Women’s dress expresses social stance but is still constrained within the established order

Evidence

The act of changing one’s attire to disrupt the gaze reveals that although there is a power dynamic in these social interactions, Muslim American women still exert some agency in response to their surveillance. By altering their appearances, Muslim women are trying to limit their racial experiences in public spaces. The uncomfortable gaze and the scowling looks create a hostile environment they have to navigate. Ironically, Muslim women feel they lack choice or free will in how they dress not because Muslim men oppress them, but because they are under the watchful eye of their fellow citizens. — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 521 (#expands, via linked claim)

Through envious or admiring approbation, woman seeks an absolute affirmation of her beauty, her elegance, her taste: of herself. She dresses to display herself; she displays herself to make herself be. She thus submits herself to a painful dependence; the housewife’s devotion is useful even if it is not recognized; the effort of the fashion-conscious woman is in vain unless consciousness is involved. She is looking for a definitive valorization of herself; it is this attempt at the absolute that makes her quest so exhausting; criticized by only one voice—this hat is not beautiful—she is flattered by a compliment, but a contradiction demolishes her; and as the absolute only manifests itself in an indefinite series of appearances, she will never have entirely won; this is why the fashion-conscious woman is sensitive; it is also why some pretty and much-admired women can be sadly convinced they are neither beautiful nor elegant, that this supreme approbation of an unknown judge is exactly what is missing: they are aiming for an in-itself that is unrealizable. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1582 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Fashion restraints function less to beautify than to render women’s bodies powerless — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 351; Women alter dress to escape the citizen gaze, not male oppression — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 521; The hostile gaze of fellow citizens pressures women to alter their dress. (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Muslim women alter their dress in response to fellow citizens’ surveillance, not male oppression #expands (0.85)
• Women alter dress to escape the citizen gaze, not male oppression #expands (0.82) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 521
• Dressing for display makes women dependent on others’ recognition for self-worth #expands (0.80) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1582
• Preindustrial urban dress law encoded rank through fabric, color, and hair length #exemplifies (0.80)
• The hostile gaze of fellow citizens pressures women to alter their dress. #complicates (0.78)