Topshop./Topman changing rooms now unisex

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.
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English_bloke
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Topshop./Topman changing rooms now unisex

Post by English_bloke »

This is worth some discussion! I love topman and topshop clothes and both fit me well! My wardrobe is mostly this! Question is... Why is this decision to make changing areas unisex to appease the trans shoppers. With half (or many) of the major fashion houses putting men in skirts/dresses on the catwalk why don't they say sod it.... Clothes are clothes! If you wanna wear a shirt that topman sells, try it on in topman... If you wanna buy a topshop dress... Try it on in topshop! It's that easy! I've got the same rant to make with the church of England this weekend saying boys can wear high heels, dresses and tiaras if they like.... Yes they can. But because it's fun, it's dressing up and playing around. It does not mean the boy wants a sex change as implied. This is our problem summed right up... The perception that to wear something of the opposite sex you wanna be or are transexual...

If you Google search you can read the comments on both items it's very telling!

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style ... 43771.html
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Daryl
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Re: Topshop./Topman changing rooms now unisex

Post by Daryl »

English_bloke wrote:This is worth some discussion! I love topman and topshop clothes and both fit me well! My wardrobe is mostly this! Question is... Why is this decision to make changing areas unisex to appease the trans shoppers. With half (or many) of the major fashion houses putting men in skirts/dresses on the catwalk why don't they say sod it.... Clothes are clothes! If you wanna wear a shirt that topman sells, try it on in topman... If you wanna buy a topshop dress... Try it on in topshop! It's that easy! I've got the same rant to make with the church of England this weekend saying boys can wear high heels, dresses and tiaras if they like.... Yes they can. But because it's fun, it's dressing up and playing around. It does not mean the boy wants a sex change as implied. This is our problem summed right up... The perception that to wear something of the opposite sex you wanna be or are transexual...

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style ... 43771.html
Well, trans gets all the press these days and the roots of that are rooted in a philosophical idea that is embedded in our culture: the idea that invisible immutable essences are somehow underneath or behind everything. Your logic is sound but we don't acquire our sense of what essences exist by logical means but rather by experience. Wearing things that so far only women wear presents the idea that an essential femininity is being expressed, because experience tells us that these things are so strongly correlated with women that they are markers of the essence of femininity.

Trans people themselves often refer to feeling like their own essences are the opposite of their physical sex, eg. male on the "outside" but female on the "inside".

Logic is not the way to combat this, unfortunately. The way to combat it is to reduce the strength of the perception that certain kinds of things are part of the female essence, and this is done by providing people with experiences that contradict that idea about those things. The Beatles did that for long hair. Guys in the 70s and 80s did it with the colour pink. Both of those can be sported by a man now without it suggesting that the man is doing more than making a choice, although they were considered quite radical in their times.

Complicating this is the fact that the prohibition on femininity in men is quite strong. This leads people to think that if a man goes against that prohibition then he must be being driven to do so by an even stronger force, a force like having a female essence -- a female "inside".

We have our work cut out for us, obviously!
Daryl...
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