real talk (feminism, fatphobia, etc)
so i'm up too late icing down my shoulder watching trashy youtube videos and someone is tackling the question "is #lolitafashion feminist" (and the answer is yes thankfully) but it does cause one to ponder the subject
obviously i'm not coming from the same point of view as a japanese woman - different culture pressures - but to me it's very much yes, and very much linked to my exerting myself as, well, not just a woman, but a woman who is fat
real talk (feminism, fatphobia, etc)
the thing about being a woman is that misogyny expects you and demands that you shrink into the background - that you are small and fold yourself up to be more convenient for others to walk around. you don't demand things, you don't assert your needs, you don't take up space.
plus size women i think get a special extra emphasis on that pressure. you are Bad because you are Big. Proper Women are Not Big. Not Big Like You.
real talk (feminism, fatphobia, etc)
yknow what makes it clear as day that you ARE big? that you ARE going to take up space, and assert your needs, in just the sheer and basic way of taking up physical space and existing in the world?
putting on a motherfucking big-ass rufflybutt petticoat, and a dress that is going to stand out in just about any space you will ever go
real talk (feminism, fatphobia, etc)
and fashion is i think inherently transgressive and rebellious in some ways for any fat woman. if you look at the majority of options out there, ok, if you're 'small' for plus size, or 'fat cute', you can get some cute things. past about size 22 US though, and you have a wasteland.
and that wasteland is full of clothing meant to disguise the fact you are a person. better to be a walking tent. in black. always black. god forbid you have a COLOR in your life.
real talk (feminism, fatphobia, etc)
so rufflebutt stupid dress is not only saying "i am going to be here, and Real, and Big, and Take Up Space", but also, "i am not going to hide myself for your convenience. i am going to wear lace, and a tailored bodice, and pretty things. i will not hide in the black muumuu of shame because of that expectation."
"i will be who i am and not what you expect me to be."
and really - a woman making that statement - ain't that feminism as hell tho