Full Fashion Freedom vs. the impression on others

Discussion of fashion elements and looks that are traditionally considered somewhat "femme" but are presented in a masculine context. This is NOT about transvestism or crossdressing.
ChristopherJ
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Post by ChristopherJ »

My thrust is that we should strive to make the look of a "bloke in a skirt" believable -- he should look the part of brother, father, husband, lover, and son. The fact that he's wearing a skirt should not necessarily enter into the argument. Yes, I know that notion may verge on fantasy (if not be right into it), but that's the way it ought to work.
By the sound of that, it seems like you are trying to jump to the 'end point' (total acceptance of MIS) in one leap from where we are at now. And perhaps other posters here are thinking along the same lines.

I believe that is both unrealistic - and even unhealthy. It's unrealistic because social changes like this simply don't happen on a single jump. Think of equality for women - this began in the UK over 100 years ago with a campaign of 'votes for women'. The 'movement' then went quiet for a long while as women gained more freedom in the workplace as a result of the two world wars. By the 1960's women were demanding more equal rights - equal pay, equal status, equal opportunities etc. People who wanted to promote equality for women did so in various ways - by getting seats in parliament, by staging protests, by burning bras, by writing articles etc. And look where we are now - 100 years after women started protesting for votes and 50 years after the demos of the 60's - we can say that women have more equality than they had before the 'movement' began - but they still earn less and have less opportunities than men do - so the women's 'movement' has still not achieved its goal.

I see the MIS 'movement' as being like that. It will take a long time for MIS to become accepted - and probably the people who try and promote MIS (us) will have to adopt various tactics and perhaps learn how to make temporary compromises etc. in order to move a little closer toward our goal.

I also believe that a single leap to full fashion freedom for men would be unhealthy. Fashions evolve and men need to evolve a range of styles that suit men. This takes time - because fashion is more than just slinging on clothes - it involved feedback from 'society' and subsequent modification of the styles etc. If we went to full fashion freedom in one leap we would miss out on this sort of evolutionary process.

I think that we will get to a state where men have full fashion freedom - but we will get there by 100 small steps - not in one great leap.

Sorry to be so wordy. It must have been something I ate! :shock:
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crfriend
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Post by crfriend »

ChristopherJ wrote:
My thrust is that we should strive to make the look of a "bloke in a skirt" believable -- he should look the part of brother, father, husband, lover, and son. The fact that he's wearing a skirt should not necessarily enter into the argument. Yes, I know that notion may verge on fantasy (if not be right into it), but that's the way it ought to work.
By the sound of that, it seems like you are trying to jump to the 'end point' (total acceptance of MIS) in one leap from where we are at now. And perhaps other posters here are thinking along the same lines.
Actually, no. I cannot now, in the present, realistically advocate for the "total acceptance of MIS" because that's quite a long way off, and I have full understanding of that. I was advocating for a good, and strong, first step -- that no matter how "odd" we may appear to the "man on the street" we are true to ourselves, we are true to our families, and we have the guts to stand up and be counted. And, yes, to be ridiculed from time to time because we have the cubes to be "different" from the average denim-clad clone.

It is not going to happen overnight -- hell, it probably won't happen in my lifetime, but we've got to start somewhere (don't we?)!
ChristopherJ wrote:Sorry to be so wordy. It must have been something I ate! :shock:
Thanks for that, actually. It's nice to read something that doesn't look like it's been diced into "sound bites". Everybody forgets that the English language is split into a multitude of forms, the two biggest ones of which (not counting assorted dialects) are written and spoken. It's good to read something in the former.
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Skirt Chaser
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Re: Full Fashion Freedom vs. the impression on others

Post by Skirt Chaser »

AMM wrote:But on the other hand, I do want to be accepted by my neighbors in the Real World(tm) even while skirting, or at least by almost as many as accept me now. This means I want to consider not only what I might enjoy wearing, and what people here might enjoy seeing me wearing, but also how what I wear affects how my neighbors and acquaintances will view me.
Reading this makes me think of all the people that hide a part of who they are for the sake of appearances. Some people don't tell their family they left their religion, somebody else might keep photos of their spouse off their desk so they don't have to deal at work with being in an interracial marriage. Every person will have a different line of what is hiding versus making things easier on themselves.

By no means do I think the goal of men here should be to be as out as possible at all times but I do think trying that on for size to learn what the reactions are can be freeing but, being honest, there are risks. At the same time there are people who can't hide what makes them stand out and they live with the impacts every day never having the opportunity to make a choice to blend in. Some of the most amazing people I know are the ones that flat-out say "If somebody has a problem with me, that is their problem."

At the same time I'm also for self-control and being a good judge of what is appropriate to the situation. A man can still be himself in a less dramatic outfit that doesn't distract from the purpose of the event if someone else is the star like a graduation or school play.

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