blogger profile

Chloe Angyal

Student/Intern/Writer

Chloe Angyal is a senior majoring in Sociology at Princeton University. Raised in Sydney, Australia, Chloe aspires to be a writer, a voice for her generation, and an all-around good person. In her spare time, she loves to dance, sing, ice skate, drink good wine, eat good food, rock out to bad music ...

READ MORE

Pay an Arm and a Leg to Get on Your Knees

I said in my last post that if I were to write about every sexist beauty product and commercial out there, I’d be old and grey by the time I was done. I’m certainly not going to attempt to catalogue the canon of cosmetics, with its litany of accompanying advertisements – from anti-aging products to “miracle” crash diets, most of which target women – but as I’m on a roll, today I’m taking on fashion.
    Specifically, one particular pair of leggings in Lindsay Lohan’s supposedly highly anticipated line of skin-tight pant-substitutes*. They’re called “Mr. President”, and as you can see, they have built in kneepads.

First of all, I’m assuming that’s a Monica Lewinsky joke, and those haven’t been funny since 1997. So way to strike while the iron’s hot, Lindsay.
    Next, I can’t help but see the sexism, not so much in the title of the leggings (which, if you look past the sexism for a second, is actually pretty funny), but in their design. We live in a culture where women are constantly being told that they’re not valuable unless they’re sexually alluring and available to men. The message that a woman’s worth depends on what she looks like, or put another way, how much men want to have sex with her, is one we hear loud and clear, over and over, every day of our lives. And a pair of leggings with built in knee-pads, with the implication that the woman wearing them is always equipped to get on her knees and sexually serve a man whenever the mood strikes, certainly isn’t helping.
    Finally, the leggings cost US$132. So not only are women being asked to be complicit in the suggestion that they’re always blowjob-ready, they’re also being asked to pay a three-figure sum for it. Sexism isn’t just ubiquitous: it’s apparently very expensive.

*This author in no way supports the substitution of pants with leggings. Leggings are not pants. They are not viable pant alternatives. Lacking a fly, a button and leaving nothing to the imagination, they cannot be considered pants. I have very strong feelings on this issue. Unfortunately, few Hollywood starlets share them.