The Feminism of Pockets | Kristen Rue Photography | Nashville Family Photographer
The other day I went to every mom’s favorite place to go with no kids: Target. I was meandering through the bright and inviting clothing and stumbled upon a pair of GOLDENROD YELLOW BREECHES. If you know me, you know I live for that warm, deep yellow. I love to photograph it, I love to decorate with it, I love to wear it. It '“sparks joy” as Marie Kondo says.
Well, I don’t always have the best luck with pants; they seem to be made for people with smaller waists and bigger hips. And that is not me. But I hoped against hope that they’d fit. I made my way to the fitting room, slid them on and marveled at the wonderousness I had found. Perfect color, perfect length, perfect stretch. But the best BEST thing was this:
THEY HAD FULLY FUNCTIONAL FRONT POCKETS.
Not just back pockets, and not just those little pointless 1/4 pockets on so many women’s pants, but real-life actual front pockets. After I did my happy dance I immediately and gleefully put them in the YES pile.
Pants pockets are a feminist issue.
Hear me out.
My feminist leanings are probably pearl-clutching for some people, and not abrasive enough for others. Like many things, I’m solidly moderate. But I have two daughters, and the thought of them not having a place to keep their gum and lip balm and rocks, well it doesn’t work for me. I do not accept that.
I guarantee you basically any boy’s or men’s pants will have functional front pockets, while many girl’s and women’s do not. Why? Does the clothing industry think that girls don’t need to carry things too? Or do we always need to be saddled with a purse? Maybe they’re afraid if our hands are free, we will take them to task. Same goes with the rampant, unhealthy diet culture. Maybe they’re afraid if our minds are free from worrying about fitting into a size 2 that we will have much more room to think about other things. Other things that get us fired up. Challenging, status-quo-disrupting things. I mean, what is the actual purpose of omitting pockets in women’s pants? Well, to achieve a slimmer silhouette, I’d say. But who does that serve, the woman or the people looking at the woman?
Friends, are men and women different? You bet. But we are all human. We are all equals. We are all one. And we all share some common desires: to be seen, to be loved, and pockets.
I shoulder a lot of things, so pockets definitely come in handy.
There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. -Galatians 3:28 NRSV
*No bodies were photo-shopped in the making of this blog post. :) Here’s the link to these most perfect pants. I get no kickback from this link, just thought you may like to have a pair, too. And they come in different colors!
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