Editing Sexism (section)

=== Fashion ===

{{See also|Foot binding|Burqa}}
{{Further|Gendered associations of pink and blue}}
[[File:Gobert - Louis XV as child, Fundación Jakober.jpg|thumb|upright|alt= Louis XV as a boy wearing a pink dress. |[[Louis XV]] in 1712, a boy wearing a pink dress]]
[[File:A HIGH CASTE LADYS DAINTY LILY FEET.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=A Chinese woman shows the effects of foot binding on her feet. |Chinese woman shows the effect of [[foot binding]].]]

Feminists argue that clothing and footwear fashion have been oppressive to women, restricting their movements, increasing their vulnerability, and endangering their health.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jeffreys |first1=Sheila |url=http://www.feministes-radicales.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Jeffreys_Beauty_and_Misogyny_Harmful_Cultural_Practices_in_the_West__Women_and_Psychology_1.pdf |title=Beauty and Misogyny:Harmful cultural practices in the west |publisher=Taylor & Francis e-Library |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-203-69856-3 |location=East Sussex |access-date=March 8, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130606103815/http://www.feministes-radicales.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Jeffreys_Beauty_and_Misogyny_Harmful_Cultural_Practices_in_the_West__Women_and_Psychology_1.pdf |archive-date=June 6, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> Using thin models in the fashion industry has encouraged the development of [[bulimia]] and [[anorexia nervosa]], as well as locking female consumers into false feminine identities.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hollows |first=Joanne |url=https://archive.org/details/feminismfeminini0000holl |title=Feminism, Femininity and Popular Culture |publisher=[[Manchester University Press]] |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-7190-4394-9 |location=Manchester, UK |page=[https://archive.org/details/feminismfeminini0000holl/page/139 139] |quote=Oppressive fashions feminism. |access-date=March 11, 2013 |url-access=registration}}</ref>

The assignment of gender-specific baby clothes can instill in children a belief in negative gender stereotypes.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bindel |first=Julie |date=January 24, 2012 |title=Julie Bindel: Boys aren't born wanting to wear blue |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/julie-bindel-boys-arent-born-wanting-to-wear-blue-6293688.html |work=[[The Independent]] |location=London}}</ref> One example is the assignment in some countries of the color pink to girls and blue to boys. The fashion is recent one. At the beginning of the 20th century the trend was the opposite: blue for girls and pink for boys.<ref>{{cite magazine |author=Maglaty, Jeanne |date=April 7, 2011 |title=When Did Girls Start Wearing Pink? |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/when-did-girls-start-wearing-pink-1370097/ |access-date=March 16, 2015 |magazine=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]}}</ref> In the early 1900s, ''The Women's Journal'' wrote that "pink being a more decided and stronger colour, is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl". ''DressMaker'' magazine also explained that "[t]he preferred colour to dress young boys in is pink. Blue is reserved for girls as it is considered paler, and the more dainty of the two colours, and pink is thought to be stronger (akin to red)".<ref>{{cite news |date=January 8, 2009 |title=Should we not dress girls in pink? |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7817496.stm |access-date=March 31, 2015 |work=BBC News}}</ref> Today, in many countries, it is considered inappropriate for boys to wear dresses and skirts, but this is also a relatively recent view. From the mid-16th century<ref>Melanie Scheussler suggests a date of post-1540 for England, France, and the Low Countries; see Scheussler, {{"'}}She Hath Over Grown All that She Ever Hath': Children's Clothing in the Lisle Letters, 1533–40", in Netherton, Robin, and Gale R. Owen-Crocker, editors, ''Medieval Clothing and Textiles'', Volume 3, p. 185. Before roughly this date various styles of long robes were in any case commonly worn by adult males of various sorts, so boys wearing them could probably not be said to form a distinct phenomenon.</ref> until the late 19th or early 20th century, young boys in the [[Western world]] were [[breeching (boys)|unbreeched]] and wore [[gown]]s or dresses until an age that varied between two and eight.<ref>Baumgarten, Linda: ''What Clothes Reveal: The Language of Clothing in Colonial and Federal America'', p. 166</ref>

Laws that dictate how women must dress are seen by many international human rights organizations, such as Amnesty International, as gender discrimination.<ref name="Amnesty International 2010">{{cite web |date=10 November 2010 |title=Women's right to choose their dress, free of coercion |url=https://doc.es.amnesty.org/cgi-bin/ai/BRSCGI/WOMENS%20RIGHT%20TO%20CHOOSE%20THEIR%20DRESS%20FREE%20OF%20COERCION?CMD=VEROBJ&MLKOB=29309215959 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927134431/https://doc.es.amnesty.org/cgi-bin/ai/BRSCGI/WOMENS%20RIGHT%20TO%20CHOOSE%20THEIR%20DRESS%20FREE%20OF%20COERCION?CMD=VEROBJ&MLKOB=29309215959 |archive-date=2013-09-27 |archive-format=PDF |publisher=Amnesty International |page=1 |format=PDF |id=IOR 40/022/2010}}</ref> In many countries, women face violence for failing to adhere to certain dress codes, whether by the authorities (such as the [[religious police]]), family members, or the community.<ref>{{cite news |date=July 15, 2007 |title=Iran to intensify dress crackdown |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6900111.stm |work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=March 15, 2002 |title=Saudi police 'stopped' fire rescue |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/1874471.stm |access-date=2015-03-31 |work=BBC News}}</ref> Amnesty International states:

<blockquote>Interpretations of religion, culture, or tradition cannot justify imposing rules about dress on those who choose to dress differently. States should take measures to protect individuals from being coerced to dress in specific ways by family members, community or religious groups or leaders.<ref name="Amnesty International 2010" /></blockquote>

The production process also faces criticism for sexist practices. In the garment industry, approximately 80 percent of workers are female.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Davelaar |first=Geertjan |title=Gender: Women workers mistreated—Clean Clothes Campaign |url=https://cleanclothes.org/issues/gender |access-date=November 6, 2016 |website=cleanclothes.org |language=en}}</ref> Much garment production is located in Asia because of low labor costs. Women who work in these factories are sexually harassed by managers and male workers, paid low wages, and [[Pregnancy discrimination|discriminated against when pregnant]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 11, 2015 |title=Work Faster or Get Out |url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/03/11/work-faster-or-get-out/labor-rights-abuses-cambodias-garment-industry |access-date=November 6, 2016 |newspaper=Human Rights Watch}}</ref>