the beginings of an idea, this will definatly be a later rant.

In the 70’s and 80’s the fashion industry was targeted by women’s liberation groups for being controlling, oppressive, and sexist. The fashion industry responded to the charges, with maxim magazine. Every year now fashion is more and more invasive in “male culture”.

This is called progress.

The blacks of the United States were denied votes, Admissions to “good” schools and healthcare institutions. The american Indian are segregated. Many reserves still have inadequate sanitary systems. In fact it would be hard to distinguish between a modern reserve and a third world refugee camp.

The inner cities are receiving less and less help; are becoming economically dissolute.

“Jobs” are the call of the masses as the divide between needs and means increases.

It is important to remember that the racist oppressions served governments far less than they served large manufacturers. The plantation owners lost much more by freeing the slaves than the politicians did.

The current trends are moving more and more towards “indiscriminate oppression”. This makes sense. It is defiantly easer to maintain control of a group if the group is hard to define. The 1970’s, “gives women a poor body image”, claims from the woman’s lib. movement sound oddly quaint after viewing a CK underwear add. Now the attempts to solve the body image problems are worsened. Instead of doubling their opposition, the fashion industry divided it. Both men and woman may now develop a negative body image now, but it leads to decidedly different outcomes. Males are more likely to use steroids than become anorexic. As well as the line of who is an oppressor and who is oppressed has blurred beyond simple definitions. No longer is the fashion industry predominantly male and the customer predominantly female. Now males and females are dispersed across both lines.

This is called equality, and it too is known as progress.

How does the fashion industry continue to force its notions on the public? I mean aren’t we free to chose to ware what ever we want? If its making us feel bad about ourselves are we not free to just stop buying and force their bankruptcies?

In the most basic answer is of course. Unfortunately basic thinking is wrong. As long as we as a people judge one another on appearance; (and it seems as long as sex is a primal urge we will) then one who buys in to the industry will elevate them selves. It would take all of us, enemas to turn away and as a whole refuse to be a part of it. I don’t see it happening any time soon.

It is important to also note that by socialism, I do not mean Marxism or Stalinism or Leninism or Maoism or even communism. I do mean a social collective of the populous. Democracy was/ is a socialist ideal.