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Gender Mystique

What happened in the 1970s? (continued)

6/14/2012

 
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I came across some interesting thoughts on unisex fashion in "Looking Good", published in 1976. The author, Clara Pierre, was writing from the perspective of an industry insider observing what she expected to be permanent changes in fashion. In chapter 10 "From bralessness to unisex", she explains the connection between sexual liberation and unisex clothing as a process of increasing comfort various aspects of sexual identity and expression:

"for whatever reason, we began to feel more comfortable first with sex pure and simple, then with homosexuality and now with androgyny"


That was then and this is now, as they say. Clearly, some people thought that the culture wars over sex was over, even as it was just beginning. So, I wonder: what happened?
Pink is Pretty
6/16/2012 07:38:30 am

It should also be noted that, during the hippie era, both boys and girls wore brightly coloured tie-dye shirts.

Jo
6/16/2012 08:52:13 am

Among other things. :) I actually don't recall tie-dye being all that popular until the 1970s. It seems to have become more popular in memory than reality.T-shirts were indeed an important part of the unisex look. There's an interesting contradiction, though; they were gender-neutral garments that, because they clung to the body, accentuated sex differences.

Nancy Green link
1/9/2013 12:23:29 pm

Wow, I found you on Google Images. That couple looks way cooler than the unisex pantsuits I remember. This summer the guy who wears the kilt type skirt will probably be back on my street. I wrote about unisex here-
http://www.emancipationconversation.com/2012/12/30/best-thing-since-uni-sex/


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    Jo Paoletti

    Professor Emerita
    ​American Studies
    University of Maryland

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