Dear Editor:
I am just and ordinary Canadian with simple opinions. Yet I couldn't help express the confusion I feel over this whole affair. I suspect many Canadians feel the same way. This just makes me wonder where will this all lead to in 10 years time.
Thank you for reading. Suzanne
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By Suzanne Berton © 17-Aug-05
Have you ever noticed the difference between a man and a woman’s clothes, a comedian once asked. A woman’s closet is always filled wall to wall with the clothes she will wear, the ones she might wear, and the ones she’d never be caught dead in again. A man, if he’s lucky enough to have his own closet, might own a quarter of what his partners owns. Never mind the shoes.
I’ve often wondered what it is about women that make them loose all sense of practically when it comes to buying clothes. As a woman, I am no different than the rest, and if I had loads of money, I’d probably be out there buying every day. Even without tons of money, I’d find a way.
Sure we want to look and feel good about ourselves. Who wouldn’t? If we were honest enough, we’d admit that we do want people to whistle and say, ‘Hey, good looking!’ As chimps going through the daily ritual of grooming, we really cannot help ourselves. As long as we don’t look like chimps we are happy.
What is odd is the practice of going nuts for a particular garment, buying it, only to discard it later because we’re sick of it, until finally we cram it into the I’ll-never-be-caught-dead-in section of our closet - usually dumped on the floor in the dead end zone.
Most men are different. To them, it’s easy. In their closet, they have plenty of space in case they ever do decide to buy something. Their clothes may be falling apart at the seams, or they just cling to their antique garments until death do us part. “Not on your life,’’ they protest if their partners attempt to cast out an offending garment.
Is it a particular garment we don’t want anymore or are we less content with our not-so-perfect bodies? The media does bombard us with portraits of the ideal woman: tight all over, hourglass figure, and well proportioned. Maybe we dress to fit that ideal, to heighten our good points, or cover our bad ones.
From the time we are little, we love to dress-up. At least, I did.
This makes me wonder if we were born with a gene that compels us to wear nice things and to look attractive. Not many women choose to look bad - at least not intentionally. Most prefer to look good. There’s a saying, ‘‘if you dress like a slob, you’ll act as one.’’ Few women want to be known as slobs.
Cartoons of the past often depicted women with poor control over their spending habits buying clothes. Their men often grumbled over the money spent. Let’s be honest, we do love clothes, and I doubt that we’ll ever be satisfied with what we have. Not having enough money makes us more practical, but give us some cash and we’re out there buying up a storm. Never mind the protests of men.
I could try sugar coating this business of women and their clothes, but little can be said to change this part of being a woman. As long as fashion exists, women will always want to look good, and they’ll always want new clothes. Men can think of this whole affair as a benefit to the economy. Their partners will look terrific. If they still feel bad about the money, they could go out and buy themselves something new to wear for a change.
As for me, I don’t mind the comedians using my clothes buying habits as good material for laughs. If I stop and think about it long enough, it is funny.
That’s what makes women so different. Life would be pretty boring without those differences.
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