Physical Discipline and Physical Liberation Masculine Clothing as an Example

Abstract

The body-mind dualism has led to a focus on the spiritual and neglect of the physical, while intersecting with gender factors, resulting in the extreme devaluation of women and their bodies. As a result, the female body becomes an important site of discipline for women, through dress and grooming. This study attempts to elucidate how women’s physical discipline and physical liberation occur by masculine dress. Starting from symbolic violence, the study elaborates on the regulation of women’s bodies by masculine clothing in terms of both capitalism and gender; it also explains how women can liberate themselves through dressing masculine by rebelling against traditional images, breaking the consistency of biological gender and social gender, and escaping the domination of the male gaze. Therefore, when women have a more thorough understanding of dressing itself, they can better perceive their position and its complexity, and promote women’s liberation through individual practice.