It seems obvious to me - and feel free to disagree - that women’s clothing tends to be much more revealing than men’s. More skin (upper chest, arms, legs) and tighter as well.
If you compare comparable types of clothing, the distinction holds as well. Women’s formal dress versus men’s, women’s business casual versus men’s. Casual wear, exercise outfits, sports team uniforms etc. etc.
Question is why this is so. Obvious answer is that women’s clothing is designed to attract attention to their bodies, and most particularly, erotic attention from men. But are there other answers?
[Disclaimer: it should go without saying, but perhaps needs to be said anyway, that this is not to imply that every women or every female Doper is trying to attract attention from men by how she dresses or otherwise, or that all women wear clothing that is more revealing than all men, or any other iron clad no-exceptions rule that anyone might find insulting if directed at them or contradicted by their specific situation. This is about the general tendencies in society at this time, and about the larger forces that tend to bring about these tendencies.]
I say it’s confirmation bias. You’re a heterosexual man, right? You’re more likely to notice a woman exercising in a sports bra and track shorts, than a woman exercising in crew-neck sweats or a man exercising topless. Most clothes are shaped to follow the contours of the body for which they were designed; since women’s bodies are differently shaped than your own, you’ll notice the shaping on women’s clothing more.
I think women do face more pressure to “dress sexy” than men do, but it’s not difficult to find clothes that fit and flatter without revealing too much skin.
Compare how much opening there is in front of women’s shirts to how much there is for men’s. In a business casual setting, for example, you’ll very rarely find men with more than one button open on a dress shirt. Women typically open two, or have the equivalent amount uncovered.
It’s very rare for a men to wear sleeveless shirts unless it’s the most casual of casual settings. Women wear these in business settings, or formal eveningwear.
Compare women’s shorts to men’s.
And so on, for a variety of outfit types, as enumerated above. I don’t think it’s all confirmation bias. YMMV.
Sex sells, as commonly used, refers to the fact that sex can be used to sell all sorts of marginally related, or unrelated products.
What we’re talking about here is the product itself.
If you’re just implicitly acknowledging that women’s clothing is more about sex than men’s, then you’re just accepting the “obvious answer” suggested in the OP.
No. Women’s clothes are just made differently. Have you ever been an adult woman attempting to buy shorts? I have. The default length is about mid-thigh, and you’ll have an easier time finding something shorter than that than longer. Men’s shorts are not typically made that short. Ever attempted to purchase a casual tank top? If you’re a male, I’m sure most of the tanks you come across aren’t low cut. Every tank I own that is not worn for work bares the top of my chest. I’m not seeking anything titillating, but that’s just the way the clothes are made.
You can immediately spot the difference between a men’s and women’s tee shirt just by the cut. Women’s tees tend to be fitted whereas men’s are generally looser. Even if you buy a larger women’s size, it’ll just be a larger version of something meant to taper around your waist and hug the ladies. I purposely bought a men’s tee last week because I didn’t want anything that hugged my figure. I’m not a 12 year old girl. I can fill out the damn shirt myself without your excessive designer assistance.
Mean Old Lady: I’ve only been wearing women’s clothing for eighteen years (my mom had me in boys’ clothing until I was eight and my hips started to grow in), but I’ve seen no shortage of straight-seamed women’s tops with high necklines. When I shop for shorts, I prefer capri pants; if I want anything shorter, I’ll take a pair of long pants, cut and hem them to the desired length.
Officewear depends on the company’s policies. The last place I worked, everyone wore casual clothes every day; some women wore tight things with low necklines, some wore floaty peasant tops, and some of us wore jeans and unisex tee-shirts. The women who wore the tightest fit and the least coverage did not consistently get the most attention.
Before that, I worked in a place with uniforms, and a strict dress code as an alternative. The uniform lacked a top button, but I wore the required tee-shirt under it. When I wore the alternative to the uniform, I buttoned my dress shirt up to the neck and wore a brooch or tie.
I’m saying that most of the differences in cut and fit are dictated by physical necessity more than cultural values. Perhaps I misunderstood the OP’s question.
Ah. Seemed your statement was the perceived difference between men’s and women’s clothing was confirmation bias of a heterosexual male noticing women bearing skin more than those who are not, and not because our clothing are actually different.
I can’t understand why so many women’s garments have to be made with the despicable cap sleeve. I have scrawny little arms, and even so, cap sleeves are uncomfortably tight, and in my opinion, make women look like they’re growing right out of their itty-bitty clothes. Is that the look we’re going for?
There has been a recent dispute at my workplace regarding wearing shorts to work. Firstly there is an outright ban on men wearing shorts to work… even if they are unlikely to meet the public. For women, they can wear shorts if they are not denim, not too short, and basically not sexy (doesn’t say that of course!)
My girlfriend who works at the same place as me (National Health service Customer support) has just got some FC shorts (see the first row here… Search | French Connection UK which the boss has says is acceptable.
I do find it curious that I cannot wear shorts, but my girfriend can. Isn’t that sex discrimination?:dubious:
Could it be that men can be more sexually aggressive, but a woman’s strategy for finding a mate is (still!) basically “hang around and look pretty.” Women have to say visually what men say in words and action.
I also think there is a general double standard. Our society takes male sexuality more seriously. You never see penises in movies, even when there are breasts and pubises all over the place. Lesbians are a fun diversion that are appropriate anywhere, but gay men are a dangerous perversion that nobody wants their face rubbed in. In some ways, we treat male sexuality as sacred and important and female sexuality as disposable and consumeable.
Women appear to have an unconscious tendancy to show more skin while ovulating. A natural, instinctive female bias towards showing skin to be attractive would tend to lead towards women’s fashions to have more exposed skin, all things being equal.
Um, from my male perspective it’s more that we look at female sexuality as powerful and interesting, and male sexuality as silly or disgusting or just pathetic.
I frankly don’t buy the whole “women’s dress is about hormones controllingthem subconsciously” thing. I think there are very conscious explainations. Have you ever had a period? It makes you feel bloated, gross and decidedly unsexy. Logistically, you are going to wear clothes that stay in place and don’t stain. You put away the lace undies and pull out the high-coverage black cotton. You tend to avoid miniskirts, thin fabrics, and fun floaty stuff and focus on thick pants and opaque tights. Since you are limited to frumpier bottoms, you probably arn’t having fun with your clothes or feeling sexy, so you go for frumpier tops, too. It’s likely you aren’t getting laid anyway, so why bother.
When it ends, you remember all these great clothes you just spent a week not being able to wear. You revel in your new freedom by putting on the white net panties and matching bra and the super miniskirt you love. You are so happy to feel sexual that you go overboard with it.
Then things quiet down as the novelty wears off, all you sexy clothes are dirty, and you go to the default clothes.
I’m not sure why everyone needs to try to make everything about cavemen. Any woman could have told these researchers about their “period pants” and their mortal fear of being seen with blood dripping fown their legs. There is nothing subconscious about how our clothes relate to our cycle.