4.2.2 |
THE CLOTHES OF A NEUTRAL-INCLUSIVE MODEL |
When looking at the costumes of human beings in sexually
irrelevantistic
cultures or subcultures, the thing which strikes
the eye most is the exaggerated difference between clothes for
males and for females. The marked difference between traditional
androcentric costumes and traditional gynocentric costumes cannot,
or merely partially, be explained in terms of the
difference between male and female physique. (Something that also
applies to andro- and gynoforms which are mistakenly labeled
"uniforms".) The on the average much greater protrusion of
women's breasts and men's genitals may make some kind of dress
more comfortable for women with more or less large breasts, or
for men with more or less large genitals, such reasonable
considerations do not seem to underly sexist thought with
respect to the clothes or pieces of material females are
supposed or allowed to wear, and males are supposed or allowed
to wear. When sexualist etiquette is concerned with the color of
people's garments, it does not proscribe a color which does not
blend (or perhaps does not contrast) with the color of their
skin or their hair but with that of their genitals, that is, a
color which is said not to suit their gender (such as rose or
bright colors for males). And when sexualist etiquette is
concerned with the parts of the human body which have to be
covered, it does not prescribe garments which vary with the
temperature of the place of convention, but garments which are
believed to match the temperament of women and the temper of men
(like those exposing the legs of women and the faces of men,
while hiding those of the other sex). Naturally, on the
inclusive model good taste in conduct and appearance is not
some sexualist taste in conduct and appearance.
In a transitional society the
sexualism with respect to what
human beings wear or can wear, which may once have arrived under
the cloak of propriety, is eventually to be uncovered to the
(male or female) bone. This issue is not merely a matter of
symbolic importance but a fundamental issue of
gender-neutral inclusivity.
(However, this fundamental says nothing about
its relative importance when compared with other nonsymbolic issues.)
The rejection of vestiary sexism applies both to its
standard manifestation and to its inversion, like when girls or
women (want to) wear so-called 'boys' or men's clothes', or vice
versa. Such (desire for) transvestism is the inevitable
byproduct of sexualist cultures; it is impossible in a gender-transcending
culture in which people have doffed their irrelevantist blindfolds. This
is not to say that occasional transvestism could not be useful as an
instance of
dichotomous substitution,
but solely so if it manages to break thru sexually
exclusivistic fashions and expectations, rather than
perpetuating and depending on them.
The question of what neutral-inclusivists could wear becomes a
nonfundamental one when they want to put on a special, symbolistic garment
at places or times which are significant from a
denominational
perspective. A suitable ancient article of clothing is then the tunic
as this used to be worn by men and women alike. It is a simple
slip-on garment, with or without sleeves, which can be
decorated, painted or cut out in such a way as to represent a
neutralistic or inclusivistic symbol.
Figure S.4.2.2.1 shows some
variants of a Catena garment, that is, a garment with the
nanacatena on it.
The front of such a garment should be the same
as the back, if the nanacatena is to be symmetrical. Whatever the
neutral tunic or other garment is decorated with, it should
be long enough to cover both the breast and the genitals, unless
other unisex clothes are worn which cover these parts of the
body. This is to symbolize the equality of female and male,
human beings. Apart from this the tunic or other garment can be
less than hip-length, or so long as to cover the feet or to
touch the ground. Since its design is the same for human
beings of all ages, it symbolizes the
etatic equality of human
beings as well.
Instead of the nanacatena or another neutralistic symbol, the
very diverse leaves of a tree or other plant, such as the
sassafras could be used to express the ideal of
inclusiveness
on one's clothes. The symbolic message of this natural diversity
is that one unitary system can comprise members of very
different appearance, if even the leaves of an adult plant do not
all have to possess the same shape. Obviously, a garment with
sassafras leaves, or a similar inclusivistic symbol, does not have
to cover parts of the body which are typically male or female.
For on the inclusive account the existence of sexual differences
is not denied; they are merely not regarded as relevant in some
absolute, context-independent sense.
|