【Gender Observation】World Denim Day: After being quilted, the court said that the jeans were very tight, and I took them off voluntarily

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"She's wearing skinny jeans."

Black and white photo, the girl has her back to the camera and looks forward. This is not a fashion advertisement, but a preview of the "Denim Day" event launched by the American NGO Peace Over Violence.

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Every year on the last Wednesday of April, World Denim Day is celebrated and encourages everyone to wear jeans on this day as a gender political statement. This is not an intention of businessmen to promote, but a spontaneous protest by the people. Because there was a girl in the world who wore skinny jeans when she was caught, the judge said that she was voluntary.

World Denim Day has a history

It happened more than twenty years ago.

In Italy in 1992, an 18-year-old girl participated in a driving class, and in the first class, she was taken to the wilderness by a 45-year-old coach and dragged out of the car and sexually assaulted. Afterwards, the coach said that if he dared to tell others, he would kill her. That night, the frightened and frightened girl decided to tell her parents.

The family decided to file a complaint. The man was charged with the crime and served his sentence in prison. A few years later, the man appealed again, this time saying that the two of them had consensual sex. The Supreme Court unexpectedly overturned the original conviction and released the man. The reason?

The Supreme Court at the time said: "Because the victim wore very, very tight jeans, she had to help him remove them... and by removing the jeans... it was no longer rape but consensual sex.）。」

After the verdict came out, it triggered a strong backlash from public opinion. This is known as the "jeans alibi". A large number of people put on jeans in solidarity with the girl, and finally the Italian government had to amend the relevant sexual assault regulations. As media coverage spread, the incident was spread across the globe.

In 1999, the world's first Denim Day was held in Los Angeles, and every year since then, people have worn jeans on this day to oppose this culture of over-interpreting women's clothing.

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Jeans from 1999, leggings from 2019

Because the pants are very tight, as long as you are quilted, you must be voluntary. Is there a decrease in such a thing, in 2019? The jeans incident of the 90s happened to be staged again recently this year. This time, the main character switched to leggings.

The New York Times reported that in March this year, a mother who claimed to be a devout Catholic, Marianne. Maryann White wrote to the campus newspaper of the University of Notre Dame, one of the top Catholic schools in the United States, saying that girls should reduce the "leggings" that have become popular in recent years for fear that men will lust for them.

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Vox compiled the article titled "The legging problem" (The legging problem) reads: "I wonder why no one has ever questioned the fashion industry why they make this kind of clothing that allows women to freely expose their private parts like this." And "I think all men can't help but look at their buttocks because of this."

At the end of the letter, the mother blamed the problem of leggings on something that only women could solve. White wrote, "The women who wear them as exhibitionists forcing young boys to confront their blackly naked rear ends."

Such content immediately caused an uproar. Notre Dame students immediately launched Leggings Day, wearing leggings to protest an open letter that intended to blame the culture on women's clothing.

The subsequent discussion began to focus on whether leggings are pants or not.

As a fashionable athleisure wear (athleisure), the proponents believe that it is just ordinary everyday wear. Just like we go out in white shoes and T-shirts, it's no big deal. Even during the protest, some students said, "Too many people are wearing leggings, and I can't figure out who is here to protest and who is just wearing it."

Some opponents believe that leggings are not pants, and if they are worn to expose the buttocks and pussy lines, they are informal or even obscene. Some high schools prohibit students from wearing leggings on the grounds that they are "not formal enough".

In this regard, the Washington Post made an incisive insight: "This whole discussion has gone far beyond the clothing itself, but the conversation between gender and social norms between generations (The debate is more than a conversation about clothing. It’s a conversation about gender and social norms across generations.）。」

Too tight must be agreeable, too close to the curve, why is the clothing always an excuse

Some people may think that this matter has nothing to do with gender, but only aesthetic differences. It's just that everyone is discussing whether the clothes look good in this way.

But take it one level further and ask yourself - is it really gender-agnostic?

The mother in 2019 believed that it was unsightly for a girl to wear leggings. What could be the reason behind it? It is definitely not just unsightly, but also worried and afraid, and you will be watched, ridiculed, and even bullied by men.

In 2015, Fox made a video trying to humiliate women in leggings. They first found three male guests to discuss whether they would let their daughter go out in leggings. "Unless she wears a longer top to cover her private parts (lady part)" "They're all small, I think it's okay." "But think about the future! What will she look like!" Later in the film, the host invited several women to wear different styles of leggings, and they immediately changed their words to express their support and even made mocking language. "Black is fine, purple is not." "Calm down, think about it, this is your daughter."

But if you don't want your daughters to be treated like this and therefore refuse to wear leggings, why would you treat other women in this way?

From the jeans incident in 1992 to the leggings incident in 2019 - jeans that are too tight means you must be consensual, and leggings that are too conforming to the curve of the buttocks are sexual invitations - we want to ask, why does women's clothing always become an excuse for a rational rape culture?

Until the myth of victims is put aside, no piece of clothing can be "resistant to sexual assault"

Regarding the leggings incident and the discussion of "whether leggings are pants or not", the New York Times commented: "This is an act of torture of life and death on the soul of the garment (because it really is)". Moreover, it is a fear that radiates with the "fear of the female body" as the core. (Read more: Breaking the Myth of Sexual Assault: Whatever I Wear Is Not an Excuse for Sexual Violence)

We always make various interpretations of women's clothing, and for some reason, the core is almost always "this dress means she is inviting me". Clothing does have its symbolic meaning, but in fact it represents an invitation or a refusal, whether I am having a bad day or I just want to show my figure, it should be for the person concerned to express himself, rather than over-interpreting it by others.

In 2018, there was an exhibition in Belgium called "What do you wear?" (What Were You Wearing), showing the clothing worn by the victim of sexual assault at the time of the incident. The results were surprising, in addition to hot pants, vests, swimsuits, ordinary dresses and T-shirts, including even a six-year-old girl's clothing.

I hope that one day, whether everyone in the world wears skinny jeans, a close-fitting vest, a dress or yoga pants, they will not be considered a victim "as a result", and no one will ask people to wear only certain clothes in the name of safety.

After all, as long as there is such a victim myth in the world, no piece of clothing is safe. (Further reading: No matter how short the skirt is, no one "should" be violated)