The Corsets and Codpieces Podcast: Recent Episodes
Becca
A look at the differences between men’s and women’s clothes using fashion history. Why are men's and women's clothes different?
Any piece of clothing is just cloth until we, as humans, assign meaning to it. These meanings are fluid and changing all the time. Things that seem so concrete now, weren’t always that way. I want to dive deep and see why we have these meanings and deconstruct them. Knowing where these meanings come from can allow each person to decide for themselves if the meanings hold value for them, hopefully allowing more freedom in dress.
We know men and women's clothes have different sized pockets. Why is this? Turns out it wasn't always this way. What happened?
What we use to signify gender in our clothing turns into a reflection of the culture and society we stem from.
I found more information! I had to share what I learned! So this is Part 2: The "Why". I can't wait to learn even more. Thank you for coming on this journey of curiosity with me, lovely listener.
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References:
https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/patriarchy-and-matriarchy
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2015/4/11/1376465/-Matriarchy-vs-Patriarchy
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1344762
Conversing on Gender By: GG Bolich
https://books.google.ca/books?id=jxtMLGIdQ8cC&pg=PA295&dq=matriarchal+dress&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi71fbOldjpAhWN4J4KHUDQCaYQ6AEIQjAD#v=onepage&q=matriarchal%20dress&f=false
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/proof/2017/08/portraits-of-chinese-Mosuo-matriarchs/
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1179/1041257315Z.00000000073?journalCode=yexm20
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So because I like to torture myself I have decided to do one of the largest, most politically charged topics in a 20 minute episode. I wanted to get a lightening fast overview of patriarchal influences over fashion so that when I do my next episode about fashion under matriarchal societies, I have something to compare it to. Fashion history under patriarchy is so undeniably linked to feelings about women's sexuality so this episode reviews that before and during patriarchy and how we are still try to untangle it today.
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References:
https://www.michaelhhallett.com/the-rise-and-fall-of-patriarchy-in-womens-fashion-part-i/
https://www.michaelhhallett.com/the-rise-and-fall-of-patriarchy-in-womens-fashion-part-ii/
https://www.michaelhhallett.com/brief-history-shame/
https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/women-politics-dress-code-patriarchy_l_5d8ba3d6e4b01c02ca627f9c
https://feminisminindia.com/2019/05/31/womens-clothes-and-patrirarchy/
https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2018/apr/25/ask-hadley-fashions-male-gaze
https://www.ctvnews.ca/lifestyle/manifestation-of-patriarchy-the-surprising-feminist-history-of-women-s-pockets-1.4225553
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jun/22/the-age-of-patriarchy-how-an-unfashionable-idea-became-a-rallying-cry-for-feminism-today
https://warwick.ac.uk/services/library/mrc/archives_online/exhibitions/newwoman/rational/;
https://helenrappaport.com/footnotes/rational-dress/
https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2018-04940-001
High heels seem so wrapped up in gender but they are just shoes until history happens. Come and unpack it with me and learn how it became to be this way.
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References:
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/heels-history-men
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-heeled_shoe
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-13/why-do-we-wear-high-heeled-shoes/9135936
https://qz.com/quartzy/1317090/its-enlightenment-philosophys-fault-that-women-wear-high-heels-instead-of-men/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/ideas/videos/can-fashion-ever-be-sustainable/p07n7630?playlist=fashion
https://www.today.com/style/surprisingly-functional-reason-high-heels-were-invented-t100969
https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2019/mar/20/sex-power-oppression-why-women-wear-high-heels
http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20190509-is-it-the-end-for-high-heels
Let us continue our look through history at different stories about women who dressed as men. A monk, a Civil War spy and a forbidden love.
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References:
Overall:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_cross-dressing
https://www.ranker.com/list/women-disguised-as-men-in-history/katiefustich
Joan of Arc:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_Arc
https://www.history.com/topics/middle-ages/saint-joan-of-arc
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Joan-of-Arc
https://www.ancient.eu/Joan_of_Arc/
http://qspirit.net/joan-of-arc-cross-dressing-lgbtq/
https://history.howstuffworks.com/history-vs-myth/joan-of-arc-trial.htm
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/501179/how-cross-dressing-helped-send-joan-arc-stake
http://archive.joan-of-arc.org/joanofarc_male_clothing.html
Rena “Rusty” Kanokogi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rena_Kanokogi
https://jwa.org/weremember/kanokogi-rusty
https://jwa.org/thisweek/nov/24/2008/rusty-kanokogi
Elisa Sanchez Loriga
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_same-sex_marriage_in_Spain
https://translate.google.ca/translate?hl=en&sl=ca&u=https://directa.cat/elisa-i-marcela-la-increible-historia-dun-matrimoni-entre-dones-a-la-galicia-del-1901/&prev=search
Marina the Monk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_the_Monk
http://catholicsaints.info/saint-marina-of-bithynia/
https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2017/02/12/100508-venerable-mary-who-was-called-marinus-and-her-father-venerable-e
https://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/outcasts/downloads/betancourt_transgender_lives.pdf
Sarah Emma Edmonds
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Emma_Edmonds
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sarah-Edmonds
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/sarah-emma-edmonds
https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1993/spring/women-in-the-civil-war-2.html
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sarah-edmonds-frank-thompson
Let us look through history and different stories about women who dressed as men. Swashbuckling pirates, the Wild West and ancient Egypt await!
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References:
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/17735/8-historical-crossdressers-women-mans-world
https://interlude.hk/lesbian-diva-swordswoman-julie-daubigny-aka-mademoiselle-maupin/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_cross-dressing
https://www.ranker.com/list/women-disguised-as-men-in-history/katiefustich
https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/hatshepsut
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/50076/why-did-egyptian-pharaohs-wear-false-beards
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatshepsut
https://people.wku.edu/haiwang.yuan/China/tales/mulan.htm
https://people.wku.edu/haiwang.yuan/China/tales/mulan.htm
https://allthatsinteresting.com/hua-mulan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hua_Mulan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Bonny
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Anne-Bonny
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/if-theres-a-man-among-ye-the-tale-of-pirate-queens-anne-bonny-and-mary-read-45576461/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_d%27Aubignyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_d%27Aubigny
https://www.factinate.com/people/facts-julie-daubigny/
https://interlude.hk/lesbian-diva-swordswoman-julie-daubigny-aka-mademoiselle-maupin/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charley_Parkhurst
http://www.metroactive.com/papers/cruz/03.05.03/charley-0310.html
Why are men's and women's clothing sized differently? Why is women's sizing so confusing? What happened to standard sizing and custom sizing?
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Resources:
https://fashion-incubator.com/why-isnt-womens-clothing-sized-like-mens-pt-2/
https://fashion-incubator.com/why-isnt-womens-clothing-sized-like-mens/
https://www.today.com/style/jeans-don-t-fit-here-s-explanation-inconsistency-women-s-t100419
https://time.com/how-to-fix-vanity-sizing/
I take a look into the purpose of corsets, a quick history of them, some historical misconceptions that made me giggle a little, their ties to feminism and the history of men in corsets too.
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References:
Pink and Blue: Telling the Boys from the Girls in America By Jo B Paoletti
https://www.britannica.com/topic/corset https://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/03/how-looser-corsets-helped-women-get-the-right-to-vote/274057/ https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/25/t-magazine/fashion/corset-history-feminism.html https://foundationsrevealed.com/articles/corset-making/health/562-busting-corset-myths https://foundationsrevealed.com/index-of-articles/corsetry/corsetpatterns/158-corseting-the-male-form https://glamorouscorset.com/articles/do-men-wear-corsets/
A look at the evolution of pink and blue as gender signifiers in the last century in North America
References:
"Pink and Blue: Telling the Boys from the Girls in America" by Jo B. Paoletti
https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/12/health/colorscope-pink-boy-girl-gender/index.html
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/when-did-girls-start-wearing-pink-1370097/
A short introduction telling you what the podcast is all about. Why do men and women wear different clothes? Where does that come from? Any piece of clothing is just cloth until we, as humans, assign meaning to it. These meanings are fluid and changing all the time. Things that seem so concrete now, weren’t always that way. I want to dive deep and see why we have these meanings and deconstruct them. Knowing where these meanings come from can allow each person to decide for themselves if the meanings hold value for them, hopefully allowing more freedom in dress.