With the COVID-19 vaccine rolling out, this Fall is the first time in a year and a half that many college students have gotten to go out to parties again and have somewhat normal social lives. Because of this, many female-identifying college students are getting back into dressing up to go out – as opposed to wearing sweats 24/7, or simply not changing out of pajamas (as I often did). And, as is often the case for college parties, female-identifying students sometimes like to wear revealing outfits, which often leads men to (illogically) believe that they have been given consent to touch and take advantage of these women.
Here’s the point: clothing is not consent. Women don’t get dressed every morning (or evening) thinking “what would the men at this event like me to wear?”. This is the 21st century, boys. The male gaze isn’t trendy anymore.
With Gen-Z’s progressive attitudes, women dress for themselves now more than ever. A woman in a mini skirt or short shorts doesn’t equate to “feel free to touch my butt.” These fashion choices, if anything, communicate that this woman feels comfortable in her body and is confident about the way she looks. Or maybe it just means that it’s hot out and she is not about to overheat for the sake of not distracting men.
Unfortunately, even though college parties have just recently gotten back to their normal routine, many college men have also already gotten back to theirs: sexual harassment and drink spiking. Just in the couple of months since the Fall quarter has started, there have already been incidents of these vile crimes. This makes me wonder: do the women’s outfits have anything to do with it? And if so, why do men still believe that a woman’s outfit speaks for her?
Whether or not fashion choices had something to do with the occurrence of these crimes, the attitude that clothing is consent needs to be extinguished once and for all. Society as a whole has to dispose of the words and ideas of “slut” and “whore” because a woman should be able to dress however she wants to dress without fear of judgement, ridicule, or harassment. Is it really too much to ask to be able to dress up in a “sexy” outfit for a party without getting groped? And even just to wear a cropped tank top in eighty-degree weather without getting the side-eye? It shouldn’t be.