ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

How Women Claimed The Right To Wear Men's Clothes (And How Men Can Do The Same)

Updated on August 19, 2009

You know, for most of us wandering about the planet, there's never been a time in our lives when we didn't see women running around in jeans, in shorts, in harem pants. We were born into a world of equality for women. We had stickers in our rooms which said 'Girls Can Do Anything.' We were told that yes, we could be lawyers, bankers, surgeons, CEO's, world leaders and we watched women be all these things and more.

I don't think it ever crossed many of our minds that men don't have the same rights as women. Whilst we women have claimed the world for our own, men still reside largely in the areas they always resided in. This is especially obvious and especially true when it comes to fashion. Though there are a few brave souls who do step outside wearing 'womens' clothing, the majority of men interested in fashion must keep their desires hidden away behind closed doors. Those who insist on pursuing the dream of wearing women's clothing openly pay a very definite price – they often lose romantic partners over this, they are considered perverted, they are considered weak and they are targeted for violence by morons who don't stop to think that just because a guy is wearing a dress he's not necessarily an easy target.

Men are now facing similar challenges to the ones that women faced almost 100 years ago. But there is hope. For every man who asserts his right to wear what clothing he pleases is one more man who is being the change he wishes to see in the world.

I found these pictures in a Time Life special. They were taken by a famous photographer, Alfred Eisenstaedt and they offer a very real insight into the evolution of women's clothes for men.

This first one is of Marlene Dietrich, in Berlin in 1928. Unashamedly and with a smile on her face she wore a top hat and tails to the annual press ball. Alfred notes: "At the annual Pressball in the famous Hotel Adlon, Dietrich wore tails and pants, which was unheard of at that time. She had to stand very still because the exposure was always between half a second and a second. If someone moved I had to take the picture over again."

Not only was Marlene considered one of the sexiest and most alluring women of her day, she was also a strong woman, a woman who did a great deal for women's rights simply by having the courage to wear men's clothing.

Ten years later, Alfred took this equally stunning photo of Katherine Hepburn, lounging in what most certainly appears to be a man's suit.

The main detractors of men wearing women's clothing claim that men shouldn't wear it because it's not made for them. You know why it isn't made for them? Because the demand isn't there yet. Back in the 1920s, they didn't make pant suits for women either, and Marlene is most definitely wearing 'men's clothing' in the picture featured above.

As men come to demand more feminine clothing, manufacturers will start making it and selling it. Then the argument that these 'womens' clothes are not made for men will be defunct. We will see skirts and dresses designed for men to wear and eventually, all those who currently giggle, express horror, or otherwise disagree with the notion that men should be able to wear whatever they want to wear will fade quietly into intolerant history along with segregationists and other unenlightened people with very little understanding of their own history.

Change came because women demanded it, change came because women did what needed to be done. If they wanted to wear something, they wore it, eventually it caught on and nowadays it is considered mundane and commonplace. The same revolution can occur in men's fashion and all it takes is for men to stand up and start claiming the clothing they wish to wear.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)