20. Fashion as Communication

what does the author say about the differences between the ways men and women use their bodies?

Men use their bodies in a very straightforward manner and learn to grasp and hold and manipulate things, while women are delicate and precious and learn to caress things and people.

What is a gender script? How do these gender scripts function?

It says men should use their bodies and put it out there while women's bodies are precious and they should have a nurturing nature in them.

What did Flugel say about clothes and sexuality? Do you agree? Justify your answer.

I agree with Flugel to an extent. I agree that clothes do portray one's sexuality at times, but i can't imagine it's supposed to show the "suitability for sexual intercourse. It can show how much someone can be desirable, no doubt. Many do go for that. However, I don't believe it means they're ready to get laid right then if they wear something see through. Sometimes the clothing is for personal reasons, or for comfortable-ness. The idea of a thong was once to show you're ready to get laid because it gives easier access than full panties. However, some argue these days that they wear them for comfort as opposed to sexual allure.

What did Laver say about the social spheres of men and women dress? Do you agree? Explain your answer.

He says that men's sphere is a social one that shows the hierarchy of the male's status in society. While women's spheres are on seductiveness and designed to show how desirable a woman is.
For the past, I would disagree and say the women were also trying to dress for social status purposes, however some were simply unable. In this day and age, I would say women are dressing more for the show of seductiveness, but also the men would be doing it. The baggy pants and all would be to hide his penis when it grows in the prescense of a very alluring woman who dresses seductive to simply see the reaction.

How is fashion "collective behavior"?

It's collective because people want to collect and gather as much of the current trend as possible, and when one trend is finished they go after another, simply collecting more stuff.

What is the irony of fashion?

The irony in fashion is that people who don't want to follow the trend, end up making yet another trend that others follow and most of them go by a certain trend anyway simply as an opposite to the current. Goth or punk is a great example. People would wear all black so as to go against the fashion of many colors, and more and more people picked up. Then people added some color and tried their own style of wrist bands, fishnets on the arms, etc. and soon that became a trend in itself because it was found to be "cool" and soon everyone was doing it.