well intentioned stunt to get attention, but it also has a possible negative side in proliferating the association of clothing with the physical vulnerability of women to the strength of men. For us, that isn't helpful, and it may not be helpful to women as victims of sexual predation, if it propagates an image of "the doll" and implies that women, like fashion, are silly and indulgent.

[skirtingtoday]

Saw this from a Polish website (via Facebook) about a supporter of the Turkish Protest.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... =1&theater

[Couya]

While I fully agree that rape and harrassment should be more severely punished, I also feel that these skirted men will draw more mockery than sympathy for the cause they are defending. Many men will be quite happy to respond to the words (from memory) "If a skirt is an invitation to rape, then rape me!" It needs a certain degree of intelligence to understand the irony.

Martin