Recently, a new trend took over tiktok: “subway shirts”. It all started with rising temperatures in the United States. Because of the warmer climate, most women started to give preference to sets, skirts, shorts, tops and shorter dresses. Speaking like this, it really seems that this trend is about fashion, but, unfortunately, it is not.
It all started when the fashion influencer Sophie Milner posted the video: “The outfit versus the outfit I wear on the tube so I don’t get harassed and stared at by creeps”. In this specific video, we can see a lot of cute outfits being covered with a random baggy T-shirt. Of course it is sad to see a cute outfit being ruined, but worse than that is knowing that women still feel the need to cover up to feel a little bit safer in public.
“Subway shirts” emerged with the intention of making women feel more comfortable in public places (such as the subway). The whole idea is to put on comfortable and lighter clothes for the heat and put a loose t-shirt on top. So, when walking down the street or on public transport, women can feel less exposed to strange men, but still can wear their summer looks. It looks pretty simple, but, when we look deep into it, we understand the real struggle us women go through.
We all know that the clothes a woman wears in no way justify the harassment and disrespect she receives, right? An example of this are the exhibitions that show what girls and women were wearing when they were raped. Unfortunately, the discussion about whether or not what the woman was wearing should be considered when talking about the assault still happens all the time.
Because of that, some people even think that this trend is exactly about how smaller clothes lead to harassment and so the solution is for women to cover up. Even worse than that, some are saying that the trend itself “perpetuates the idea that clothes cause assault”. How showing all the small annoying things we have to do to feel less abused is perpetuating that? Assault is caused by assaulters, not clothes. Whoever says something different is totally going against the victim.
Although “subway shirts” have become a trend and several women post videos “joking” about the situation – how else should we deal with that every single day? – , it is important to understand how problematic this is. In 2023, women are still harassed in any situation wearing any clothes! The subway shirts were not created with the intention of showing that the victim’s clothes are why they go through that, but to make women feel a little more protected and to show what we go through every day.
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The article above was edited by Juliana Sanches.
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