When we learned that the ‘sexism
suit’ recently sold for $6,500, Luxe Models was reminded that women are
judged far more harshly than their male counterparts when it comes to what they
wear.
Society Judges Women More Severely Than Men
When you see a woman in an
unflattering shade of puce, or sporting a dress cut in a particular way, what
do you think? For the most people, the answer to that question unfortunately is
often ‘god she looks awful.’
The society in which we live
judges women more severely than men, especially when it comes to their
wardrobe. A male Australian TV presenter strove to make that point clear over
the last year by wearing the same suit on air for 365 days.
Nobody Noticed, Nobody Cared
According to the Independent,
Australian presenter Karl Stefanovic of the Nine Network’s Today Show, kick-started his experiment by wearing the blue suit on
air for a couple of days in a row.
Nobody noticed, nobody cared. He
tried doing it for month; nobody noticed, nobody cared. Then he strove to carry
on the experiment for a year, revealing it only recently. Nobody noticed,
nobody cared. They did care, and frequently comment on, what his female
co-anchor was wearing.
No One Gives a Sh*t
Commenting on the reaction to his
experiment to Fairfax Media, Stefanovic said that “no one has noticed; no one
gives a sh*t.” He expanded the point by talking about the reactions to his
female co-anchor’s wardrobe choices, saying:
“Women, they wear the wrong
colour and they get pulled up. They say the wrong thing and there’s thousands
of tweets written about them. Women are judged much more harshly and more
keenly for what they do, what they say and what they wear.”
Someone Paid $6,500 for a Knock Off Stanky Burberry Suit!
Stefanovic’s efforts to raise
awareness of the issue have now stepped up a gear. Recently, he auctioned the
suit off on EBay, raising $6,500 for White Ribbon – a campaign designed to help
end violence towards women.
In advertising what has come to
be dubbed the ‘sexism suit,’ Stefanovic described the “knock off” Burberry
number as “super
comfy, super stylist, super cool.” Although he added that it may need a good
dry cleaning, as after a year of use it may be “a little bit stanky.” With a
blurb like that, whoever paid $6,500 for this suit must really dig Stefanovic’s
campaign!
Shedding Light on a Problem Women Have Faced Over and Over Again
A campaign which seeks to shed
light to a problem women have faced over and over again at every point in their
lives. When a woman dons her outfit, she knows she’s more likely to receive
criticism for what she’s wearing than a man would, and that’s a problem that as
a society we need to address.
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