By a fluke of circumstance, I only have two days of classes this semester, so I’ve been watching some bad daytime television while I eat lunch at home before homework starts. Which, of course, includes lots of TLC. Which means repeats of What Not to Wear (US). So stop and thinking: is WNTW really empowering and helpful, or does it just push us back into the same old societal norms?
What I have the biggest problem with is the combination of the pseudo-psych nonsense Stacey & Clinton spout and the ever-present focus on ‘flattering’. Since the majority of the makeovers on this show identify as women, I’ll focus on that here.
This problem is double edged : 1) flattering has come to mean that (for women) it makes you look slimmer, taller, have an hourglass shape. And that concept of flattering is ridiculous. 2) The hosts promote loving your self, embracing your true self, being authentic, being good to yourself, but this does not necessarily entail embracing the norm silhouette of flattering. They make it sound like “if you really want to be the real you, dress to make yourself look skinnier! yay!”, an ultimatum, a necessary condition.
Gisela Ramirez’s collection includes a “F*ck Flattering” crop top.
You can wear whatever you feel good in, you don’t have to wear what makes you look skinnier or hour-glassier or taller in order to feel good about yourself. If you want to, that’s okay. But don’t think that it’s a prerequisite to living a good and fulfilling life, to loving yourself and accepting your body or becoming more outgoing or anything. In this day of pseudo-psychology and pseudo-therapy, London & Kelly mask their normative ideas behind claims that they are ‘helping you discover yourself’, ‘love yourself’, ‘be more confident’.
Angela McRobbie noted some of what she overheard in a WNTW episode: ‘'What a dreary voice', 'look at how she walks', 'she shouldn't put thatThis is not empowering women. This is beating women down, telling them that if they do not conform to society’s standards then they are not allowed to feel good about themselves.
ketchup on her chips', 'she looks like a mousy librarian', 'her trousers are far too long', 'that jumper looks like something her granny crocheted, it would be better on the table', 'she hasn't washed her clothes', 'your hair looks like an overgrown poodle', 'your teeth are yellow, have you been eating grass?' And 'Oh my God she looks like a German lesbian'. (McRobbie 2004: 118)
If you want to change your fashion sense, by all means go for it. I enjoy fashion, style, dressing to show my body as much as the next person. I’m constantly struggling over whether this is ironic/performative or falling into the norms. But I do not think that following these norms, this cookie-cutter ideal, is the only way to love yourself and be authentic. Next time you switch on some of these TLC reruns, try looking at it with a skeptical eye.
Some links:
