REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE  
comments_imageCOMMENTS: 121

The Power of the Miniskirt

In the '60s, miniskirts were positive, powerful examples of female sexuality. Overexposed starlets like Paris and Britney have tarnished that image.
July 18, 2008  |  
 
 
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Molly Faulkner-Bond is a recent graduate of Harvard University. She's currently traveling abroad to find herself ... and maybe a sexy barista or two.
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I tried
Posted by: ArtemInox on Jul 18, 2008 2:45 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
to see if I could find what the author wanted to communicate that was of any significance. Overlooking the dead giveaway of hyphenated name, I read on.
I have nothing. What I did see was typical references to pop culture trash, used as an attempt to lend validity and structure to a thought process that makes me think of a ditzy girl with empty cartoon bubbles around her head, some of them filled with celebrity names and tabloid article titles.
The writing suggested that people take their cues on how to act and dress from pop culture, and that this is what compels the world to change. Is that true? Am I way out of touch for thinking that, generally speaking, anyone over 25, that has a sufficiently developed ego and thought process would perhaps make such choices based on personality, maybe personal taste.
The influence of pop culture would be minimal for someone that can think and act on their own. Maybe I'm way off, an idealist, or clueless. Perhaps it was true for previous generations.
So TV shows, movies and musicians change the world by setting trends and clothing styles? If that is indeed the case, then I need to get with the program. Like millions of others, I can just get my cues from these sources and cease thinking for myself. Then, I can just use pop culture examples to explain my behavior. You know, Madonna did it, why can't I? Makes sense to me.
Hehehe hey remember those stuffed shoulders so popular in the 80's? Jesus, how awful. Even as a child, I knew something was very wrong when I saw a woman with manly cotton shoulders. I know, it seemed like a good idea at the time, it was the thing to do.
It is so disturbing to realize how much of what we do and think now is based on medieval practices and attitudes. And even worse, to realize that as long as people have been able to build cities, farm, and everything else that has come along since then, the basic mind of the species has hardly evolved at all. It is almost better to be just as dumb and easily influenced as the rest of the herd. No one will listen to someone that isn't, the more sense you make, the more you will be persecuted, shouted down, and ignored.
However we got here, it was just plants, rocks, dirt, trees and water when we did. Don’t confuse technological advances with general intelligence of the species as a whole. What the species as a whole is still operating with for the most part is the mindset that allowed for moving a bit above the natural elements.
"Is there nothing left for it except a role as a twat-baring catastrophe for the young, hot and too rich" Part amusing, part disgusting that someone could think this way and be serious about it. Catastrophe.
I suppose it would make perfect sense for me to really think this way if my concerns in life were all about celebrities, what they do and how they do it, quoting movies and tv shows instead of bothering to make intelligent and original statements, having some half-witted understanding of what feminism is supposed to be about, and focused on trivial petty trends of the day. I wonder what it would be like to talk to me if I were like that. Maybe I would get breathless phone calls from my equally shallow friends, dying to tell me the latest “news” about any given celebrity. Then, we could talk about the significance and ramifications of a girl we don’t know not wearing any panties. Catastrophic.
"On the other hand, though, perhaps it will take a bit of determined, bold action on the part of non-Britney types to revive the mini out of its ignominy and back into respectable fashion culture."
Well goddamn feminists, what are you waiting for? The mini-skirt is the way to further the cause. Seriously. Says it right there. You can do it with what you wear, isn't that great? So easy and simple. Instead of changing hearts and minds by example, attitude and substance, just wear whatever is trendy.

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» RE: I tried Posted by: nochicagoboys
» Bwahaha! Posted by: Q30
» continuation of the above Posted by: Goizeder
» last one :) Posted by: Goizeder
» And you failed ! Posted by: maxpayne
» RE: And you failed ! Posted by: ArtemInox
» RE: And you failed ! Posted by: maxpayne
» RE: And you failed ! Posted by: ajajaja
» Good work, Max! Posted by: ArtemInox

Comments are closed-

Miniskirt: perfect sign of functioning modernity
Posted by: Bobsays on Jul 18, 2008 3:28 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
In order for the miniskirt to flourish, a few important pre-conditions must be in place: women must feel free, women must be able to be clean (you need clean underwear for it to work), they must be healthy, there must be reasonable safety on the streets, and most public places need to be clean. The more miniskirts, the higher stage of human evolution.

So, what does it say when the miniskirt disappears from some cities? And you see more Burkhas than minis?

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Keep your eyes on the road
Posted by: the man with a dog on Jul 18, 2008 3:35 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Mini skirts look good to the male but only if the legs exposed are of a superior quality and complement the mini.

I remember vividly (and to my cost) the original mini designed by Mary Quant, the first one I saw was so fantastic that I ran into the car in front which had pulled up sharply to have a second look at the young lady.

So my advice is in the headline and make sure you do not lose your no claims bonus as I did all those years ago.

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Alicia Silverstone, your table is ready.
Posted by: rancespergl on Jul 18, 2008 4:38 AM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Here's a dollar.

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» And another thing... Posted by: rancespergl

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A little sartorial revisionism with breakfast?
Posted by: hagwind on Jul 18, 2008 5:16 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The mini-skirt was about liberating female sexuality? Could have fooled me. I thought it was about pissing off the authorities (parents, school administrators, bosses, et al.) and showing how well your legs (and your priorities) conformed to current fashion. My legs didn't, so I wasn't tempted. I figured out other ways to piss off the authorities, like getting involved in the antiwar movement.

In their way mini-skirts were limiting as the high heels and tight skirts my mother and her friends wore whenever they left the house. Whether sitting in a chair or sprawling on the lawn, you had to pay close attention to what your skirt was doing. Seems to me that women's clothing tends to get more restrictive in times when women are getting uppity -- and no, a skirt doesn't have to be long and bulky to restrict one's movement.

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Another Perspective
Posted by: beautifulady2003 on Jul 18, 2008 5:23 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I am a Muslim. Of course, we have a different view of how women should dress, but I want to share a question that popped into my mind while reading this article. The writer asks, how do women dress sexy and still get respect? Well, my question is, why do women HAVE TO dress sexy? If you are going to the office, you are there to work, right? If you are walking down the street, do you really want strange men to look at your body and possibly make comments that embarrass you? Before I converted to Islam I used to live in that kind of world. I now take enormous comfort in covering my body in a more modest way, and in not displaying my sexuality to strangers or to the world at large. I don't feel oppressed; I feel liberated from the slavery of having to look "sexy" for people I don't even know. I know there are people who will disagree with me, but I just wanted to share my perspective.

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» RE: Another Perspective Posted by: ArtemInox
» RE: Another Perspective Posted by: Sunfell
» RE: Another Perspective Posted by: hagwind
» RE: Another Perspective Posted by: Crazy H
» RE: Another Perspective Posted by: ankhet
» RE: Another Perspective Posted by: ankhet
» RE: Another Perspective Posted by: beautifulady2003

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Sexual Freedom
Posted by: Iconoclast421 on Jul 18, 2008 5:30 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The problem with this article is that it is useless. By useless, I mean it does nothing to break our culture out of this horrible spell it is under. People just read it because it got them thinking about mini skirts. It only reinforces the power of the "black magic". Hey, if you want to understand what Real Black Magic is, just start with the understanding that there is a real palpable force that the global elites control, and you can feel that force when you think about things like miniskirts. In today's culture, if something is "HOT", it is probably black magic. These occult and arcane forces are very real, and when we think of something "hot" we are only beginning to sense that force at work. The survival of the species depends on everyone's ability to understand these forces and to claim conscious control over them.

Consider this: right now, somewhere in America there is a new Einstein just waiting to discover himself. But he likely never will, because instead of making a *gasp* hobby out of *gasp* studying physics, he is on myspace looking at all the cute girls and listening to Kate Perry sing "I kissed a girl... and I liked it."

"I liked iiiiit."

lol. I liked it? I liked it? What's next, goo goo gaa gaa?

The force that compels this potential Einstein to waste the essense of his life on such a hollow and meaningless pursuit... that force is nothing short of black magic. And it will destroy this country. This country will not survive if our children are under the control of these forces, to the point where it completely destroys all their curiosity about how the world (and the universe) works.

If you want to read something more useful, try this:

In the Preface to "Brave New World," (1932) Aldous Huxley wrote:

"As political and economic freedom diminishes, sexual freedom tends correspondingly to increase. And the dictator will do well to encourage that freedom...it will help to reconcile his subjects to the servitude which is their fate."

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» RE: Sexual Freedom Posted by: ArtemInox
» RE: Sexual Freedom Posted by: Bobsays
» keeping the economy going? Posted by: Iconoclast421
» RE: Sexual Freedom Posted by: bizeeb
» RE: Sexual Freedom Posted by: Iconoclast421

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Women are crazy martians...or is it capitalist society?
Posted by: coldham on Jul 18, 2008 6:48 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I have never understood women but I watch them all the time. My wife used to confuse me when she wore minis. I didn't know what cheeks of hers to kiss first.

First, I am baffled by women's reverse roles. They have always appeared to me to be the strongest, psychologically, physically, and intellectually. Yet, they act like dopes. More than that, Capitalism expects them to play the dumb role one day, the sophisticated role the next, and the slut on the third. Soemtimes, they manipulate our minds so that they play all the roles at the same time.

Their persona is manipulated from time to time. But, trying to understand them? That is insane. I think the riddle of their nature lies in our economic foundation and a demand for them to be our slaves; otherwise, they have no place. Could that be right.

I remember Fredrick Douglas was invited by the Women who had less rights than blacks. How could that be? He was their hero because he turned America on its heels. The civil war was fought for black rights. What war was fought for women's equality?

Women in America have to use mini-skirts and guile to compete with men. That is sick. America is sick. Who cares what a woman wears. Her person is the most important credit she has. Her sexuality, her siren nature, her cunning are just silly distractions to the person.

I don't know what I am talking about, so feel free to ignore me.

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That's why Arab nations are hostile to women in addition to working class people altogether.
Posted by: maxpayne on Jul 18, 2008 7:20 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
If you live in countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, etc ... and you're wearing a mini-skirt, your life's in danger and yes, the US/European taxpayer money goes towards keeping it that way.

Even in countries like India, women who wear mini-skirts are often frowned upon but then again where the weather is too hot and bugs are everywhere, not even tights would save them. Also, for a strange reason, women wearing saris is far more attractive than women wearing salwar kameez and/or miniskirts. Yes, my wife was surprised about my attraction for saris over skin-tight clothing.

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By the way, beware if you're going on a tour outside the country.
Posted by: maxpayne on Jul 18, 2008 7:28 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
In some countries, you can be sexually harassed at for wearing one.

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» Correction to above Posted by: maxpayne
» RE: Correction to above Posted by: bizeeb
» RE: Correction to above Posted by: ArtemInox
» RE: Correction to above Posted by: bizeeb
» RE: Correction to above Posted by: maxpayne
» RE: Correction to above Posted by: maxpayne
» RE: Correction to above Posted by: coldham
» RE: Correction to above Posted by: ArtemInox
» RE: Correction to above Posted by: bizeeb
» Thanks for the English lesson Posted by: zipper696

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Miniskirts are great but have nothing to do with the chronic stagnation of late capitalism.
Posted by: yellow on Jul 18, 2008 7:31 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
But then again, as a young child in the 1960s, it was rumored that mini-skirts positively affected stock market trends.

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Mini skirts "infantilize "women
Posted by: form5166 on Jul 18, 2008 7:35 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
making them look exposed, dependant and desperate. They are a dead giveaway that you are about to encounter a woman with "issues." Especially if she is over the age of 14. Most commonly your dealing with a narrisistic drama queen or some other unfortunate personality disordered train wreck. Runs accross cultural and class divides- these women exist on every level of society. The skirt acts like a calling card. Just sayin'.

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What HagWind Said!
Posted by: Gravitas on Jul 18, 2008 8:33 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Miniskirts were only enpowering to those whose legs happened to conform to society's beauty standards. If one did not, it was just another form of exclusion. And let's face it. No matter what shape a woman was in, after a certain age they are inappropriate for professional women. It was elitism rather than empowerment.

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Read Marcuse!
Posted by: redstarwraith on Jul 18, 2008 8:45 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Lord people. . .read Herbert Marcuse's One Dimensional Man. There are no "authentic forms of protest" that remain so for very long in late capitalist society. Rock and roll, alternative religions, trends (of protest), clothing, etc., etc. . .they all become commodities, absorbed into society as so-called "healthy alternatives to the norm." It is all an illusion.

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» RE: ead Marcuse! Posted by: boing007

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Corner Burka-Mart
Posted by: Jim V. on Jul 18, 2008 8:54 AM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I've seen women who had no business wearing a mini-skirt, if you're not a tanned 19 year old hard body type from Miami then forget it because you'll be just another fat chick with a piece of clothing made to fit 6 year old girls. That is why we (construction males) hoot and howler it is sexy when a yound women wears minis it accentuates a lot of parts. As for covering up for our sexually oppressed Muslim and Hindu friends if you like your women tarped with a bedsheet and find that attractive that's your perrogative but you're hypocrites at lunch time these same guys are the biggest groppers out there.

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Freedom to be sexual, freedom to take a career
Posted by: PaulK on Jul 18, 2008 9:27 AM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Women started two centuries ago from a subservient position. They had no choice over who they would marry, and they had no career choices other than housewife.

Sexual freedom is the freedom to flirt with whoever you choose, and the freedom to lure. Women love this freedom to escape a man with an ice-cold touch, a freedom that's unavailable in many countries.

Funny thing is, allure has turned into an expensive arms race. Some rich 50 year old like Madonna goes out and buys a nuclear dress and a curl up and dye job. Every so often a designer comes up with an even flirtier version of, say, the miniskirt, and 100 million women all buy it at once.

Freedom to take a high-paying career usually means that women have to be sexless on the job, just like millions of emasculated men. Hillary's pantsuit did this pretty well. Dress-up exceptions are Madonna's career (explicit flirting work on stage and screen was not bad for her bank account) and office receptionist jobs where women have to supposedly look moderately sexually available to clients (even if they're married when they go home) but they must look professional too.

It's guys that are going to trumpet that Spears turned an inch too far in front of the camera, or that Jackson had a wardrobe malfunction during a televised mock sexual assault. Both were seeking fame and fortune in the explicit flirting profession, and their pushing the envelope too far was an unfortunate part of the business. If Madonna doesn't get enough buzz for a lesbian-like kiss for the cameras, she's miscalculated her flirting on the conservative side.

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Aren't there other things to concern oneself with?
Posted by: davmills on Jul 18, 2008 9:36 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Like disease, war, violence, and malnutrition. What one wears or doesn't should be low on logical people's priorities.

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What next?
Posted by: logansafi on Jul 18, 2008 9:41 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
What next for alternet? How about an article discussing how the c string has 'empowered' women, Alternet? For those who have never heard of the c string, then google the item some.

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» RE: What next? Posted by: Crazy H

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Fashion mis-statements
Posted by: Farkle on Jul 18, 2008 9:51 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Minis looked trashy then and look trashy now. Most adult women don't look very good in them either, only the very young. One wonders if pedophiles and Lolita-lovers are secretly rejoicing from their fetid dens of child-porn sites and chatrooms. I have also noticed the tendency of our increasingly overweight population to almost universally adopt styles that hearken back to a time when people were much slimmer on the average (i.e. crop tops, low-rise jeans and hiphuggers). In my small midwest city, I still see obese girls trying to squeeze into those things, resulting in some pretty spectacular muffin tops and views of plumber's crack that put plumbers to shame. And girls of all sizes seem to have no problem exposing the upper half of the butt floss that passes for underwear these days. Now, speaking as a plus-sized lady and a mom of teenage girls, I'm all for pretty clothes for women of all ages and sizes, but exposed rolls of fat and flabby thunder thighs is simply not attractive. Nor do I want my daughters to think that dressing provocatively is the only way to gain positive attention. I grew up in the 60's and 70's and back in my skinny days, and I too wore short skirts. For me, it wasn't about making any sort of feminist statement. It was about wearing what the other girls were wearing so as to fit in. What with always having to worry about how I sat, and dealing with sexual harrassment every time I walked through the student commons area, I wouldn't say it was a very empowering experience at all. So for the author to state that the party girls of the 00's have ruined the miniskirt for the rest of us, I would argue that it was a fashion mis-statement then, and still is.

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Of Burqas, Miniskirts & Grass Skirts
Posted by: Crazy H on Jul 18, 2008 10:23 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
When the European missionaries came to Polynesia, they were shocked at the scandalous dress of the natives. Those hussies were actually letting their breasts show! Such wanton disregard for decency had to be stopped!

The European women dressed decently, of course. Long woolen skirts, several layers of underclothes, buttons up to their neck, and 'fainting couches' in every room.

They soon taught those heathens proper dress. And athlete's foot, jock itch & yeast infections came to paradise.

Over the years, each generation has shocked their grandmothers. Why, in the twenties, women started showing their ANKLES! Gramma nearly had a stroke!

The bikini was shocking in its day - but it's pretty mild compared to string bikinis today. Maybe I'm an old guy, but I find a half-exposed twelve-year-old bum to be over-the-top. But then I have no problem with a one-piece that shows more curves and flesh than my grandmother would have thought decent even on a girl of legal age.

Which brings us to the burqa. Americans are good at decrying this horrible practice, but many burqa-wearing women wouldn't be caught dead showing their faces in public. They would consider themselves just as over-exposed as a modern American woman would consider herself if she were topless in a grass skirt with no underwear.

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» RE: Nice to see some perspective Posted by: Mamarianne

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By the way, it's ok for women to wear what they want. Like men, looks are more than just fashion.
Posted by: maxpayne on Jul 18, 2008 11:59 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
My wife once told me a few years ago that most women she sees wearing mini-skirts and boots are usually trying to make up for what looks like their stressful lives as these same women are stuck with thinning scalps and often short bobbed hair. That was a complete shock at first because I used to assume that women who dress short are actually happier than those who dress professionally because of the harder work they have to go through to prove their intellectual worth. Boy was I wrong. Miniskirts and boots only go so far in empowering women but poor health or looks elsewhere can only weaken the whole picture.

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That's what shorts are for.
Posted by: MamaPantz on Jul 18, 2008 12:14 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
If you want minimal coverage on you legs, at least cover your crotch. That's what that tiny little strip of fabric in the middle of what they call shorts for women is. It's a loin cloth of sorts. Mini skirts are for hookers. Just wear shorts if you want to be comfortable.

But in the professional environment, much above the knee is inappropriate. I concur that pencil skirts & tea length are appropriate, but let's just leave it at that. Leave the minis to that other "profession" of "Sex for Sale".

How do you function in a mini anyway? I guess if all you do is just stand there, like barbie then cool, but for people that want to sit down with out our legs being glued together, or actually crouch to pick something up it's just a silly piece of cloth pretending to be clothing.

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"your women" ?
Posted by: Stell on Jul 18, 2008 12:16 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
"...for our sexually oppressed Muslim and Hindu friends if you like your women tarped with a bedsheet and find that attractive that's your perrogative..."

What about what the women like? For one, in general, women like not to be groped or harassed when doing about their daily business. It is not your "right" as a male to objectify and humiliate women. Grow up. As difficult as it may be for you to grasp, women are people.

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» RE: "your women" ? Posted by: DCBeltway

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E.L.
Posted by: evle on Jul 18, 2008 1:15 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
When men are convinced to wear short-shorts, mini-skirts or something equally revealing, it may indicate the exposure-fashion no longer marginalizes the wearer. In an office where most are conservatively dressed and a woman enters the room showing half her body, is she honestly displaying her power or is she advertising (what society teaches us) her most valuable asset?

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» RE: .L. Posted by: Mel H.

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Why the Mini?
Posted by: Starfall Deception on Jul 18, 2008 2:54 PM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Why do I have to wear a miniskirt to feel empowered? When I wear a mini, I just feel uncomfortable. I'd rather wear a pair of comfy pants or shorts.

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Can you imagine a man being taken seriously
Posted by: form5166 on Jul 18, 2008 4:20 PM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
if he exposed himself as far up towards his genitalia as possible, in any setting except the beach? Women who feel a need to do this are suffering from personality problems.

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Plot Mini skirts versus time (don't try this at home, kids)
Posted by: GuitarBill on Jul 18, 2008 5:20 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
When short hemlines came back into fashion, my wife dug an old miniskirt out of the closet.

She tried it on, but couldn’t figure out what to do with her other leg.

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This author seems confused
Posted by: littlewing on Jul 18, 2008 6:39 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I'm sorry, but this is a lot of cr*p. The author doesn't seem to know if she's coming or going. Sometimes a skirt is just a skirt, wear what you WANT to wear!

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It's so discouraging...
Posted by: writer7 on Jul 18, 2008 6:40 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
reading the posts from most of the men here. Women have such a long way to go, it's always such a fight. Who the hell cares if the woman wears a mini skirt? Alternet use to be a more progressive and exciting site but these dolts are starting to drag it down. Then again, Alternet also seems to be opening the door to these Neanderthals with fluff articles like this one. It'd be nice if the editors put a bit more thought into what to post everyday. Maybe we'd see less of the knuckle-dragging, slack jawed dullards and thus be able to engage in a more meaningful conversation with one another about topics that really matter.

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» RE: It's so discouraging... Posted by: Britney1990
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little black dress >>>>>> miniskirt
Posted by: hurricane hugo on Jul 18, 2008 7:03 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Of that let there be no doubt.

jdfu!

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Mini skirts...
Posted by: Pirate1 on Jul 19, 2008 12:00 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Have to admit, they still turn my head. Even so, I agree a lot with the person a few posts back about it being a calling card for women with "issues"... When these women sit down they all spend an inordinate amount of time jamming one hand or the other over their crotch to keep what's under there invisible but in the process drawing attention to that area of her body instead of her eyes, her face. All this controversy is the folly of a people that have for the large part of the population had way too much liesure time. I think it goes with all the Puritanical baggage most of us in this nation have whether we know it or not; time to fill their brains with nonesense about fashion and style instead of maybe getting truly informed and educated about things that really matter. If we all became a bit more versed in how the planet works we might not leave so much to the opinion of "experts" in the hire of immoral corporations whose bottom line thinking has contributed in a big way to the perilous state we find our planet in right now. We wouldn't need experts or or for that matter, idiots like O'Reilly or Limbaugh to tell us what was "really" going on. We wouldn't be such a nation of sheep.

I think everyone should spend at least a year of their lives as nudists... as part of our education. We need to get over all the naughty-naughty about revealed flesh. All that outrage and shame is unnatural, its a sign of repression. Dispell all the mystery about the body, really see the miriad ways we are human physically. Then the chance view of Britney's or any other womans crotch would be nothing because seeing where someone's legs met would be little different from where their arms join their torso.

You have to realise all the horror that was inflicted on humanity by the church in the middle ages to get those damned, naked, sexually free heathens to become the sexually repressed and thus very controlable mass they became and from whom most of the people that stole this land from the native population and settled here descended from. Some of those things made anything at Abu Grahib or Guantanamo seem like a walk in the park in comparison.

You see, we don't ever question anything like that. We've been convinced through centuries of indoctrination that someone they call god decreed it be so. Kids in Catechism or bible study are punished or humiliated if they question to the point where they end up just giving up and going along. If you think about it those so called heathens live the more natural life. The way any creator, if you believe that way, would have intended.

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What happened?
Posted by: luckypuck on Jul 19, 2008 9:25 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Maybe I’ve been missing something all these years, but it seemed to me back when it all started and on through the decades until this blog disavowed me of it, miniskirts, bralessness and toplessness, bikinis and thongs, etc. were “empowering” because the WOMAN made the choice to wear them. Empowerment is about CHOICE. Regardless of her personal, unique reasons for doing so, a woman was making the CHOICE for herself, not because a man or men wanted her to appear that way and certainly not because of some fad.

If she chose to dress that way because she wanted to be brazen or slutty or to defy her parents or religion or current male-dominated conventions or she just didn’t give a damn about giving out twat shots or not or even (OMG!) she did it because she knew it would please some man in her life . . . it was HER decision. She made it. If it was an authentic choice, she clearly had the power after all and so she used it. That’s empowerment. It boggles my mind that so many here, male or female, seem not to know this anymore.

On the other hand, if she chooses, i.e., an authentic choice, to wear maxis and bulky wool sweaters or sweats or a burka, again, she is still empowered because it’s HER CHOICE. ALL options are available to her. She is free to pick and choose anything she wants. Free to choose just like a man, you ask? No, free to choose like any human being, regardless of gender.

But, what goes around comes around. You know what really angers me? These days, I am no longer free, but am required to and must work at empowering myself to wear my Speedo on the beach.

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» Choice Posted by: MartianBachelor
» RE: Choice is choice Posted by: luckypuck
» RE: Choice is choice, part 2 Posted by: luckypuck

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And why can't men be free to wear women's clothing whereas women are free to wear men's and not get
Posted by: jwverez on Jul 20, 2008 9:53 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
trashed for it? It seems that transvestite women are ok but transvestite men are looked down upon too much. At best, they're called "gay" but not all gays dress in women's clothings but then again most gays I've met are actually not only nicer to women but I've seen them defend them against abusive men. I've met fellows back here in El Paso who are "crazy" enough to wear women's clothing be it shorts though sometimes it can be hard to tell women's shorts from men's, pantyhose and tights although I hear activskin is designing tights and hose for men, blouse, and yes even miniskirts. As a matter of fact, men used to wear miniskirts in the middle ages and even low class worker men in India would fold their dothis up to above their knees. I don't know what it's like back there anymore but I was given an interesting historical background of men in skirts.

Let's make all men shave their legs and wear miniskirts in public. Then, more of them will learn to understand women better. What do you think?

P.S.: I personally don't prefer to wear women's clothings but I have respect for men who do.

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"It's all for sale out there......."
Posted by: pangolin on Jul 20, 2008 3:14 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Yup, that's the whole point isn't it. The young ladies wearing miniskirts, no bras, nipple piercings and tattoos look like hookers because they're selling it. Just because their minimum retainer is a bit more than the street girls doesn't mean it isn't for sale and that it never ever gets given away.

Maybe test-driven for selected prosepective clients who have established their credentials and cash flow but it's never free.

If freedom of movement was what was wanted they could wear shorts.

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» RE: "It's all for sale out there......." Posted by: MartianBachelor

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Why don't women just wear panties?
Posted by: masterjc on Jul 22, 2008 2:09 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
That way, even if a women makes a..clumsy move with a skirt, her vagina will be hidden from the rest of the world.

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This article reminds me of the fact that we have no freaking clue what we're doing as a society
Posted by: blogbooks on Jul 25, 2008 7:05 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
As a civilization, as a species.

The radical changes in the fundamental structure of human relations and societies that have been brought about in the past 50 years are a high risk venture indeed...

We didn't end up with the system we had by accident. No, it developed over thousands of years of trial and error, feast and famine, creation and destruction.

I have a feeling this grand experiment is in for a rude awakening somewhere down the line.

The only thing propping it up is fossil fuel burning technology that creates the level of affluence necessary for our tolerant and egalitarian societies to exist. Man is an inherently tribal and selfish animal, and when the gravy train comes to a halt there will be hell to pay.

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I tried
Posted by: ArtemInox on Jul 18, 2008 2:45 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
to see if I could find what the author wanted to communicate that was of any significance. Overlooking the dead giveaway of hyphenated name, I read on.
I have nothing. What I did see was typical references to pop culture trash, used as an attempt to lend validity and structure to a thought process that makes me think of a ditzy girl with empty cartoon bubbles around her head, some of them filled with celebrity names and tabloid article titles.
The writing suggested that people take their cues on how to act and dress from pop culture, and that this is what compels the world to change. Is that true? Am I way out of touch for thinking that, generally speaking, anyone over 25, that has a sufficiently developed ego and thought process would perhaps make such choices based on personality, maybe personal taste.
The influence of pop culture would be minimal for someone that can think and act on their own. Maybe I'm way off, an idealist, or clueless. Perhaps it was true for previous generations.
So TV shows, movies and musicians change the world by setting trends and clothing styles? If that is indeed the case, then I need to get with the program. Like millions of others, I can just get my cues from these sources and cease thinking for myself. Then, I can just use pop culture examples to explain my behavior. You know, Madonna did it, why can't I? Makes sense to me.
Hehehe hey remember those stuffed shoulders so popular in the 80's? Jesus, how awful. Even as a child, I knew something was very wrong when I saw a woman with manly cotton shoulders. I know, it seemed like a good idea at the time, it was the thing to do.
It is so disturbing to realize how much of what we do and think now is based on medieval practices and attitudes. And even worse, to realize that as long as people have been able to build cities, farm, and everything else that has come along since then, the basic mind of the species has hardly evolved at all. It is almost better to be just as dumb and easily influenced as the rest of the herd. No one will listen to someone that isn't, the more sense you make, the more you will be persecuted, shouted down, and ignored.
However we got here, it was just plants, rocks, dirt, trees and water when we did. Don’t confuse technological advances with general intelligence of the species as a whole. What the species as a whole is still operating with for the most part is the mindset that allowed for moving a bit above the natural elements.
"Is there nothing left for it except a role as a twat-baring catastrophe for the young, hot and too rich" Part amusing, part disgusting that someone could think this way and be serious about it. Catastrophe.
I suppose it would make perfect sense for me to really think this way if my concerns in life were all about celebrities, what they do and how they do it, quoting movies and tv shows instead of bothering to make intelligent and original statements, having some half-witted understanding of what feminism is supposed to be about, and focused on trivial petty trends of the day. I wonder what it would be like to talk to me if I were like that. Maybe I would get breathless phone calls from my equally shallow friends, dying to tell me the latest “news” about any given celebrity. Then, we could talk about the significance and ramifications of a girl we don’t know not wearing any panties. Catastrophic.
"On the other hand, though, perhaps it will take a bit of determined, bold action on the part of non-Britney types to revive the mini out of its ignominy and back into respectable fashion culture."
Well goddamn feminists, what are you waiting for? The mini-skirt is the way to further the cause. Seriously. Says it right there. You can do it with what you wear, isn't that great? So easy and simple. Instead of changing hearts and minds by example, attitude and substance, just wear whatever is trendy.

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» RE: I tried Posted by: nochicagoboys
» Bwahaha! Posted by: Q30
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» last one :) Posted by: Goizeder
» And you failed ! Posted by: maxpayne
» RE: And you failed ! Posted by: ArtemInox
» RE: And you failed ! Posted by: maxpayne
» RE: And you failed ! Posted by: ajajaja
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Miniskirt: perfect sign of functioning modernity
Posted by: Bobsays on Jul 18, 2008 3:28 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
In order for the miniskirt to flourish, a few important pre-conditions must be in place: women must feel free, women must be able to be clean (you need clean underwear for it to work), they must be healthy, there must be reasonable safety on the streets, and most public places need to be clean. The more miniskirts, the higher stage of human evolution.

So, what does it say when the miniskirt disappears from some cities? And you see more Burkhas than minis?

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Keep your eyes on the road
Posted by: the man with a dog on Jul 18, 2008 3:35 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Mini skirts look good to the male but only if the legs exposed are of a superior quality and complement the mini.

I remember vividly (and to my cost) the original mini designed by Mary Quant, the first one I saw was so fantastic that I ran into the car in front which had pulled up sharply to have a second look at the young lady.

So my advice is in the headline and make sure you do not lose your no claims bonus as I did all those years ago.

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Alicia Silverstone, your table is ready.
Posted by: rancespergl on Jul 18, 2008 4:38 AM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Here's a dollar.

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» And another thing... Posted by: rancespergl

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A little sartorial revisionism with breakfast?
Posted by: hagwind on Jul 18, 2008 5:16 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The mini-skirt was about liberating female sexuality? Could have fooled me. I thought it was about pissing off the authorities (parents, school administrators, bosses, et al.) and showing how well your legs (and your priorities) conformed to current fashion. My legs didn't, so I wasn't tempted. I figured out other ways to piss off the authorities, like getting involved in the antiwar movement.

In their way mini-skirts were limiting as the high heels and tight skirts my mother and her friends wore whenever they left the house. Whether sitting in a chair or sprawling on the lawn, you had to pay close attention to what your skirt was doing. Seems to me that women's clothing tends to get more restrictive in times when women are getting uppity -- and no, a skirt doesn't have to be long and bulky to restrict one's movement.

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Another Perspective
Posted by: beautifulady2003 on Jul 18, 2008 5:23 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I am a Muslim. Of course, we have a different view of how women should dress, but I want to share a question that popped into my mind while reading this article. The writer asks, how do women dress sexy and still get respect? Well, my question is, why do women HAVE TO dress sexy? If you are going to the office, you are there to work, right? If you are walking down the street, do you really want strange men to look at your body and possibly make comments that embarrass you? Before I converted to Islam I used to live in that kind of world. I now take enormous comfort in covering my body in a more modest way, and in not displaying my sexuality to strangers or to the world at large. I don't feel oppressed; I feel liberated from the slavery of having to look "sexy" for people I don't even know. I know there are people who will disagree with me, but I just wanted to share my perspective.

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» RE: Another Perspective Posted by: ArtemInox
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» RE: Another Perspective Posted by: ankhet
» RE: Another Perspective Posted by: beautifulady2003

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Sexual Freedom
Posted by: Iconoclast421 on Jul 18, 2008 5:30 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The problem with this article is that it is useless. By useless, I mean it does nothing to break our culture out of this horrible spell it is under. People just read it because it got them thinking about mini skirts. It only reinforces the power of the "black magic". Hey, if you want to understand what Real Black Magic is, just start with the understanding that there is a real palpable force that the global elites control, and you can feel that force when you think about things like miniskirts. In today's culture, if something is "HOT", it is probably black magic. These occult and arcane forces are very real, and when we think of something "hot" we are only beginning to sense that force at work. The survival of the species depends on everyone's ability to understand these forces and to claim conscious control over them.

Consider this: right now, somewhere in America there is a new Einstein just waiting to discover himself. But he likely never will, because instead of making a *gasp* hobby out of *gasp* studying physics, he is on myspace looking at all the cute girls and listening to Kate Perry sing "I kissed a girl... and I liked it."

"I liked iiiiit."

lol. I liked it? I liked it? What's next, goo goo gaa gaa?

The force that compels this potential Einstein to waste the essense of his life on such a hollow and meaningless pursuit... that force is nothing short of black magic. And it will destroy this country. This country will not survive if our children are under the control of these forces, to the point where it completely destroys all their curiosity about how the world (and the universe) works.

If you want to read something more useful, try this:

In the Preface to "Brave New World," (1932) Aldous Huxley wrote:

"As political and economic freedom diminishes, sexual freedom tends correspondingly to increase. And the dictator will do well to encourage that freedom...it will help to reconcile his subjects to the servitude which is their fate."

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» RE: Sexual Freedom Posted by: ArtemInox
» RE: Sexual Freedom Posted by: Bobsays
» keeping the economy going? Posted by: Iconoclast421
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» RE: Sexual Freedom Posted by: Iconoclast421

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Women are crazy martians...or is it capitalist society?
Posted by: coldham on Jul 18, 2008 6:48 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I have never understood women but I watch them all the time. My wife used to confuse me when she wore minis. I didn't know what cheeks of hers to kiss first.

First, I am baffled by women's reverse roles. They have always appeared to me to be the strongest, psychologically, physically, and intellectually. Yet, they act like dopes. More than that, Capitalism expects them to play the dumb role one day, the sophisticated role the next, and the slut on the third. Soemtimes, they manipulate our minds so that they play all the roles at the same time.

Their persona is manipulated from time to time. But, trying to understand them? That is insane. I think the riddle of their nature lies in our economic foundation and a demand for them to be our slaves; otherwise, they have no place. Could that be right.

I remember Fredrick Douglas was invited by the Women who had less rights than blacks. How could that be? He was their hero because he turned America on its heels. The civil war was fought for black rights. What war was fought for women's equality?

Women in America have to use mini-skirts and guile to compete with men. That is sick. America is sick. Who cares what a woman wears. Her person is the most important credit she has. Her sexuality, her siren nature, her cunning are just silly distractions to the person.

I don't know what I am talking about, so feel free to ignore me.

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That's why Arab nations are hostile to women in addition to working class people altogether.
Posted by: maxpayne on Jul 18, 2008 7:20 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
If you live in countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, etc ... and you're wearing a mini-skirt, your life's in danger and yes, the US/European taxpayer money goes towards keeping it that way.

Even in countries like India, women who wear mini-skirts are often frowned upon but then again where the weather is too hot and bugs are everywhere, not even tights would save them. Also, for a strange reason, women wearing saris is far more attractive than women wearing salwar kameez and/or miniskirts. Yes, my wife was surprised about my attraction for saris over skin-tight clothing.

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By the way, beware if you're going on a tour outside the country.
Posted by: maxpayne on Jul 18, 2008 7:28 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
In some countries, you can be sexually harassed at for wearing one.

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» Correction to above Posted by: maxpayne
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» Thanks for the English lesson Posted by: zipper696

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Miniskirts are great but have nothing to do with the chronic stagnation of late capitalism.
Posted by: yellow on Jul 18, 2008 7:31 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
But then again, as a young child in the 1960s, it was rumored that mini-skirts positively affected stock market trends.

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Mini skirts "infantilize "women
Posted by: form5166 on Jul 18, 2008 7:35 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
making them look exposed, dependant and desperate. They are a dead giveaway that you are about to encounter a woman with "issues." Especially if she is over the age of 14. Most commonly your dealing with a narrisistic drama queen or some other unfortunate personality disordered train wreck. Runs accross cultural and class divides- these women exist on every level of society. The skirt acts like a calling card. Just sayin'.

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What HagWind Said!
Posted by: Gravitas on Jul 18, 2008 8:33 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Miniskirts were only enpowering to those whose legs happened to conform to society's beauty standards. If one did not, it was just another form of exclusion. And let's face it. No matter what shape a woman was in, after a certain age they are inappropriate for professional women. It was elitism rather than empowerment.

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Read Marcuse!
Posted by: redstarwraith on Jul 18, 2008 8:45 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Lord people. . .read Herbert Marcuse's One Dimensional Man. There are no "authentic forms of protest" that remain so for very long in late capitalist society. Rock and roll, alternative religions, trends (of protest), clothing, etc., etc. . .they all become commodities, absorbed into society as so-called "healthy alternatives to the norm." It is all an illusion.

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» RE: ead Marcuse! Posted by: boing007

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Corner Burka-Mart
Posted by: Jim V. on Jul 18, 2008 8:54 AM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I've seen women who had no business wearing a mini-skirt, if you're not a tanned 19 year old hard body type from Miami then forget it because you'll be just another fat chick with a piece of clothing made to fit 6 year old girls. That is why we (construction males) hoot and howler it is sexy when a yound women wears minis it accentuates a lot of parts. As for covering up for our sexually oppressed Muslim and Hindu friends if you like your women tarped with a bedsheet and find that attractive that's your perrogative but you're hypocrites at lunch time these same guys are the biggest groppers out there.

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Freedom to be sexual, freedom to take a career
Posted by: PaulK on Jul 18, 2008 9:27 AM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Women started two centuries ago from a subservient position. They had no choice over who they would marry, and they had no career choices other than housewife.

Sexual freedom is the freedom to flirt with whoever you choose, and the freedom to lure. Women love this freedom to escape a man with an ice-cold touch, a freedom that's unavailable in many countries.

Funny thing is, allure has turned into an expensive arms race. Some rich 50 year old like Madonna goes out and buys a nuclear dress and a curl up and dye job. Every so often a designer comes up with an even flirtier version of, say, the miniskirt, and 100 million women all buy it at once.

Freedom to take a high-paying career usually means that women have to be sexless on the job, just like millions of emasculated men. Hillary's pantsuit did this pretty well. Dress-up exceptions are Madonna's career (explicit flirting work on stage and screen was not bad for her bank account) and office receptionist jobs where women have to supposedly look moderately sexually available to clients (even if they're married when they go home) but they must look professional too.

It's guys that are going to trumpet that Spears turned an inch too far in front of the camera, or that Jackson had a wardrobe malfunction during a televised mock sexual assault. Both were seeking fame and fortune in the explicit flirting profession, and their pushing the envelope too far was an unfortunate part of the business. If Madonna doesn't get enough buzz for a lesbian-like kiss for the cameras, she's miscalculated her flirting on the conservative side.

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Aren't there other things to concern oneself with?
Posted by: davmills on Jul 18, 2008 9:36 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Like disease, war, violence, and malnutrition. What one wears or doesn't should be low on logical people's priorities.

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What next?
Posted by: logansafi on Jul 18, 2008 9:41 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
What next for alternet? How about an article discussing how the c string has 'empowered' women, Alternet? For those who have never heard of the c string, then google the item some.

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» RE: What next? Posted by: Crazy H

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Fashion mis-statements
Posted by: Farkle on Jul 18, 2008 9:51 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Minis looked trashy then and look trashy now. Most adult women don't look very good in them either, only the very young. One wonders if pedophiles and Lolita-lovers are secretly rejoicing from their fetid dens of child-porn sites and chatrooms. I have also noticed the tendency of our increasingly overweight population to almost universally adopt styles that hearken back to a time when people were much slimmer on the average (i.e. crop tops, low-rise jeans and hiphuggers). In my small midwest city, I still see obese girls trying to squeeze into those things, resulting in some pretty spectacular muffin tops and views of plumber's crack that put plumbers to shame. And girls of all sizes seem to have no problem exposing the upper half of the butt floss that passes for underwear these days. Now, speaking as a plus-sized lady and a mom of teenage girls, I'm all for pretty clothes for women of all ages and sizes, but exposed rolls of fat and flabby thunder thighs is simply not attractive. Nor do I want my daughters to think that dressing provocatively is the only way to gain positive attention. I grew up in the 60's and 70's and back in my skinny days, and I too wore short skirts. For me, it wasn't about making any sort of feminist statement. It was about wearing what the other girls were wearing so as to fit in. What with always having to worry about how I sat, and dealing with sexual harrassment every time I walked through the student commons area, I wouldn't say it was a very empowering experience at all. So for the author to state that the party girls of the 00's have ruined the miniskirt for the rest of us, I would argue that it was a fashion mis-statement then, and still is.

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Of Burqas, Miniskirts & Grass Skirts
Posted by: Crazy H on Jul 18, 2008 10:23 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
When the European missionaries came to Polynesia, they were shocked at the scandalous dress of the natives. Those hussies were actually letting their breasts show! Such wanton disregard for decency had to be stopped!

The European women dressed decently, of course. Long woolen skirts, several layers of underclothes, buttons up to their neck, and 'fainting couches' in every room.

They soon taught those heathens proper dress. And athlete's foot, jock itch & yeast infections came to paradise.

Over the years, each generation has shocked their grandmothers. Why, in the twenties, women started showing their ANKLES! Gramma nearly had a stroke!

The bikini was shocking in its day - but it's pretty mild compared to string bikinis today. Maybe I'm an old guy, but I find a half-exposed twelve-year-old bum to be over-the-top. But then I have no problem with a one-piece that shows more curves and flesh than my grandmother would have thought decent even on a girl of legal age.

Which brings us to the burqa. Americans are good at decrying this horrible practice, but many burqa-wearing women wouldn't be caught dead showing their faces in public. They would consider themselves just as over-exposed as a modern American woman would consider herself if she were topless in a grass skirt with no underwear.

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» RE: Nice to see some perspective Posted by: Mamarianne

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By the way, it's ok for women to wear what they want. Like men, looks are more than just fashion.
Posted by: maxpayne on Jul 18, 2008 11:59 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
My wife once told me a few years ago that most women she sees wearing mini-skirts and boots are usually trying to make up for what looks like their stressful lives as these same women are stuck with thinning scalps and often short bobbed hair. That was a complete shock at first because I used to assume that women who dress short are actually happier than those who dress professionally because of the harder work they have to go through to prove their intellectual worth. Boy was I wrong. Miniskirts and boots only go so far in empowering women but poor health or looks elsewhere can only weaken the whole picture.

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That's what shorts are for.
Posted by: MamaPantz on Jul 18, 2008 12:14 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
If you want minimal coverage on you legs, at least cover your crotch. That's what that tiny little strip of fabric in the middle of what they call shorts for women is. It's a loin cloth of sorts. Mini skirts are for hookers. Just wear shorts if you want to be comfortable.

But in the professional environment, much above the knee is inappropriate. I concur that pencil skirts & tea length are appropriate, but let's just leave it at that. Leave the minis to that other "profession" of "Sex for Sale".

How do you function in a mini anyway? I guess if all you do is just stand there, like barbie then cool, but for people that want to sit down with out our legs being glued together, or actually crouch to pick something up it's just a silly piece of cloth pretending to be clothing.

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"your women" ?
Posted by: Stell on Jul 18, 2008 12:16 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
"...for our sexually oppressed Muslim and Hindu friends if you like your women tarped with a bedsheet and find that attractive that's your perrogative..."

What about what the women like? For one, in general, women like not to be groped or harassed when doing about their daily business. It is not your "right" as a male to objectify and humiliate women. Grow up. As difficult as it may be for you to grasp, women are people.

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» RE: "your women" ? Posted by: DCBeltway

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E.L.
Posted by: evle on Jul 18, 2008 1:15 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
When men are convinced to wear short-shorts, mini-skirts or something equally revealing, it may indicate the exposure-fashion no longer marginalizes the wearer. In an office where most are conservatively dressed and a woman enters the room showing half her body, is she honestly displaying her power or is she advertising (what society teaches us) her most valuable asset?

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» RE: .L. Posted by: Mel H.

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Why the Mini?
Posted by: Starfall Deception on Jul 18, 2008 2:54 PM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Why do I have to wear a miniskirt to feel empowered? When I wear a mini, I just feel uncomfortable. I'd rather wear a pair of comfy pants or shorts.

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Can you imagine a man being taken seriously
Posted by: form5166 on Jul 18, 2008 4:20 PM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
if he exposed himself as far up towards his genitalia as possible, in any setting except the beach? Women who feel a need to do this are suffering from personality problems.

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Plot Mini skirts versus time (don't try this at home, kids)
Posted by: GuitarBill on Jul 18, 2008 5:20 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
When short hemlines came back into fashion, my wife dug an old miniskirt out of the closet.

She tried it on, but couldn’t figure out what to do with her other leg.

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This author seems confused
Posted by: littlewing on Jul 18, 2008 6:39 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I'm sorry, but this is a lot of cr*p. The author doesn't seem to know if she's coming or going. Sometimes a skirt is just a skirt, wear what you WANT to wear!

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It's so discouraging...
Posted by: writer7 on Jul 18, 2008 6:40 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
reading the posts from most of the men here. Women have such a long way to go, it's always such a fight. Who the hell cares if the woman wears a mini skirt? Alternet use to be a more progressive and exciting site but these dolts are starting to drag it down. Then again, Alternet also seems to be opening the door to these Neanderthals with fluff articles like this one. It'd be nice if the editors put a bit more thought into what to post everyday. Maybe we'd see less of the knuckle-dragging, slack jawed dullards and thus be able to engage in a more meaningful conversation with one another about topics that really matter.

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» RE: It's so discouraging... Posted by: Britney1990
» RE: It's so discouraging... Posted by: writer7
» Climbing your pedestal Posted by: messedup

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little black dress >>>>>> miniskirt
Posted by: hurricane hugo on Jul 18, 2008 7:03 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Of that let there be no doubt.

jdfu!

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Mini skirts...
Posted by: Pirate1 on Jul 19, 2008 12:00 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Have to admit, they still turn my head. Even so, I agree a lot with the person a few posts back about it being a calling card for women with "issues"... When these women sit down they all spend an inordinate amount of time jamming one hand or the other over their crotch to keep what's under there invisible but in the process drawing attention to that area of her body instead of her eyes, her face. All this controversy is the folly of a people that have for the large part of the population had way too much liesure time. I think it goes with all the Puritanical baggage most of us in this nation have whether we know it or not; time to fill their brains with nonesense about fashion and style instead of maybe getting truly informed and educated about things that really matter. If we all became a bit more versed in how the planet works we might not leave so much to the opinion of "experts" in the hire of immoral corporations whose bottom line thinking has contributed in a big way to the perilous state we find our planet in right now. We wouldn't need experts or or for that matter, idiots like O'Reilly or Limbaugh to tell us what was "really" going on. We wouldn't be such a nation of sheep.

I think everyone should spend at least a year of their lives as nudists... as part of our education. We need to get over all the naughty-naughty about revealed flesh. All that outrage and shame is unnatural, its a sign of repression. Dispell all the mystery about the body, really see the miriad ways we are human physically. Then the chance view of Britney's or any other womans crotch would be nothing because seeing where someone's legs met would be little different from where their arms join their torso.

You have to realise all the horror that was inflicted on humanity by the church in the middle ages to get those damned, naked, sexually free heathens to become the sexually repressed and thus very controlable mass they became and from whom most of the people that stole this land from the native population and settled here descended from. Some of those things made anything at Abu Grahib or Guantanamo seem like a walk in the park in comparison.

You see, we don't ever question anything like that. We've been convinced through centuries of indoctrination that someone they call god decreed it be so. Kids in Catechism or bible study are punished or humiliated if they question to the point where they end up just giving up and going along. If you think about it those so called heathens live the more natural life. The way any creator, if you believe that way, would have intended.

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What happened?
Posted by: luckypuck on Jul 19, 2008 9:25 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Maybe I’ve been missing something all these years, but it seemed to me back when it all started and on through the decades until this blog disavowed me of it, miniskirts, bralessness and toplessness, bikinis and thongs, etc. were “empowering” because the WOMAN made the choice to wear them. Empowerment is about CHOICE. Regardless of her personal, unique reasons for doing so, a woman was making the CHOICE for herself, not because a man or men wanted her to appear that way and certainly not because of some fad.

If she chose to dress that way because she wanted to be brazen or slutty or to defy her parents or religion or current male-dominated conventions or she just didn’t give a damn about giving out twat shots or not or even (OMG!) she did it because she knew it would please some man in her life . . . it was HER decision. She made it. If it was an authentic choice, she clearly had the power after all and so she used it. That’s empowerment. It boggles my mind that so many here, male or female, seem not to know this anymore.

On the other hand, if she chooses, i.e., an authentic choice, to wear maxis and bulky wool sweaters or sweats or a burka, again, she is still empowered because it’s HER CHOICE. ALL options are available to her. She is free to pick and choose anything she wants. Free to choose just like a man, you ask? No, free to choose like any human being, regardless of gender.

But, what goes around comes around. You know what really angers me? These days, I am no longer free, but am required to and must work at empowering myself to wear my Speedo on the beach.

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» Choice Posted by: MartianBachelor
» RE: Choice is choice Posted by: luckypuck
» RE: Choice is choice, part 2 Posted by: luckypuck

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And why can't men be free to wear women's clothing whereas women are free to wear men's and not get
Posted by: jwverez on Jul 20, 2008 9:53 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
trashed for it? It seems that transvestite women are ok but transvestite men are looked down upon too much. At best, they're called "gay" but not all gays dress in women's clothings but then again most gays I've met are actually not only nicer to women but I've seen them defend them against abusive men. I've met fellows back here in El Paso who are "crazy" enough to wear women's clothing be it shorts though sometimes it can be hard to tell women's shorts from men's, pantyhose and tights although I hear activskin is designing tights and hose for men, blouse, and yes even miniskirts. As a matter of fact, men used to wear miniskirts in the middle ages and even low class worker men in India would fold their dothis up to above their knees. I don't know what it's like back there anymore but I was given an interesting historical background of men in skirts.

Let's make all men shave their legs and wear miniskirts in public. Then, more of them will learn to understand women better. What do you think?

P.S.: I personally don't prefer to wear women's clothings but I have respect for men who do.

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"It's all for sale out there......."
Posted by: pangolin on Jul 20, 2008 3:14 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Yup, that's the whole point isn't it. The young ladies wearing miniskirts, no bras, nipple piercings and tattoos look like hookers because they're selling it. Just because their minimum retainer is a bit more than the street girls doesn't mean it isn't for sale and that it never ever gets given away.

Maybe test-driven for selected prosepective clients who have established their credentials and cash flow but it's never free.

If freedom of movement was what was wanted they could wear shorts.

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» RE: "It's all for sale out there......." Posted by: MartianBachelor

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Why don't women just wear panties?
Posted by: masterjc on Jul 22, 2008 2:09 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
That way, even if a women makes a..clumsy move with a skirt, her vagina will be hidden from the rest of the world.

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This article reminds me of the fact that we have no freaking clue what we're doing as a society
Posted by: blogbooks on Jul 25, 2008 7:05 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
As a civilization, as a species.

The radical changes in the fundamental structure of human relations and societies that have been brought about in the past 50 years are a high risk venture indeed...

We didn't end up with the system we had by accident. No, it developed over thousands of years of trial and error, feast and famine, creation and destruction.

I have a feeling this grand experiment is in for a rude awakening somewhere down the line.

The only thing propping it up is fossil fuel burning technology that creates the level of affluence necessary for our tolerant and egalitarian societies to exist. Man is an inherently tribal and selfish animal, and when the gravy train comes to a halt there will be hell to pay.

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