I’m going to play my annoying feminist card (surprise, surprise) and talk about an article that is currently trending on Odyssey. The article, written by a student at Virginia Tech, is titled, “Ladies, Nike Shorts And Leggings Are For The Gym, Nowhere Else.” The sub-headline reads, “If you are becoming a grown woman, you need to dress like one.” First off, girl, who hurt you? Who do you think you are to dictate what girls get to wear? As women, we get enough pressure to look a certain way, be it through the beauty industry or men; pressure from other women is really not needed.
The author specifically targets high school- and college-aged women, paying no mind to the fact that you could step outside and within five minutes see countless boys wearing basketball shorts and t-shirts they’ve owned since before they hit puberty. But the author doesn’t stop with clothes, she also attacks how other girls do their makeup, citing “chunky mascara and sloppy brows," so I can only assume she’s a professional makeup artist who’s been great at it since her first attempt.
As if it could get any worse, the author had to bring periods into the discussion. She acknowledges that while it makes life uncomfortable, we could “do so much better than what you have going on right now.” I have to stop and wonder if this girl has ever had a period before, or knows anyone who has since she feels like she has a right to dictate how other women should look and behave.
She ends her “argument” (I use that term loosely since she made no actual argument and had no reasoning, just stated that that’s how things should be) by saying that if we want to be treated like grown women, we have to dress like them. She believes in dressing for success, for upcoming careers. I don’t know about her, but my career is going to consist of dressing exclusively in leggings and Nike shorts. I don’t think it’d be practical to dance in jeans or a sundress.
It’s hard to ignore pressures from society to look our best at all times. So much is weighed upon a woman’s appearance, and it always draws back to her personality, however disconnected the two are. If I don’t feel good when I wake up in the morning, sometimes I want to throw on my comfy clothes and go about my day. It doesn’t hurt anyone else, it doesn’t mean I won’t look good tomorrow, or that I won’t be successful. My brains and determination are what’s going to bring me to success, not my ability to put together an aesthetically pleasing outfit. If I have 10 minutes between jazz class and communications, best believe I’m showing up to communications in leggings and the sweaty t-shirt I just danced in. My face is going to be a little red and my makeup is going to be a little smudged. And still, that’s not going to detract from my ability to do well in the class.
We make success for ourselves, despite how we look, despite how we feel and despite how some girl who thinks she’s edgy for writing that article tells us how to dress.
