Feminist Fashion - is this possible?

I like to shop. I like to dress up. I'm also a feminist. I always thought the two couldn't go together, in part because of the fashion industry's exploitation and objectification of women.
I'm interested in the idea that people, especially women, can use clothing to express themselves.
Maybe clothing, and other forms of visible self-expression, can actually be empowering.

I'm interested in learning more about the cultural significance of clothing in different countries as well as our own, and also the issue of how clothing is produced in today's world. I'm also interested in how women can use their representation of self to reclaim and celebrate their bodies, in a world that pressures them to believe they are imperfect.

A cool website I found is called Feminist Fashion Bloggers. It gives links to other blogs where the authors talk about issues such as body policing, what it means to dress "feminist," and how they have learned to love their bodies.

International Feminist Sites

When looking for more information on feminist issues, it's important to remember that we live in an increasingly globalized world. Much of the published, academic information out there on feminism is written from a Western viewpoint. To get a better picture of what feminism looks like worldwide, we have to look for global information.

The first feminist international site I visited was called The F-Word. It is a site about feminism based in the UK. All the articles on their home page featured content I would find interesting. They didn't have many pictures or other gadgets, just mostly articles. The issues in the articles were very diverse. The first thing I read was a blog entry about a woman who didn't want to have children. She wrote about she was tired of always being asked if she wanted children, and in order to escape judgement she felt like she had to give the reason that she just didn't like kids. It got a large number of comments. It was easy to read, and publicized the author going on a talk show to debate the issue. Another article I read was about the development of "pink Viagra" and how a woman did a documentary covering it's release. It was interesting because it got into the issue of female sexuality and how scientists get confused when trying to measure it because we are not inverted men.

The second site I visited was a South African site called Women's Net. It was a professional looking site that encourages equality for women and girls and an end to violence. The site had links to blogs, events, and other affiliated networks. The site has bright colors and pictures. One article I looked at was about how South Africa is ahead of most of the world in the percentage of women holding senior positions in business. The article talked about how women need to use this power to help shape the future. It also discussed how few women globally do hold senior positions.

Technology can be powerful and it's great that feminists globally are accessing this resource. Women globally do share many of the same issues, as well as many differences, and sharing experiences can promote unity and maybe ultimately lead to women all over the world feeling empowered.