So, it’s my birthday, and as such I figured I would treat myself to writing on a subject quite removed from politics and the standard public discourse.

I hate fashion.

This isn’t to say I hate the industry – though it does set unrealistic standards for your average person, and likely drives a narrative of body shaming across the continent – because I know lots of people that design clothing and do makeup, and they aren’t bad people at all. Many designers I know are some of the most progressive body-positive people I know. But those talented women and men generally work in the peripheries of their industry, and are perhaps closer to crafters or artisans than the ubiquitous and powerful fashionistas of the world. The comodification of beauty is of course deeply disturbing, and something to be highly suspicious of, but isn’t an inherent evil. Fashion can celebrate and venerate any body type or cultural background, if that is the desired end.

The concern that I have is that even at its best, most body-positive, fashion is still a value measure of the aesthetic, and a moral judgement of the people around us. The discrimination on dress and style runs deep, and in its extreme can be see in the disdain for the homeless, or in our endless fetishizing of the appearance and apparel of our celebrities. Though surely not implicitly causal, there is an immutable connection that most people have to appearance, class, and in turn, value to society.

Women are in particular subject to the crushing weight of fashion and appearance. The ceaseless vendetta against the display of body hair on women is perhaps the most prominent example of how we use aesthetic standards to project norms on yo people, fundamentally attempting to alter their behavior through social pressures. Rather than just not finding the image of a woman’s body hair (or jogging pants in public, unkempt hair, ill-fitted clothing, etc etc) appealing, some people go all the way to taking offense. More still take it as a measure of the individuals perceived self worth.

Perhaps the most insidious element to this whole scheme of judgment, is that most of it is done subconsciously. Without even knowing it, we raise and lower the credibility of people in our snap judgments of their appearance. Their worth changes because of the fabric draped around their temporal hide.

From that very basic response, we inherently lose an appreciation for the individual spark a person can offer. Though we may not completely lose the essence of that individual in this judgment, we have flavored and sullied our interpretation of them. We can always regain that worth and value we might have otherwise assigned to that individual, but, we must be conscious of our predisposition.

I, for one, can’t wait for my Star Fleet Officer’s Uniform.

super important edit: !!!!!

I am, in no way, shape, or form, above the petty and mean snap judgments we make of people for their appearance. I am in no way not shallow, and most surely find many of the icons of beauty that trouble me so, to in fact be quite beautiful. And of course, these human individual icons are not to have their own worth diminished because they are part of the fashion world – their worth again extends far beyond what they wear. I just think it’s a nasty habit we collectively share.