Regarding men and women wearing different clothes, I think we have to point out that for the vast majority of cultures and periods, both men and women wore robes. Naturally, the robes were styled somewhat differently, and ornaments were different, but it's not as if there was as radical a difference as there is between pants and dresses/skirts. One sees this archaic mode surviving in proper clerical dress, where the men wear cassocks or albs, and in monastic life, where the habit is a hooded robe.
The point is, yes there should be differentiation, but the form of the robe as such, a cloth draped over the body, is neither masculine nor feminine. It's simply the most elegant way to cover the body, and, incidentally, is flattering to almost any figure.
True, but there’s always been some differentiation--the next post will make that clear. Because even in cultures where men and women had to--or were allowed to--dress very similarly, the sexes tend to at certain times choose distinct clothing elements that identify their sex.
Yes, absolutely! My only point is that pants vs. dresses are not the only way, and historically not even the primary way, to distinguish between male and female attire.
Thanks for this fine article.
Regarding men and women wearing different clothes, I think we have to point out that for the vast majority of cultures and periods, both men and women wore robes. Naturally, the robes were styled somewhat differently, and ornaments were different, but it's not as if there was as radical a difference as there is between pants and dresses/skirts. One sees this archaic mode surviving in proper clerical dress, where the men wear cassocks or albs, and in monastic life, where the habit is a hooded robe.
The point is, yes there should be differentiation, but the form of the robe as such, a cloth draped over the body, is neither masculine nor feminine. It's simply the most elegant way to cover the body, and, incidentally, is flattering to almost any figure.
True, but there’s always been some differentiation--the next post will make that clear. Because even in cultures where men and women had to--or were allowed to--dress very similarly, the sexes tend to at certain times choose distinct clothing elements that identify their sex.
Yes, absolutely! My only point is that pants vs. dresses are not the only way, and historically not even the primary way, to distinguish between male and female attire.