random tid bit - I went to buy a pair of flip flops, all the ones in my size had heals on them  . . . what the fuck!  while we are at it, I say these shoes in a shop in vienna, converse hightops with pointed toes and heals . . . worse I say someone wearing them in amsterdam.  In this feminist backlash fashion, I think the worst still is the shoes regan and I saw in winners last summer, construction boots with stellettos.  seriously thats not the way to fuck with gender!
 
I have noticed more and more femisist backlash in clothing, pop culture and advertising.  the girl power thing went from riot grrl, to cutsy girl, now to embracing the bitchy catty girl.  I have seen shirts saying things like back off slut and so on.  The t-shirts are interesting, the kind with the little phrases that I use to by a few years back.  You could easily find shirts that said things like pussy power, one women army, all the emily stuff and so on.  Even though the emily shirts have exploded everywhere you can only get those feminist style shirts in specialized shows like women sex shops, women book stores, squats and so on.  When you go into you cheesy t-shirt shop, they are more likely to be individualist and rude or embrassing womens sexuality in what I see is a negative way. 
 
and seriously this shoe thing is an issue, I was thinking that it was a very irish thing for all the girls to be wearing these extremely short skirts and stilletto shoes.  I was looking forward to the fashion that I thought was common in TO.  you get the girls with those outfits but they are restricted to certain pop culture that is seamingly marginalised.  The "sub-culture" fashion is more the norm here.  runners and flip flop in the summer, used clothing, funky fashion and NOT the high end girly stuff you see in europe.  The girly stuff is all the very cute girl stuff, the mix and match of tom boy and femme, the soft femme.  But these shoes are ruining that.  They are taking what women have claimed for themselves and feminising it.  As if when a women wears something that is not stereotypical feminine she has to apologize in some way. 
 
In other sub cultures you see this done in other ways, for example body builders who are taking up space in a male dominated culture and are physically emboding the "male" body tend to wear tons of make up and jewllery.  This process of feminising themselves is done as an apology for taking over "male" traits and professions.  I know the flip flop is not masculine but the converse and the construction boot can be seen more that way.  But what the flip flop says is that even when chilln' the women is conserned with fashion and looking sexy for the male.  Having a heal on a flip flop takes away every reason for having them in the first place.  It removes the casualness of them, it takes away the fuction of wearing them around the pool.  In blends with the sandle you are suppose to wear dressing up with the sandle you are suppose to wear for more athletic and leisure events.
 
some people are all about europe and fashion but I remember being in Italy two summers ago and even the women cops were wearing heals, seriously the fashion and gender distinctions were so bold.  I felt a sence of relief walking down a TO street after coming back and seeing a more androgenous style, a style that didn't say money, a style that allowed for movement and comfort while at the same time looking great.  It is true even here the style has gotten more femme over the past few years but it is no where near the high femme flashy fashion of europe. 
 
And it is not that I have an issue if someone chooses to like that as their mode of expression.  And all the more power to my high femme friends who take up space and don't put up with any shit.  It is only when the mainstream cultre is pushing these highly gendered and highly seuxalized fashions it makes me conserned how people are relating to these clothes, both the women wearing the fashion and those who are objectfy them in the outfits. 
 
The few friends I have who are femme understand very well the stregth with that postion and they understand how they may be seen, but they are strong and it doesn't take long to realize no matter what these women are wearing they are not dolls, they will not keep silent and they will not take any shit.  Thats gender fucking for you.