The Problem with “It Was Never a Dress”

Happy International Women’s Day – time for a general rant on feminism and how women are perceived.

I saw this image floating around on Facebook. I had seen it before and it left me with a vague feeling of unease.

At first, I wasn’t able to identify what it was, because yeah, of course women are superheroes so how cool is it that someone is trying to rebrand this image as a cape?

But here’s the problem.

Our patriarchal culture prefers the masculine. The dress is…unserious.

Let me expand upon that.

I distinctly remember a conversation in my Children’s and Adolescent Literature class about how the main characters of YA books are often boys because it is assumed that a girl can identify with a male protagonist but boys will not be able to identify with a female protagonist. When girls are the protagonist, they are often given traditionally masculine traits.

So what’s my problem with “It Was Never a Dress”?

Because a woman can be strong – fierce – in a dress, too.

I’m currently re-watching New Girl with my husband and it reminds me of a scene where Jess “berates” Nick’s serious lawyer girlfriend:

I’m a girly girl. I love pink and bows and flowers. And I’m a feminist.

I don’t like “It Was Never a Dress” because it subtly supports the patriarchal idea that serious women wear pants.

And today, as a woman, I want to be celebrated as I am. Strong and sweet. Both can be true.

Additional Credits and Notes

Cover image of me has been edited with AI (to remove my neighbors’s homes from the image and replace with more trees)

The image of Jess & Julia from New Girl is via IMDB.