Posts by Claudine Zap

Claudine Zap is a writer living in San Francisco, who blogs for DameNation.blogspot.com.

Sex Sales
Posted by Claudine Zap, Huffington Post on May 1, 2008 at 4:48 PM.

I am a proud third-generation Bloomingdale's customer and if I could move in or have my house re-decorated to match the black and white flooring, I would.

But even I have been keeping my distance from the department stores with the credit crisis (mine). Unless, of course, there's a sale. And I've noticed that not all sales are created equal.

While snapping up super-marked down cashmere sweaters at the pre-Christmas sale at Bloomie's earlier this season, my gal pal and I picked up on the sales gap right away: the men's sweaters were cheaper to begin with, and marked off even more. (That worked out well for my husband, not so much for me. I left the still quite expensive cashmere for myself on the rack. He got two.)

Another friend who was helping her BF shop noticed a similar patter at Macy's: menswear markdowns so low the silk and cashmere pullovers were practically cheaper than the lattes they picked up at Starbucks to fuel the spree. The women's department doesn't even have price tags that go down that low. Trust me, I've looked.

I have spent a large portion of my life finding good deals and become a seasoned shopper. It's a skill. My husband can design houses. I know how to shop. So why does he get all the benefits without any of the work?

OK, sure, I know I can find a $4 sweater at the bargain bin at Mervyn's, or drive to the middle of the desert to paw through off-season, deeply discounted threads from last year's "it" designer, or buy in bulk at H & M. But Macy's?

Maybe I don't have the right perspective. After all, in my mother's day, she wasn't allowed to wear pants -- and this was in high school. Maybe I should just feel lucky to get to choose whatever I want to wear, no matter the price. But is that what my sisters of the last generation fought for? Equality with a higher price tag? I know that feminism had a cost, I just didn't realize I'd be paying for it every time I shopped. Imagine pricing by sex for other necessities: What's next: men's and women's gas prices? His and her bar tabs?

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Extinguishing the Myth of Bra Burning
Posted by Claudine Zap, Huffington Post on April 2, 2008 at 6:13 AM.

In the wake of Women's History Month (yes, it was all March long, didn't you notice?) much of women's history certainly could be dusted off (Seneca Falls, anyone?) and re-told, some pieces are best left where they belong -- in the dustbin. Or perhaps I should say, the trash can. Take bra burning. It's a term that's used rather liberally by the right to talk about feminists. It conjures up women running into the ran into the streets and casting off the yolk of male oppression. It's an image that is at once rebellious and silly. It's not flag burning. Or draft-card burning. It's bras.

Except for this one thing. Women never burned their bras. To understand how this happened, we need to go back to 1968, Atlantic City. To the Miss America Pageant.

Women this year are mad, and I mean they are really mad. This is back when the women's movement is called women's liberation and women are not being taken seriously. This is before Ms. magazine. And, this is way, way before Victoria's Secret. Women's underthings used to be ridiculously uncomfortable. In fact, the concept of comfort is a pretty new idea. So when feminism came along and suggested going au natural over being in pain to achieve the perfect hourglass figure, it was a pretty strong argument. And what better place to state your distaste for sexist undergarments than the Miss. America. Beauty. Pageant.

This protest happens right after the 1968 Democratic Convention. The images of the absolute chaos in Chicago during that time was witnessed on television and shown over and over in classroom documentaries and is basically seared into our understanding of that time.

So it wasn't completely surprising that the actual draft card burnings and supposed bra burnings merged into one big memory of the '60s.

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