Public and Private in Light of Lingerie

Abstract

Let me start with a bra strap. This curious little stay that some of us have gone to great lengths to hide, disguise or eliminate altogether has in recent years surfaced in a big way, as a headband or in a very deliberate counterpoint with skimpiest of tank tops. In fact, last year valedictorian of my daughter's graduating New York State high school class spoke about big battle: right to bear arms--that is to wear tank tops to school. If one has full look down, bra straps--preferably some eye-catching color-are prominently displayed. How might one explain this curious shift of previously hidden, and at pains hidden underwear, to domain of outerwear? How might one make meaningful the references in fashion submerged in ordinary, as art historian Anne Hollander has phrased it? [1] As a fashion statement, underwear as outerwear is hardly breaking news; it possesses, as Valerie Steele and Hollander have observed, a long history. In fact, there was a fashion flurry In this direction almost a decade ago. In 1992 Essence Magazine ran an article on lingerie titled Secret is Out. Deborah Gregory and Meyer Kip wrote copy which Included phrases, inside story is bursting out.... Hook up innerwear with your favorite jeans and jacket. [2] In a May 1995 issue of People, a little piece titled Slip Shtick tells us slips are only latest undergarment to go public, after bras, corsets, and boxer shorts made jump from inner to outerwear. [3] The curious flip-flop of underwear to outerwear has at least a provocative paratactic relationship to shifts that have occurred in our understanding of and private domains. At its most grand, underwear as outerwear bears meaning in relation to global shift in versus private that is defined by communication revolution, a revolution Inextricable from consumer culture or what I call consumer vortex. In order to describe consumer vortex, we move from microcosm to macrocosm. The last few decades mark a critical phase in our understanding of public and A credit card economy, Internet and omni-present surveillance cameras are redefining--and In some cases erasing--earlier existing notions of versus private. A few years ago, if one made a purchase, one could do it more or less anonymously, but today consumers are asked for zip codes, addresses and telephone numbers. And just try saying no. Because database creation is now part of purchasing transaction, refusal to give a zip code is a deliberate act of resistance. What other areas, linked to supposedly discreet identity, have shifted? For a small fee, one can do a credit search on anyone. Then there is Internet. As we all know, it is hardly secure. When I received my college Internet account I was informed that administration could read my mail- assuming of course that they would not. This was legal considering that all information on school owned machines is available to the institution. Of course one can resort to snail mall--It is still illegal to open and read snail mail but fewer and fewer people are using it for regular communication. Today, we Increasingly live under heightened surveillance, presumably created for our protection or convenience but in process that same surveillance undermines our former sense of privacy. From thruway easy pass to swipe card for entering office or hotel room, someone else can detect and effect our next step. In stores, at traffic lights and in dark of night while checking a random Web site, our every move is potentially monitored. I need not mention abuse of social security number which is regularly used as an identification number by banks and schools. Who is really concerned about this new exposed state of affairs? An admittedly random sample, college students with whom I have discussed this take monitoring and surveillance for granted. …