The power of fashion in feminist struggle

Today we celebrate The International Women's Day #8M, a day that I wish it did not have to be celebrated, but that exists to remind us of the need to create an egalitarian society where the role of women is just as important as that of men. A day to remind us, men and women, that we are entitled to the same opportunities regardless of gender. The fight for equality between men and women has had a special relevance in the last century. We have witnessed through history books, movies, documentaries or with our own eyes how more and more people have joined a movement that does not understand age, gender, politics or religion.

It´s true that this year in particular is a special year. Because of COVID19, we cannot go out to raise our voices so that they are well heard. However, not going out to demonstrate does not mean that we can still make ourselves sound. This year we want each other more alive than ever, so please, let's not put public health at risk, since we must not forget that this 8M day should be celebrated day by day.

Anyone who wants to support the role of women can do it in many ways, we all have “woman weapons” (like Melanie Griffith in the movie) to achieve it. We have social networks to echo us, to raise our virtual voice; we have our day to day to change our environment with small gestures, changing education and society, because changes are always generated from within; and we have fashion. Yes, fashion is also a very communicative tool, which, as I have said more times, reflects what society feels, thinks and experiences. Every day you can communicate with your outfit what you want, I invite you to do it today more than ever.

For this reason, I give you in this post, a brief review of how fashion has helped in the feminist struggle to support and vindicate the role of women. From the first suffragettes to the present, there have been numerous moments in history in which equal conditions have been claimed between people of different sexes and fashion has played a very important role.

As June said in the series "The Handmaid's Tale": "They shouldn't have given us a uniform if they didn't want us to become an army". There is no phrase that better summarizes the role that fashion has played in favor of feminism. Colors, cuts, innovative proposals, symbols, phrases ... nothing more has been needed to go one step further in women's rights. Here begins a small review of moments that marked the history of feminism through clothing:

• The suffrage movement occupies 100 years in which women fought for the female vote. A path that begins in 1848 until the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, where the vote of women was recognized for the first time as a fundamental right. To achieve this, the voices of many women were necessary, such as that of the activist Emmeline Pankhurst in Great Britain or Clara Campo Amor in Spain. Three were the colors that took on special prominence during that time. Purple, White and Green. Its main motto was Give Women the Vote (give women the vote), whose initials in English coincided with the initials of the colors Green (green), White (white), Violet (purple). Not only did they use them on the flags they carried in the marches but they also stamped it on the posters and on their clothing. Purple, a color that we still use to refer to this cause.

• But if there was a great designer willing to change women's clothing, that is Coco Chanel. At the height of the explosion of the 1920s and throughout her career, she was a great defender of the role of women in society, being one of the first women entrepreneurs, capable of surviving on her own without having to marry. As for fashion, she was the first to adapt the male wardrobe to the body of the woman to free her from ties such as the corset and facilitate the free movement of her body. Garments that allowed women to be beautiful, elegant and at the same time comfortable. It is to her that we owe the use of trousers, the knitted sweater, the sportchic style, the tweed jackets, the sailor outfit ... and a host of other garments.

• However, she was not the only one, Katharine Hepburn, one of the golden Hollywood actresses of the 30s, liked to go out of the way and not follow the norms of society. He did the same with his style. She always went for comfort but with a great touch of glamor. The pants became her great hallmark of presentation and we almost always saw her with some.

• In the 1940s, with a war in between, the role of working women was fundamental in order not to paralyze the economies of the countries. Since our men were marching to the front, women had to take command of the jobs to support their families. This was also affected by their clothing, reusing pants and utilitarian clothing, leaving aside silk skirts and stockings.

• Decades passed, and it was not until the 1960s that women reclaimed their role. The British designer joined in this claim and taught us to show off our legs to wear colored mini skirts and tights. That same decade, the designer Yves Saint Laurent, also empowered us a little more, adapting a garment as iconic as the tuxedo, to our body. It was in 1966 when he presented in his autumn / winter collection 'Le Smoking', this two-piece set that was an unprecedented fact that women have imitated in subsequent decades. Some like those of Diane Keaton, Catherine Deneuve, Alexa Chung, Nan Kempner, Angelina Jolie or Julia Roberts have been etched in our retina for posterity.

Since then, fashion, along with cinema or television, have shown us the communicative importance of a good outfit. So we can remember iconic moments of our times such as:

• Chanel fashion show in 2015, which surprised us with a parade as a demonstration, in which the models appeared carrying banners with feminist messages and trying to pay tribute to Coco Chanel, founder of the house and one of the great causes of the inclusion of trousers in the female wardrobe.

• The slogan of activist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's essay, we should all be feminist, gained special importance in 2017 when Dior creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri (the first woman to lead the firm) uploaded this T-shirt with that message on the catwalk in 2017. A statement of intentions that he dressed in fashion during that season and those to come.

• At the 2019 Roland Garros tournament, tennis player Serena Williams wore a suit with words like "mother", "queen" or "goddess" read in both French and English. A protest suit after the French tennis federation's ban on wearing sports suits in women's competitions.

• In 2018, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, became the youngest woman to reach Congress in the USA at just 29 years old. His age, his charisma, his attitude, his communication on social networks and his ideals have made a large part of his followers millennials. She knows about political tools and does not hesitate to use them. One of them is the transmission of political messages through his wardrobe. The most recurring color of his suits is white. She was sworn in at the beginning of 2018 dressed like this and has not hesitated to use it on other occasions in honor of the suffragettes of the early 20th century. However, Alexandria has not been the only one to use this white color in her public appearances. The most recent example is the outfit chosen by the vice president of the USA, Kamala Harris, who, during her first speech, also wore a white suit. In short, a historical nod to the suffrage movement so necessary today. #WomenWearWhite

Dear women, these are just a few examples that mark the importance of fashion as a communicative tool in the feminist struggle, but history books and movies are full of them. You too can use this powerful fashion tool today to change your environment. And to you, dear men, do not cut the wings of the women around you, encourage her to fly, together we can make a fairer and more equal world.

#InternationalWomensDay #equality #feminism #womensrights #girlspower #weruntheworld