So there's one comment I always hated receiving from men when wearing vintage. It's not obvious, not like a catcall, which can be easily responded to with a couple of fingers or colorful language. It's a creepy compliment.
"I wish women still dressed like that."
Now, if Tom Hiddleston said this to me 1. What am I doing hanging out with Tom Hiddleston there has to be more to that story. 2. I'd be too passed out to hear.
Nope, the kind of men I would hear that from were outwardly creepy. Not even a handsome creeper in disguise that gets away with that junk on a regular basis, just plain gross, which makes the comment even worse (though it's weird no matter who says it). Creepiest looking dude at the bus stop? Yeah he's going say that then strike up conversation with me about how he wishes his girlfriend would wear stocking like that. Thanks dude. Totally wanted to know that.
"I wish women still dressed like that" is not a compliment. They're not trying to flatter you with a genuine comment about your style or personality, it's basically an acceptable way of saying "I wish the values of the 50s were still in place today so I could be above you and you'd have no control over that."
yaaaay.
Now I've had similar comments that are not misogynistic in any way, such as "I wish more people would have that much fun with clothing nowadays." I mean it's kind of silly, just because you don't like the way people enjoy and experiment with fashion now, doesn't mean it's not happening. But it's not creepy.
After so many years of odd words and leering glances, you just kind of get tired of it. No, actually, you get bitter. Yeah ok I'm bitter. I still love standing out now and then because for me fashion is the ultimate form of self expression. But at this point I take pleasure in being a bit invisible day to day. I'm not a people person, I'm a people watcher, and I'd much rather observe the world go on around me than be forced to interact with someone I didn't choose to converse with in the first place. And never would.
So there you go, that's just a teeny fraction of the creepy sexist portion of vintage culture that no one really seems to bring up. I think it's just so acceptable, kind of a "comes with the territory" thing that nobody bothers. But as I said, I'm bitter. And my eyes are getting tired from rolling so much.
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You are welcome to read my response to the comments in this post here.
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You are welcome to read my response to the comments in this post here.