Reasonable Clothes For Women

 Though much of what I'm going to say applies to men as well:)

I get a lot of topics to write about from YouTube videos and discussions. Recently YouTube by some reason pushed some episodes of a Nigerien (that is made in Niger) soap opera about life in a village. It is in some French dialect so I couldn't understand much at all, but I was impressed by the clothes the ladies wore. Now you should keep in mind that in Niger the majority of population are Moslem. However, women don't wear the traditional black stile garment we often associate with that faith, but rather something which I would describe as very reasonable, especially considering the climate.

They wore long colourful skirts with long leggins underneath and long sleeved denim/dark coloured blouses, turbans on their heads and lots of gold/jewellery. They looked feminine and dignified, and their clothes while cool offered protection against the sun.  

When we visit an archeological museum we see women wearing European medieval costumes. They consist of long colourful robes, head-coverings and sometimes hats worn on top of it (depending on the period they are portraying). And while Roman soldiers were known for their short tunics, female clothes were still long and covered the entire body + hair unless she was a slave. Slave girls were more undressed because their modesty and chastity were not protected by the law. 

Traditional clothes women wore in the West until recently were of the same type, though obviously of different styles. Hats and headcoverings by women were still worn till 1960s at the least, though dresses became much shorter. Men still wore long trousers and often hats. Then everything changed. Hats and wearing clothes in general was declared the tool of oppression/patriarchy and to emancipate oneself you have to prance around as undressed as the weather allows.

The funny thing is that while "they" definitely promote it, "they" in this case aren't the government officials but rather the MSM, the fashion world and (female) popstars whose skimpy clothes are eagerly copied by the young girls hoping to become just as popular by being "cool and s8xy".

Various Western governments, on the other hand, keep warning people about the dangers of the sun exposure and urge them to put on what could only be described as "modest clothing", like in this article.

 While they don't mention skirts/dresses (that would be too patriarchal, I guess) their educational video shows a girl wearing a dark knee-length dress. The stores are full of long summer skirts, btw, which offer even better protection since they cover more of your legs. And don't forget your feet. Open sandals are more risky than more traditional foot wear, or sport shoes which one usually wears with socks. 

Isn't it rather funny that all traditional cultures and religions expected folks to cover their nakedness, especially women and that it perfectly coincides with modern medical/scientific advice??? By the way, keep in mind that even when the UV index is low there are still UVA type rays present which normally don't cause sunburn, but they contribute to premature skin aging and are thought to suppress immunity. In fact, this article claims that just using a sunscreen regularly is comparable to botox in making you look younger. 

Well, I guess sticking it to the oppressive patriarchy is worth getting skin cancer and may be even dying. Or is it???