I wrote this essay for English, so it may seem a little formatted and/or repetitive. Also, the second paragraph is a bunch of stuff that I made up just so that I would have a paragraph that fit my teachers requirements (except for the quote that’s real). However, I don’t care enough to rewrite it for the one person who looks at my posts. (thx, btw). My main source was this article, if you are interested.
When shopping for clothes, there is one very important aspect to be taken into account. Pockets. Men don’t frequently think about pockets when deciding what items to select, as most of their clothes come with large, roomy pockets. Women, on the other hand, often don’t find pockets at all, pockets that are sewed shut, or pockets barely large enough to carry a hair clip. The size of women’s pockets is an important issue because of the unfairness of it all. Oftentimes women have to carry a purse simply to hold things such as their keys or wallet, while men simply put them in their pockets. In addition, there are the implications of it all. The lack of pockets in women’s clothing is an injustice in this world because it suggests that women have no need to carry things, and two solutions are bringing attention to this issue and to add pockets to leading brands of clothing.
The size of women’s pockets is a major injustice in this world because it restricts what a woman can carry on her person at any given time and because it implies that we do not need to carry items on our person. According to Jan Diehm and Amber Thomas on pudding.cool, “Pockets, unlike purses, are hidden, private spaces.” The reason women are often seen with purses, and the reason that purses are seen as “unmanly”, all comes back to pockets. If your pocket isn’t large enough to carry a phone, you start carrying it in a bag, then you add your keys, wallet, etcetera. In addition, it is easy to identify a purse as an area where a woman may carry her valuables, while pockets are rarely given a spare thought. “The size disparity really limits what items women can safely stow in her pockets” By decreasing the size of pockets, you are suggesting that women have no need for pockets, whether it be saying that we have nothing to carry, or that the fashion of the outfit is more important than the functionality.
Thankfully, there are some solutions to the problem of womens’ pockets; one is simply bringing attention to this issue. According to Shelby Rogers “The concept of women also having the same storage in their clothing as men has historically been inconsistent.” If you were to time travel to medieval times you would notice fanny pack-like pouches worn by both the men and women. However, as time progressed and an hourglass figure and slim silhouette became seen as ideal, these pouches became less common. At the same time pouches began to be sewn directly into men’s clothes, creating the pocket we know today. However, they were rarely included in women’s clothing, likely due to the large number of undergarments women used to wear. If women had begun to speak out earlier, the absence of pockets in our clothing would not be as prominent in our culture. “There hasn’t been anything remotely scientific about how common this frustrating occurrence is,” wrote Rogers. The randomity of this discrepancy is astounding. In the past this has simply been accepted, and alternatives such as purses have been used. All of the great revolutions in history have begun with the persecuted group of people speaking out, and while this may not be the American Revolution, it will start the same way. In order for any change to happen, we need to start to speak out.
Another solution to the problem of womens’ pockets, is to add larger pockets to leading brands of clothing. According to Diehm and Thomas, Mens straight Levi’s jeans are 10.2” deep at the deepest point, and 6.5” wide. However, the women’s jeans have pockets measure in at only 4.8” deep, and 5.9” wide.This is just one example of a popular brand of jeans having ridiculous differences between the size of their pockets. If well known brands such as Levi’s, Gap, and Wrangler begin to equalize the size of their pockets, other brands will follow suit in an effort to mimic popular products.“Women finally have statistical proof that their front pants pockets are made smaller,” claims Rogers. Now that we have confirmation numerous brands craft pants–especially jeans– with smaller pockets for women than for men, we can’t just sit on this information. We need to bring these examples to leading brands and convince them to change their product. Then we can sit back and watch the ripples spread. Once one area of the lake starts moving, the rest will follow.
The lack of pockets in women’s clothing is an injustice in this world; two solutions are bringing attention to this issue and to add pockets to leading brands of clothing. People should care about women’s pockets because we deserve the same as men. There is no logical reason for women’s pockets to be any smaller than men’s, and it needs to stop.
