#and just like insufferable crypto bros wear jeans so do activists fighting the environmental damage crypto could cause | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

marzipanandminutiae · 1 year

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man I wish there were a more nuanced way to talk about dress history’s darker sides without like.

making people feel guilty for thinking the clothes were pretty.

to be clear, I don’t mean this in the Conservative Pundit sense where literally any criticism of white/cis/straight/male privilege and its negative effects on society makes them cry about being Laden With Unfair Guilt(TM). I mean like...I don’t know. this Gotcha attitude I see sometimes that’s like

“think this dress is pretty? well IT CAME FROM A HORRIFIC SYSTEM SO THINK AGAIN, BOZO! BET YOU DON’T LIKE IT SO MUCH NOW HUH???”

obviously we should talk about the horrific systems (many many of them) in the past. if a garment was made from fibers processed by enslaved people, and sewn by teenage seamstresses making a pittance, that needs to be discussed

but I feel as if it would help to contextualize that with like

“who makes the majority of our clothing today? what conditions do they work in? what difficulties prevent us from simply opting out of having our clothes produced this way? who sets trends, and do people outside their social echelon also enjoy those trends?”

so that people get that they should be thinking about the past and how its legacy impacts us today, rather than tearing themselves up for Finding The Early 19th Century Cotton Evening Gown Pretty

there is no unproblematic period to enjoy clothing from, including the one we live in now. and it’s not productive to rip people a new one for Bad Fashion Preferences. to me, it’s the same as claiming that someone supports sweatshop labor because they said a Shein dress was cute once

#dress history #this brought to you by: the frantic thread by people trying to find a Less Problematic era to replicate clothing from than Victorian #they settled on Medieval which #J*wish people would like a word about that (censoring to avoid tag)#it's just such a pointless endeavor because no such era exists. now or in the past #you like what you like. you're human.#and just like insufferable crypto bros wear jeans so do activists fighting the environmental damage crypto could cause #also: surprise! the people making the clothes for the system that oppresses them mostly also want to be wearing those styles #it has ever been thus #so are THEY then also evil for admiring styles worn by the exploitative elite?

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