What we talk about when we talk about pockets [a repost from elsewhere]

[dphilli1]

Originally posted by tikva at What we talk about when we talk about pockets [a repost from elsewhere]

This post sums up my rant nicely. My dress clothes rarely have pockets; note that I wear dress clothes when I wish to appear professional, attractive, well-put-together, but at a minimum functional and self-sufficient. Not having pockets doesn't help. Note that dress clothes for men ALWAYS have pockets. I've taken to stashing things in my cleavage on occasion, but unlike some of my curvier friends, I haven't got enough space there for much. Sure, pulling objects out from between my breasts gets a raised eyebrow or two from some of my male friends, but hey, they have pockets. They can cope. I probably wouldn't do this on a job interview, though.

Originally posted by zandperl at What we talk about when we talk about pockets

Originally posted by hitchhiker at What we talk about when we talk about pockets

Originally posted by merchimerch at What we talk about when we talk about pockets

Originally posted by kylecassidy at What we talk about when we talk about pockets

This post is about pockets, feminism, design, autonomy and common sense. Please feel free to repost or link to it if you know people who'd benefit from the discussion.

A few weeks ago trillian_stars and I were out somewhere and she asked "Oooh, can I get a cup of coffee?" and I thought "why are you asking me? You don't need permission." But what I discovered was that her clothes had no pockets, so she had no money with her.

Mens clothes have pockets. My swimsuits have pockets. All of them do, and it's not unusual, because, what if you're swimming in the ocean and you find a fist full of pirate booty in the surf? You need somewhere to put it. Men are used to carrying stuff in their pockets, you put money there, you put car keys there. With money and car keys come power and independence. You can buy stuff, you can leave. The idea of some women's clothes not having pockets is baffling, but it's worse than that -- it's patriarchal because it makes the assumption that women will either carry a handbag, or they'll rely on men around them for money and keys and such things. (I noticed this also when Neil & Amanda were figuring out where her stuff had to go because she had no pockets.) Where do women carry tampons? Amanda wondered, In their boyfriend's pockets, Neil concluded.

I then noticed that none of trillian_stars' running clothes had pockets. Any pockets. Which is (as they always say on "Parking Wars") ridikulus. Who leaves the house with nothing? (It's not a rhetorical question, I actually can't think of anybody).

We fixed some of this by getting this runners wrist wallet from Poutfits on Etsy -- it holds money, ID, keys ... the sort of stuff you'd need. Plus you can wipe your nose on it. It solves the running-wear problem, but not the bigger problem.




Clickenzee to Embiggen!


The bigger problem is that people who design women's fashions are still designing pants and jackets that have no pockets. In fact, this jacket we got last December has ... no pockets. It's not a question of lines or shape, it's a question of autonomy.



Clickenzee to Embiggen


So I'm asking my friends who design women's clothes to consider putting pockets in them, they can be small, they can be out of the way, they can be inside the garment, but space enough to put ID, and cash and bus tokens. And maybe a phone. (And if you can design a surreptitious tampon stash, I'm sure Neil & Amanda & a lot of other people would appreciate it as well.)

Comments

[antimony.livejournal.com]

I am tempted, now that I have some that fit, to wear cycling jerseys everywhere. Because pockets.

I should really learn enough sewing to be able to buy men's jeans and hem them, because then they'd last more than a few months. (Because spandex, rather than because pockets.)

[plymouth.livejournal.com]

Skipping pockets because it doesn't fit the style of the clothes is one thing... but I accidentally bought a pair of pants with FAKE POCKETS. That was fucking offensive. It looked like pockets from the outside but they were sewn shut with nothing behind them. They were a similar style to some other pants I had bought (by the same company) that did have pockets so I didn't notice until I got them home.