What is the connection between chauvinism and fetish? I really want to argue that there is no connection between two things - that a man can be feminist and believe that women are equal to men and still be attracted to women who are dressed in a certain way, but it's probably not true.
I will start by saying that clothing are one of the most significant gender element. There is no biological meaning to the fact that women wear dresses and men do not, nor to the fact that pink is a color of women - these are all only social gender issues.
The idia of fetish is that a particular item of clothing become very significance in the viewer so that the mere presence of that item contributes to a sense of excitement and in particular - sexual excitement.
For several reasons fetish exists almost only in men and rarely in women. This is a very important fact. That means that usually a man doesn't need to wear anything special in order to excite to woman. Even if he want to - he just can't. While women has quit a lot of options for sexy feminine outfit, the social gender role state that the best thing that a man do is just not to be to feminine. That means that in the bedroom the while woman can go a change into "something more comfortable" the man just need to get naked.
But chauvinism is not over just in bed. Nowadays sex permeates every aspect of our lives, so we're finding more and more sexual content in movies, series, music videos and commercials. In today's era, when everyone wants quick thrills, the most effective way to do that would be to use many sexual content. So when a movie maker create a movie with an hero and an heroine, the best way for him to get the viewer's attention will be to dress the hero half naked and the heroine with sexy fetish clothing. And what will happened next? The kids that will show this movie would like to be like the hero and the heroine, and all this will just strengthen the fetish circle.
The fact that women are suppose to dress in a particular way violates the principle of equality. First, in most cases these clothing aren't the most comfortable nor practical cloths. Some might say that it's not a coincidence and the feminine clothing are restrictive on purpose. Second, as there is a greater difference in men and women appearance, the perception of the difference between the sexes is growing. Many studies show that people tend to rely more on people that look like them, so that the increased emphasis on the differences between men and women can heighten the disparities in the world dominated by men.
As a man who would like to see himself as a feminist I sand before a big problem: on the one hand I absolutely agree that dealing around the subject of fetish is ultimately very chauvinistic and sexist and harms the women struggle for equality, but on the other hand - I just can't fight it. Even if I stop talking about it and keep it to myself - I will still have the fetish. What can I do? To go against my passions or to understand that eventually after all the nice world i am actually a chauvinist guy?
There might be some kind of a solution for this conflict in with the postmodern liberal feminism approach by which there are differences between men and women but we still need to find equality between the sexes. This is a very flexible concept that is not clear where exactly it begins and where it ends.
Whether there is a solution to the conflict or not - I think it's important to raise awareness of this point. Yes - there is much connection between the fetish and chauvinism.
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