It is so absurd to me that in 2021 women in America and other western countries still wear and buy clothes with no pockets. STILL. And act so passive and accepting of it, as if we have no rights or ability force change. Same people who champion American freedom and equality for women, too. Yet accept wearing clothing that doesn’t include the simple and basic utility of pockets. Why?

Writing for The Spectator in 2011, Paul Johnson offers a witty, thumbnail history of the sartorial convention of the pocket, and he caps his piece with a 1954 Christian Dior bon mot: “Men have pockets to keep things in, women for decoration.” Tease apart that quote and you get a fairly essentialist view of gender roles as they play out in clothing. Men’s dress is designed for utility; women’s dress is designed for beauty. It’s not a giant leap to see how pockets, or the lack thereof, reinforce sexist ideas of gender. Men are busy doing things; women are busy being looked at. Who needs pockets?

https://www.vox.com/2016/9/19/12865560/politics-of-pockets-suffragettes-women

This is one that women could force immediate change by our money, in Western countries. We should all refuse to buy clothes without pockets and modify clothes we already have to include pockets. That’s what I do. All of my skirts have pockets. I rarely wear pants but all of my pants have pockets. I really don’t get why women in countries with no dress code/laws for women go along with this; No one is forcing us to wear clothes without pockets so WHY is this still even a problem? I mean, I sort of get it: Many women derive social capital and benefit by wearing form-fitting clothes that show off our bodies. That’s a big part of it, hmmmmm. As someone who intentionally hides her body (I only get harassed, objectified, and looked down on when my curvy shape is evident, no benefit to me) it’s easy for me to wear clothes that obscure or hide the line and form of my shape; it doesn’t matter to me if pockets make me look ‘bulky’ or whatever. But for many women they experience real distress at looking ‘shapeless’ in clothing, they really want their body shape to be seen and admired.