• WoodScientist@lemmy.world
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          6 days ago

          Bows aren’t seen as feminine. Otherwise it would be an insult to give a man a present wrapped in a bow. They’re seen as childish. Men wouldn’t take it as a challenge to their manhood if you gave them a present wrapped in a bow. If your work uniform included a big shiny bow on the front, you would feel pretty damn infantilized.

          Or in this specific case, the bow is meant to say “this body is a gift, an object, a thing to be conquered or obtained.” Literal objectification. And this particular objectification only applies to women’s bodies, not men’s. Men get to receive the gift of a woman’s body, but women don’t get to receive the gift of a man’s body. Men have agency, women don’t. Classic infantilization, the stripping of agency.

          Or, for a more specific example. Grown women don’t tend to wear a lot of bows in their hair. That’s something for young girls primarily. Same reason you don’t see 40 year old women dressing up as fairy tale princesses. Fairy tales princesses aren’t a feminine thing, they’re a children’s thing.