Gender

I don't wear a women's winter jacket.

Mostly, I wear an insanely warm sweater with a fairly genderless rain coat over top, and this keeps me comfy down to -30 with wind chill.  When it does dip below that, I swap the rain coat for the outer shell of a modular men's winter jacket.

I love that raincoat so much.  It's made with Gore-Tex (waterproof but breathable material), has a high collar separate from the hood, has big side pockets that can hold two pairs of gloves or a hat and a neck gaiter, and reaches down past my butt so I can sit on wet things if I really want to.

But after two years (almost three), it's starting to wear; the black outer layer is starting to fray in some permanently creased places, showing the tan Gore-Tex beneath.  So I've been keeping my eye out for a new winter jacket (or at least, a new piece to add to my modular winter jacket system).

I happened to be at MEC (who, coincidentally, also made my raincoat) and saw a parka on clearance--but only the purple ones were reduced.  It was a good price, and seemed of good quality!  But something about buying a women's winter jacket seemed.... extremely unappealing to me.

There are some logical possible reasons for this.  Being short and a little stout most of my life, I found I fit men's clothing much better.  Also, I usually can't stand women's pants for their lack of usable pockets.  And I avoid wearing women's pants in winter because the material is often thinner, and they're form-fitting, reducing circulation and making me colder (also, I can't fit long-johns under them!).  I dislike most women's shoes because they're impractical and uncomfortable and women's tops usually feel less substantial than men's (in both thickness/durability of fabric, and the amount of fabric!).

But I do wear women's clothes.  I don't find them extremely unappealing to wear, and I do buy them occasionally!  So what's the big deal about a women's parka?

First I have to define a word the way I want to use it.

Genderise
verb, transitive
1.  to assign a gender to something that does not have a biological sex; "he genderised his guitar, referring to her as Lola and handling her extra carefully"
2.  to divide a group into genders, whether or not its members have a biological sex;
3.  to market a unisex product differently for men and women; "she shook her head in dismay when she saw that toothpaste had also been genderised"

I live in Winnipeg, MB, sometimes referred to as Winterpeg.  I guess my thinking is that genderising something as practical as a parka is ridiculous.

A good parka usually costs around $100 (scientific wild-ass guess).  I usually buy my jeans for $30 or less; and everyday tops for $15 or less.  Understandably, I own more tops than jeans, and more jeans than parkas.  I don't have money to blow on umpteen winter jackets!  I don't have money to get "a jacket for every occasion!"  If it's cold, I wear a jacket.  If it's colder, I wear a warmer jacket or add a ridiculously warm sweater.

So if I only can afford to have one winter jacket, why, still, should it matter if it's genderised?

My first reaction was, "I don't want to go around letting everyone know I'm female."  I dug a little deeper.

I think it's that I don't like being identified by my gender in general.  I think I don't like being lumped together with half the world's population as if there's no variation among individuals.  My least favourite phrase to hear in a discussion is, "Because you're a woman!" as if having a vagina means I'm going to completely empathise with every other person with a vagina because I have a vagina.

Gender, in my opinion, is a rather poor and poorly-defined way of dividing a population into categories.



TL;DR:  I find wearing feminine everyday clothes to be fine because I can afford the variety in my wardrobe; but when I have to decide on an article of clothing that is less about fashion and more about practicality (and also costs a lot more), I'll spend the money on something I'm more comfortable wearing, which is typically not feminine.

The question of why genderised parkas bother me, still bothers me, but I feel I've explored a satisfactory portion of it today at least.

--Charlie


PS:  I bought the parka.  But it's also return-able!

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