Do you remember #CalendarGate? The Republican and conservative communities had ideological and cultural battles on social media debating if right-leaning women appearing in a beer calendar while wearing swimwear was appropriate. Some people thought that discourse was meaningless, but I felt it was an important moment to realize that there is a diversity of viewpoints and that we cannot create a culture so narrow-minded that women feel ostracized over everything they do. Politics is about addition; the idea is to grow and include more people under a political and ideological umbrella, not find minor reasons why they don't belong, like choices in swimwear or mildly provocative beer calendar photo shoots.
Now, there is another culture war taking place in the social media universe, over a viral sundress.
What Is #SundressGate?
Evie Magazine launched the Evie Bra Sundress, featuring a built-in bra and pockets. It comes in two color options and is produced in Miami, Florida. Despite initial excitement, some detractors criticized aspects like length, cleavage, fabric choice, and price. While debates over the dress's suitability as a "true" sundress continue, there is a cultural nuance about the sundress as a facet of "trad" (traditional) culture.
Evie founder Brittany Martinez referenced the dress as “fertility tech,” while one social media user asked:
Who is pushing the sundress agenda, is it men or is it women?!
who is it pushing the sundress agenda, is it men or is it women ?!
— Bobby (e/H2O) (@keep_wolin) June 6, 2024
Conjuring discussion about how a dress relates to fertility and an alleged population crisis, along with one person asking who is behind the so-called sundress agenda, are context clues that inform us that this isn't just about a rayon summer dress. The phrase "fertility tech" implies that this dress is meant to entice the wearer's husband. The trad-right pushes the imagery of women as soft and feminine, and the sundress has become the cultural representation of this desired persona. Simply put, it's the trad-right "uniform."
And that's fine. But it's also okay if a woman isn't a sundress-wearing type.
Sunnier Than Thou
One summer day, I was wearing a long summer dress while running errands. I stepped out of a business building to take a phone call. Some men in a vehicle started yelling and cat-calling me and had even done a U-turn at the stoplight to try to convince me to engage with them. This is unwanted attention; I don't like men in cars yelling pick-up lines at me, and most women don't find that to be respectful or flattering.
After assessing the situation, I realized that I felt girlish and weak in this flowy dress. Perhaps appearing so frilly was garnering the undesirable interaction. This realization set me on a course to rethink my wardrobe. I started shopping for items with more structure, and I love a sharp leather jacket in the cooler seasons. Later I learned that this philosophy, that I could style myself in a way that made me look and feel less "weak," was supported by the late fashion designer, Lee Alexander McQueen.
McQueen said:
I design clothes because I don’t want women to look all innocent and naïve… I want woman to look stronger… I don’t like women to be taken advantage of… I don’t like men whistling at women in the street. I think they deserve more respect. I like men to keep their distance from women, I like men to be stunned by an entrance. I’ve seen a woman get nearly beaten to death by her husband. I know what misogyny is… I want people to be afraid of the women I dress.
I will add that if I was going for a dressy look, I loved Melania Trump's styling and would try to take notes from her. She never looked not-feminine but also presented very sharp, with a lot of structure and well-thought-out silhouettes. Of course, she never got the proper credit for the style icon she is, but it wasn't lost on me. I'm not anti-dress by any means; I just started being more particular and conscious about them. Funny enough, the photograph of me in my author's bio is a floral dress, and I absolutely tried it on and asked myself if Melania would wear this, and then had it tailored to a length with my perception of Melania's style in mind.
Reality Check!
Empowering women is important because the world is not a kind or safe place. As we all know, major cities are crime-infested, and we see atrocities happen to far too many women. Like the horrific murder of Laken Riley, for example. Or, the woman who died after being stabbed in the neck recently on LA Metro. These are the crime realities for women, not theoretical. This is the world we live in.
These realities are the same reason that conservatives and Republicans support Second Amendment rights and especially feel it's something women need. We want women protected, safe, and able to go about their business without worry that they cannot take care of themselves if trouble arises.
What we can learn from something seemingly petty, like a debate over a dress, is that there are diverse and valid viewpoints. Some women may feel comfortable wearing a sundress because their circumstances tell them it is safe to do so. Maybe some women live in rougher and urban neighborhoods where not being noticed by men or avoiding looking too soft is advantageous.
As a woman, I find that part of how much feminity women can lean into or present is correlated with the dynamics surrounding them. I think this notion needs to be more broadly realized.
Certain minority populations are stigmatized as being abrasive women, and many cultural stereotypes have a basis in reality. My mom was a rough-and-tumble type of woman. She was a Cuban immigrant raised in the Bronx. That entirely explains why she had a tough exterior; this was a survival mechanism.
If you notice women that aren't as feminine as the sundress-wearing trad-right image being popularly purported, ask yourselves if they have, or grew up with, a sense of safety or more of a sense of survivalism. The larger takeaway is that we aren't being women the wrong way. Twirly skirt or not, women are presenting in the way that they are most comfortable. A more nuanced understanding is needed as to why we can't try to force women into boxes of internet-born idealism when this isn't an idealistic world.
Yes, there is an internet debate about a sundress. But, it's not just about the fabric and cut or purporting a dress to be good for fertility. There are deeper cultural and ideological implications surrounding women's clothing choices. While some see the sundress as a symbol of traditional femininity promoted by the trad-right, the other side of the coin represents societal pressure against the backdrop of real-world realities relating to how women navigate safety and empowerment through their appearance.
Read More:
Rising Beyond Sourdough: Navigating Idealism and Ultra-Conservative Directives of Women
