All Dolled Up: Women Empowerment or Modern Day Sexism?

Illustrations by Mai Manaloto Taynton
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I dress to impress… myself. I love the way my kabuki brush set caress my cheeks, the decadent armory my lace brassiere emulates, and how my monogram designer handbag elates me. All these delightful effort made me think about the “dolled-up” aesthetic I eagerly want to achieve. The Barbie doll look exudes feminine style, thin, tanned, and long hair aesthetic. A look that is as feminized as it could possibly be with its’ muse being the iconic fashionista, Barbie who is unapologetically female. With the role of fashion as a tool for self-expression and individuality, why would most women like myself want to look the same, all dolled-up like Barbie? I found myself pondering whether the dolled-up aesthetic a form of women empowerment or modern day sexism.

During the middle ages women had little or no part to play in society at large, only domesticated roles apply. Marriage was a career path for women, holding a position of a wife and being promoted to a mother was ideal. By the 18^th century the idea of women is defined by her male partner with her relationship with him significantly determines her value. And the more successful the man, the more valuable she becomes. Fast forward to the 21^st century, women are still fond of successful men. However, having a sought-after accomplished man brings with it fret and insecurity. The female partner may be bothered by all the attention and possibly flirtation her man gets from other women. As a result, she becomes enormously well groomed, careful about her look, and turns into a picture of perfection such as Barbie to eliminate competition. Consciously or not, perhaps why women get all dolled-up is because they are aware that part of their role is to boost their partners’ masculinity. This presents an underlying concept much like the middle ages, that women’s status still centers around possession and being part of the masculine package. The package being, if you are a successful man, you get access to beautiful objects.

But is it really all about gender power play when it comes to dainty dressing? In my personal opinion, I don’t think so. It is such a narrow mindset to still view women as objects and a disservice to judge a woman because she chooses to embrace her sexuality through her looks. It teaches us to believe that a woman’s sense of self is shameful when instead it should be taught that a woman’s body and how to portray it is her business. It is best to not project what you’d like to think or assume sexism is at play when someone decides to dress a certain way because you are most likely mistaken. Sure, there can be an underlying element of patriarchy system in place when women decide to look extremely feminine but at the same time it is a choice. And isn’t the fundamental principal of feminism choice. Fashion is a powerful tool and it’s a space where women dominates with a market valued at 1.5 trillion dollars by 2020. Fashion can also be a language and it speaks for itself (check-out the figure) – even encouraging the well being of all women. There are many factors why women choose their wardrobe, however women decide to dress it is still a form of choice she made for herself.

Empowerment is all about confidence and fashion is a perfect tool to reflect that. Power dressing can elevate this by creating sartorial confidence. Sartorial confidence can be achieved in simple ways such as adding flare to women style by wearing key accessories that enriches simple clothing – this is also called an enhancer which instantly adds flamboyance to everyday wear. Anyone with a love for fashion will not deny the reality that clothing help boost their spirit, talent, and skills within regardless of what type of aesthetic it is – even the dolled-up Barbie look with its revealing clothing style. Regardless of the motivation behind why women wears a certain look, it’s worth noting that when it comes to body and self expression, each of us has the right to explore it and present it however we like and to suggest otherwise is to imply that it is inferior to do so and a form of deprivation of basic enjoyable human experience. Learning to accept that women are solely responsible for their individual appearance will be a big step in the right direction.

The problem with modern day feminism is instead of respecting other women’s sartorial and lifestyle choices, it promotes public shaming and judgment. This is the mistake with modern feminist. We do not accept that our sensuality and sex appeal as an asset and instead portrayed as a weakness. It also failed to recognize that not all docile and dainty women are powerless, when in truth femininity itself is power. Power is influence, it gives the ability to set the course of your own life and provide opportunities to rule, be free, to buy, to own and to create. For a long time, women have been led to believe that being feminine is a weakness, when if fact it is a strength. This is the case because the traditional visible models of what constitute as power are inherently masculine such as achievement, progress, muscles, and money. This definition does not necessarily apply to women because we do not present our strength through our bank account and material wealth. Instead, we release varied forms of force such as energy, intellect, character, connection and relationship. These are invisible forms of power and therefore, not valued as much because they can’t be quantified. 

Competition is key in masculine power play because the male approach to success has to be measurable, otherwise it can’t be quantified and compared. But for women, how do we measure the subtle ways of influence and living a life that feels good rather than a life that looks good? How do we measure love, care, deep connection and bonds? These are important areas women excel at and we’ve always had feminine power which has equal weight as masculine power. The key to being an empowered female is being authentic to yourself and understanding that there is no use competing with men because we do not have their bodies, physical strength, and different biological and emotional built. We do however get to dress-up, wear make-up, be emotional, have endless possibility as professionals and all other feminine things men can’t do.

A new paradigm for the artificial is submerging with dolled-up empowered women at centerline. A woman’s decision to explore fashion has nothing to do with her personal worth and morals. It simply is just a choice to express who she is, how she feels and a sense of personal style. She may be trying on a new style or got a new pair of heels. A woman’s attire also does not signify attention seeking nor is it a form of invitation or consent to sexual activity. So many are so quick to judge and shame women on the basis of physical appearance and it is disparaging. When we are so quick to judge and assume perhaps it’s best to consider our own insecurities because it could hinder us from seeing a dolled-up lady for her bravery and unapologetic feminine self-preference. The simple truth to this topic is most often women present themselves in ways that make them feel good about themselves. She likes how she looks on that outfit with her make-up and hair extensions on. She doesn’t do it for her man, the community or to please her peers. It is just for herself and personal pleasure. We don’t need to overcomplicate motives for wanting to look like a Barbie doll. Besides women make their own money now and are free to buy whatever they fancy.