Comments on: Future Feminism

By: Fiona

Fiona — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 12:53:00 +0000

I feel like the premise of this piece is being misconstrued a tiny bit. Though it definitely highlights on the idea of androgyny as the modern 'pretty', it's delivering it more as an informed option, rather then 'the word of God'. All it is saying is that you don't need to feel like you have to dress (up your face) to please, you no longer have to pander to the demands of society to look like you have a personal make up artist at your beck and call. I personally am not an every single day, can't let my boss/boyfriend/complete and total stranger see me without my face on, kind of girl. I feel exactly the same bare faced as I do sporting a look inspired by Priscilla Queen of the Desert. And that is what this is about, a nod to the woman behind the make up. In invitation to empower yourself. You are who you are not what wear (on your face or otherwise). All that aside, it is really just a season trend. Next fall everyone could be rocking bow lips, pastel eyeshadow and bouncing locks for miles. Trends are simply a spontaneous burst of across the board creatively, not a declaration of what is demanded of you. Enjoy the moment and appreciate the art.

By: Liz

Liz — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 01:57:00 +0000

I agree with you. I think women spend way too much time and money on their appearance. It's nice to look polished, but I know so many girls these days whose only hobbies are shopping and primping, working out and going on dates. It's one thing to look presentable, but not at the expense of being an interesting person. As someone who was a teen in the 90s when girls were actually doing things like being in bands and writing zones, I think there's something to be said for trying less hard and moving away from materialistic, superficial crap.

By: chantelle

chantelle — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 07:21:00 +0000

I like that you guys brought this up. I agree with embracing a women's natural look, but by making it more masculine we are again going back to the old ways of "women must dress and look like men in order to be taken seriously". I think a couple studies were done in the corporate sector on female fashion, and its relation to respect. Unfortunately, wearing pretty, figure flattering business clothing and putting on nice make-up, thereby rendering one more "attractive", caused a decrease in respect for the women, and less upward mobility. We need to change this mind frame, where regardless of how a women dresses or looks, it should not have an effect on her power and impact in whatever career she chooses to go into. Hence, making a girl more "boyish" is something I don't agree with because it goes back to gender roles and conformity. [Sorry about the ramble.]

By: Adrienne Angelos

Adrienne Angelos — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 03:48:00 +0000

Love this article, love the discussion that it has sparked. These are the kinds of things that are important to consider.

By: daphne

daphne — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 18:17:00 +0000

I agree. I actually found this piece full of hypocrisy and counterintuitive. So a woman who lends boyish, masculine and androgynous traits=intelligent and powerful? A woman who lends traditionally feminine traits such as softness and prettiness=not as intelligent, powerful as the woman who lends the boyish, masculine and androgynous traits? So a woman can only be be intelligent or appear so if she adopts the gender norms of a man and not a woman. I understand that this piece is supposed to celebrate women but it only furthers gender constructs of "this is masculine" and "this is feminine" and all the traits that go under those two categories. This type of thinking only instigates judgements against women based on her traits an not her individuality. So the new "powerful" look is just as demeaning as the old "pretty" look; Neither look is individual. Ever hear comments about how a woman with full breasts is not as intelligent as a woman who has less full breasts? If you have, you should realize that the logic comes from the same premise as this piece.

By: Sophie

Sophie — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 04:57:00 +0000

Future Feminism is a actually a term coined by revolutionary artist Kembra Pfahler, a close friend of Antony's. She is absolutely brilliant.

By: babs

babs — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 03:43:00 +0000

“It’s not about major glamour, ‘cause it’s a bit tacky, and a bit vulgar now. It’s about a return to intelligence, for women to be taken seriously and not look like dolls." Great, a man telling women what is tacky and what they have to look like in order to be taken seriously. We've come such a long way. I know you think you're liberating us, Eugene, but what you've done is given us exactly "a man’s view of what a woman should look like". Telling any woman to lose the jewels, lose the mascara, etc is denying her autonomy, just as it would be unpalatable for all women to be told to wear nothing but jewels and mascara. Allow us our own choices, please. It shouldn't even have to be said but women are all very different and to profess that one aesthetic is more "intelligent" than another, with no reference to a woman's actual intelligence, is profoundly unintelligent. I don't immediately judge a woman with a red lip as stupid and neither should anyone else.

By: Max

Max — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 00:47:00 +0000

Antony is trans, babe

By: DNA (designers+artists)

DNA (designers+artists) — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 22:04:00 +0000

Absolutely love this!!

http://www.designers-artists.com

By: Alexa

Alexa — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 18:12:00 +0000

Thank you for this piece—completely resonated with me—I don't think there's anything wrong with handsome beauty (which is still about beauty, I think we're just talking about the word 'pretty' and what that means). I like the idea of redefining strength in feminine terms all together and I'm totally into the way fall collections were relating this new, intelligent woman clad in bespoke style. It's about time, no?