Tuesday, May 1, 2012

KINDERWHORE

BAD GIRL, BAD GIRL, WATCHA GONNA DO, WATCHA GONNDA DO WHEN SHE COMES FOR YOU? Not a rhetorical question, punk!!!! I'm preeeetty sure I would make an amazing bully... good thing I'm super nice to people and smile at everyone who makes eye contact with my dumb face. This outfit is just overcompenstaion for how embarrassingly friendly I am to strangers. Go ahead, ask me for directions! I'll have absolutely no idea where you're going and no, I don't know street names because I don't drive, but I'll apologize a million times and offer to buy you french fries!









FROM TOP TO BOTTOM:

Beanie - H&M
Wayfarers - Secondhand
Studded collar - Israel
Dress - YES STYLE
Jacket - Members Only
Biker boots - YES STYLE

This look is inspired by Courtney Love and the rest of the 90s Kinderwhore clan. I sought out this buttercup babydoll dress with hopes of punking the crap out of it. Did I deliver? Well, my eyeliner is hardly smudged and I'm not flicking cigarette ashes onto my loveseat so maybe not. But is it subversive? YES. Since I'm on the topic of female powerhouses, I figure this is a good opportunity to bring up the subject of feminism. Those of you who follow me on Formspring already know where I stand on the movement, but for the rest of you -- it's time to find out.

I am not afraid to say that I expect each and every one of my readers to be a feminist. Girl, guy, genderqueer, it doesn't matter -- every morally conscious human being should be able to recognize that gender equality is IMPERATIVE for society to progress and excel. Feminism is not about making women more powerful than men, it is about deconstructing the values we ascribe to genders that make us believe any one is more important than the other. That means feminism is not only for women. Feminism frees men from oppression, too; patriarchy cripples a man's ability to express himself emotionally, depend on others, and love. Patriarchy socializes people to victimize others and oppress themselves. Women and men alike often exercise the knee-jerk reaction of dismissing feminism. Why do we do this? Because we want to protect our privilege and defend our mental framework. We don't want to change the way we think or live, because that would mean sacrificing many of the benefits we are conditioned to desire. For a man, a privilege might be the ability to assume a place of political power (America has yet to elect a single female president!) So, if he were to embrace feminism and attempt to destroy his own privilege, that would mean he must accept more competition in the political sphere and workforce. For a woman, the privilege of patriarchy might be depending on a male counterpart to provide income, at the expense of her ability to assume the roles she genuinely desires (as opposed to those she is conditioned to believe she desires.) I believe that subconsciously, men recognize the privileges that come with patriarchy and want to keep them because they make life easier. But it's important that as we develop more advanced moral consciousnesses, we exchange convenience for equality.  It's also common for men (and women!) to deny that they are privileged, because pretending that privilege isn't real means that it can still exist without being addressed and amended. As soon as we acknowledge a problem, we are obligated to fix it. That is why we deny that there is any real need for change.

I encourage all of you to question the agents of socialization that influence your mindset and essentially shape your perspective -- that includes propaganda presented by the media, roles ascribed to you by your friends and family, even concepts that are presented to you as truths by your religion. Many of the values we are taught to apply to our livelihoods are not objectively fair; they are socially constructed ideas invented to control society and maintain power structures. Even if they benefit you, convenience you, or ease your sense of self, consider that those privileges cost someone else a basic human right. Challenge them. 

I could go on for hours about feminist/racial/class theory and how or why it's relevant, but I think for now I simply want to point out that equality is my priority. I will touch on specific subjects later. Opening up a dialogue for feminism (and intersectionality in general) is important to me, especially as someone who intends to pursue activism through self-expression and education for the rest of their life. Now you know!

Everything is infinite,

Bebe Zeva

44 comments:

  1. i laughed at the text at the beginning of the post!:')

    always look forward to what you put together and totally can see your perspective! IT@S A FREE WORLD, no? or..figure of speech, something like that...

    wishuponasmile.blogspot.com

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  2. It's sweet and it's punky, I just think it's awesome!
    And I really love your style of writing (:

    Please stop by some time xx
    www.cupcakecuisine.blogspot.com

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  3. love the pictures :)
    http://wnzw.blogspot.com/

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  4. Love your dress! What shade of lipstick is that?
    Merrybellyland777.blogspot.com

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  5. i love the combination with lovely dress and rock style jacket or shoes!

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  6. I agree so much with EVERYTHING you've said about feminist. Why are you so well spoken??? I think so many people think that it's about women being better than men or that it has nothing to do with men, and when people try to prove that women are unequal to men, they mention that women get payed less for the same job. Although that's true, people tend to forget that there are social aspects of this as well that affect all genders.

    And once more, your outfit is LOVELY. I've always loved the whole kinderwhore look but I've never been up to it myself. Someday, someday....

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  7. I love your style! AWESOME
    The shades are great
    keep on
    love,
    katjamarina.blogspot.com

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  8. Great combination, love the grasses and dress the most. :)
    I like your blog, if you want to follow each other, let me know. :)
    http://sreckasfashion.blogspot.com/

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  9. Girl, this outfit is perfect! I love the contrast of femininity and biker chic; you look amazing! My friend and I have been talking a lot about feminism lately, so it's such a coincidence that you've posted this! This post is so interesting; I really enjoyed reading your views. They've given me another insight into feminism xxx

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  10. I love you. Seriously, the way you dress and the way you write and the way you think. You rock!

    xoxo Sootjeelina <3

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  11. ah that dress is so cute! it looks great with the jacket aswell, really want to get a wee leather jacket like this!!!

    Hayley xx
    www.addictionstoshopping.blogspot.com

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  12. ahh! love the combination with leather pastel and lace:)

    bisous:*

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  13. I really love your style and I love how you always write something to go along with it!
    The pink dress and heavy jewlery is really cool together!
    http://stuck-in-the-clouds.blogspot.com/

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  14. YESYESYESYESYES. Yes. Discussing feminism and gender equality on your fashion blog has instantly sent you from style icon into the stratosphere of All-Round Legend. Seriously. I can't thank you enough for posting this- great outfit, but more importantly, great content. Everything you said was eloquent, fair and so very true. As a fourteen year old girl who's recently become interested in feminism, I have found that there really aren't many platforms out there frequented by people my age where anyone really addresses gender equality, and none of my school friends ever give it a moments thought. In my mind, it's particularly important for people to consider it at times like this, where women have the vote so quite a lot of people have started to misunderstand feminism and view it as an extreme, outdated viewpoint the fringes rather than simply a belief in gender equality. Sexism is so much more sneaky now, to my mind at least, because it's all over the magazines and celebrity culture, but isn't often recognized for what it is! Even the word 'feminism' is shrugged aside and seems to carry negative connotations, but it shouldn't be like that. Outspoken, stylish people like yourself talking about it on places like blogs where a new generation are likely to listen is ridiculously important when it comes to encouraging people to stand behind feminism. Sorry for the rant, I just feel pretty strongly about this stuff! xx

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  15. Bloody amazing, the pretty and feminine floaty pink dress paired with the grunge of black leather and studs! Love this post also.

    Eda ♥

    www.candyflosscurlscupcakesandcouture.blogspot.com

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  16. the dress is just soooooo cute *.*
    perfect!

    http://sstylefashion.blogspot.pt/

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  17. Wow. Amazing, truly amazing. <3

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  18. Reading the content of this post really made me wish I could find more stylish feminist ladies that I could relate, because living in a small suburb doesn't offer too many of those. Since you mentioned racial theory, I was wondering if you have reconsidered or regretted wearing the Native American headdress in one of your outfit posts?

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    1. Yeah, absolutely. I've said so much passively racist crap in the past that I wish I could take back. But I'm a teenager growing up on the internet so I'm bound to publicly make mistakes. I don't feel at all obligated to defend some of the choices I've made in the past... people change! I'm genuinely sorry I used to suck!!!! ;)

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  19. Perfect. LOVE the outfit, LOVE the discussion at the end. Respect for you +500! Good on you for speaking up about these issues, especially as a fashion blogger. You rule.

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  21. I posted about you in my blog. Hope you like it ^^

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  22. just awesome. i love french fries ;-)

    xo

    glamDevils

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  23. Such an inpiration!
    Cheers from Peru

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  24. I love how you've mixed so different clothes.

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  25. Badass! You're so unique, had to follow you! xo

    Check out my fashion blog:
    www.fashion-passion-love.blogspot.com

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  26. I love this! I love how you toughen up a girly dress x

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  27. I love your opinions on feminism so much! And you're completely right equality is the priority, there's just too much stigma surrounding 'man hating feminists' and it needs to stop.
    Love your outfit too! xx

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  28. this outfit is amazing, I love the dress sooo much! xx

    http://coffeebooksandcitylights.blogspot.de/

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  29. The glasses rocks!

    whereORwhat.blogspot:Ilustrations, design and creativity.

    xoxo

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  30. this is such a perfect outfit! love, love, love(:
    xx/Quinn

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  31. jacket and jewellery is awesome!

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  32. Thank you so much for this post Bebe! Its awesome knowing there are other people out there in the blogosphere with a brain/soul. I major in feminist studies, specifically sexuality theory. The way feminists get interpolated into "killjoys" is simply reprehensible, and it contributes to the fact that people really don't want to hear or consider feminist arguments. Take the music industry, for example. There is no doubt a correlation between the death of "feel good" political hip hop (i.e. Public Enemy, A Tribe Called Quest, and the Pharcyde), and hip hop's shift to music that degrades women, vilifies homosexuality, and promotes drugs and other criminal activity. The truth is that the music industry has HUGE financial ties to private prisons, and the more people they influence to commit crimes (which is HIGHLY racialized, engendered, and based on class), the more big corporate music moguls profit from the prison industrial complex. I could go on about this issue, and others, for a very long time, but its just one thing that can shed light on the fact that patriarchy and capitalism impact society in a way that oppresses and dominates all people who don't fit into the mold of a white wealthy male. People should be more open to feminism before they just relegate it to "hippies" and "women who don't shave their legs" because in actuality it challenges every oppressive social structure in hopes to make the world a better place, or to at least stimulate critical thinking.

    On a lighter note, I love this outfit. You balance that delicate dress so well with the rest of the 90s grunge look. You would definitely make Courtney Love proud! Thanks for being you!

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    1. Also, given this post I think you would love Sara Ahmed's chapter "Feminist Killjoys" from her book "The Promise of Happiness". It really delves into why feminism has become synonymous with dissatisfaction and being unhappy.

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  33. oh my god your dress is soooo adorable!! and love your boots!

    http://msminik.blogspot.co.nz/

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  34. love the look. you rock

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  35. Love the contrasts of this outfit! You look amazing.

    Greetings, Anna


    agonyivory.blogspot.com

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  36. Reading this post was like being in my anthropology class. but anyway, I'm a fan of the kinderwhore style and you're rocking it x

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  37. it's amazing but it's too complicated for kinderwhore. it's not kinderwhore, it's not real.

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  38. it's not kinderwhore - it's just a fucking soft grunge.

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  39. OMG, I LOVE YOU!!!!!! I love the appearance of your entire outfit, the very feminine yet dominant look you achieved and project, and I especially LOVE that fabulously ultra-feminine white lace-trimmed pink mini-dress from Yes Style - in fact I wish I were wearing one just like it right now! I also love your gorgeous eye-makeup and beautiful perfectly applied lipstick, jewellery, and, above all, your mind.
    Sadly the board rooms of the media corporations are dominated by patriarchal sexist males,
    most of whom are in need of receiving attitude adjusting lessons in feminism and respect for women.

    My fashion blog Full Brief Panties
    My YouTube (misterpantybuns's channel) customer blouse and panty review videos
    My Twitter @Panty_Buns

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