Women Dress For The Men
Really?
It started on social media
(what doesn't, these days?)
'Women dress for Men!" was confidently displayed
as a meme or headline, I forget
Which
and yet it nagged at me like an itch
that I couldn't quite reach.
^
Ah, sure sometimes it looks like that.
At least for me, and my dress
appealing to the male gaze.
But, truly; in many ways
I'm just dressing for The Me
not The Men.
^
It's for The Me I think I am
(taller, thinner, no thighs-touching)
slim jeans painted on,
thank goodness for leggings.
It's for The Me I used to be.
Embracing the BoHo of now for the
girl of the 70's that ached for the
lace and the leather, the fringe and the beads
and reveling in the sweep of a gauzy skirt.
^
It's for The Me that is taller:
I wear the heels that
twist my knee and fool my skirts
into being a bit short.
It's for The Me that embraces the
silks and velvet, the velour a younger
girl dreamt would cloak a Princess
or lure a mermaid from the sea.
^
It's for The Me that's inside:
I drift towards the blues:
the cobalt, sapphire
and teal-tinged hues
that remind me of eyes that once wore
no hood, no bulges or puffy
baggage, like now when I stood
before the mirror and wonder at that past The Me
with eyes so blue-ly enhanced by shadow/liner
and squinting through thrift shop
(or St Vincent dePaul-scored) sunglasses,
between classes
with no where to go but older.
^
But, The Men?
Do I dress for you, too?
Sure. I love the look in his eye
when I try
and get all dolled up.
But we both know
that although cleavage pleases
it's my own pleasure and confidence
that suits me best.
My at-home-The-Man grins at me
and sees all of The-Me-s that ever were
and ever will be
and knows Me for Me.
~~
Comments welcome.
Let me know, what do you wear that You recognize as truly YOU?
About the Creator
Judey Kalchik
It's my time to find and use my voice.
Poetry, short stories, memories, and a lot of things I think and wish I'd known a long time ago.
You can also find me on Medium
And please follow me on Threads, too!
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I have been taking some time away from writing. I haven't forgotten about Vocal, the truth is I just have been too busy pursuing other things to write online and honestly, my little family and I just had a really hard month between the flu and a weird eye infection/cold circulating our house. I'm currently sipping some warm peppermint tea because my throat is sore.
By Chloe Rose Violet 🌹7 days ago in BookClub
Comments (6)
Dressing for comfort, whether socially or alone, that's always my motto. The social comfort includes dressing for her in some way that's at least moderately pleasing, but comfort is almost paramount for me. Ah, who am I kidding? My wife did her best with me, but this is as cool as I can muster (which, in case you haven't caught my drift, is neither cool nor hot in any measure).
Awww, your at-home-The-Man! So sweet. I have no idea if I've worn anything that I recognise as truly me 😅 Loved your poem!
YEAAH! You go girl! We don't dress for MEN. We dress for ourselves. We want to feel sexy. The men are just good ego-booster confidence booster tools while we're feeling like a woman! <3
Why does everything need to be defined. Maybe it’s not a statement for or against. And maybe you like to do things just for you Headline grabbing tricks drive me crazy. I am glad you wrote this .
Maybe when I was younger, but not any more. And even then, I guess it was still more for me wanted to squeeze into those one size to jeans,.or those short dresses. And heels, oh those damn heels. Don't even own any, anymore.
I will be honest, I hardly dress for men. I try it once with my ex h and it was very uncomfortable. It was not my style. I would never do it again. I love how you end this poem 🥰