
Have you ever judged a female by what clothing they are wearing? Have you ever made an assumption about another female because of what they are wearing when you do not know their full argument behind why they are wearing that specific article of clothing? Women in society are judged due to what they are wearing and have been given stereotypes based off what they wear even if they are wearing something in order to challenge society. Those who are stereotyped or categorized are then discriminated against because they are not going along with the social norms. Those who try to challenge society may go against the idea of what is acceptable for females to wear by wearing a veil, non-feminine clothing, or even provocative clothing. All of these are seen as going against the social norm and those who wear them are discriminated against by society and stereotypes are formed for those who challenge what is socially acceptable.

In Muslim culture, women wear a veil that is seen as beautiful in cultures where they are the majority but in societies where Muslim women are the minority, wearing a veil is going with the idea of letting a group of people silence the voice of women. In an article which is entitled The veiling and Muslim women’s identity: Cultural pressures and resistance to stereotyping by Wolfgang Wagner, Ragini Sen, Risa Permandeli, and Caroline S Howarth, the idea that many see the veiling of women as the oppression of women in Muslim religion is evident. The women who are wearing the veil are stereotyped and then discriminated against because they are categorized as going with the idea of the oppression of women, when they are actually challenging society but others would not know this unless they actually discussed the reason behind why they are wearing the veil. Though, it is ironic that people discriminate against the Muslin culture for the veiling of women in regards to the oppression of women, but veils are often worn on a wedding day as a symbol of beauty. Women who wear the veil see themselves as peacefully revolting against the idea of what is socially acceptable for women to wear.

Even the color of clothing in not only adults but children have a so called “social norm” for them. If you or your child is seen in other clothing that does not go hand in hand with the social norm for a specific gender, those children or adults are stereotyped in society. In an article entitled Some Effects of Sex-Linked Clothing and Gender Schema on the Stereotyping of Infants by Christopher Leone and Kevin Robertson, the idea that female infants are seen in pink, sparkly clothing because that is what is seen as socially acceptable for younger children to wear correlating to their gender. Male infants are seen in more masculine clothing with superheroes and cars because that is what is socially acceptable for males to wear.  Because of these general social norms, infants are categorized frequently due to what color clothing they are wearing, whether it be the correct categorization or not. Categorizing individuals is fundamentally stereotyping others based on appearance which includes what that individual is wearing. Those parents who do not dress their infants in socially acceptable clothing for each gender is then discriminated against because they are seen as serving your child wrong for letting society to create a false image about what gender they are categorized with.  These ideas of what is socially acceptable regarding color and print continues as you get older also which is examined by the article.

In the book The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Katniss Everdeen, who is the strong female protagonist in the novel, Katniss goes against the general idea of what a female should wear because she is challenging the general idea that society has about women. Katniss challenges the idea of what others believe is normal for women within the districts and the capital by not enjoying the idea of being primped and overall not caring about what she looks like every second of the day. Others in the novel at first stereotype Katniss, then as they later become intrigued by the reason Katniss presents about why she is challenging society, more people begin to go along with her idea of challenging the government as a whole. She, as a strong female, becomes the symbol of revolt and change of stereotypes within the novel. 

The women who wear the veils are perceived as not being an activist for women’s rights and silencing the voice of women because they are going along with the oppression of women. It is stated in the article that “covered” women are rarely depicted as rising above the silence expected of women. Some of the female individuals who were in the spotlight for advocating for women’s rights seem to be the ones who are stereotyping women who wear the veil. Many of the women who do stereotype those who wear the veil are ironically oppressing them due to the idea they are silencing their voices and are trying to shame them which is overall trying to change their views on wearing the veil The Muslim women who are the minorities in different socio-political locations tend to continue to wear the veils, even though they are discriminated against, as they feel that they are disregarding the social prejudice and challenging the idea of society of what is socially acceptable for women to wear. 

In the article where the idea about identity that is given or gained for individuals who wear the veil, the general thought that is stated is “In the Muslim culture, the veiling of women is perceived as being the “social norm” because that is what other women around them are wearing. But in socio-political cultures where Muslim women are the minority, they were given identities by society and stereotyped as not being an activist in the fight for women’s rights. In reality, wearing the veil is actually challenging society and the identities that are given to those women who are veiled (Wagner, Sen, Permanadeli, & Howarth, 524).” Many women do tend to buy into the majority groups idea of not wearing the veil do it so that they keep their idea of social worth in the hope of reestablishing a new social identity and being accepted by society. As more women lose the veil and become part of the social-norm in places where wearing a veil is shamed, the minority group is losing their overall voice and are being forced to prove their self-worth to themselves. Continuing to wear the veil can be seen as overcoming the means of harmful or hateful ideas and words of group stereotyping. This is what Katniss did when she went against the social norm of what is acceptable for females to wear. She did not like the idea of being primped before her inhuman possible death compared to the other female tributes which is another reason that she was an ironic symbol for change. She changed how women are seen as these objects to be primped and look “pretty” at all times, which is how women in the capital are depicted as. Others like President Snow say Katniss must be eliminated because she is the image of hope and hope creates the idea of change, which creates problems for what is socially acceptable because then others will also begin to challenge society’s idea of what is socially acceptable. Wearing a veil can be seen in a negative or positive connotation; a bride wearing a veil in a ceremony in which she is about to be wed to someone or wearing a veil because that is a form of showing others your beliefs. Wearing a veil in a wedding ceremony is seen as beautiful and romantic but if you’re a Muslim woman wearing a veil, it is seen as adding to the silence of women’s rights. This is what women wearing the veil are doing, creating an image of change that others have formed stereotypes for and have formed hatred for because wearing the veil is seen as socially unacceptable. 

Colors and patterns that are on clothing are generalized as whether a male or female would wear that. Not only adults, but children learn and use social definitions of what is socially acceptable for each gender to wear. The colors and images that are displayed on articles of clothing serve as “gender advertisements” according to Leone and Robertson because others associate females with wearing frilly dresses or wearing a certain color, like pink for example. Because of this gender advertisement, clothing is seen as a sex-linked cue when associating someone, especially a child, with a certain gender. Associating a gender with a general idea of what to wear is categorizing people which is generally seen as stereotyping. Clothing has been discovered as the earliest stage of social encounter and others will stereotype females who are not wearing what is commonly known as female articles of clothing like these pink, frilly dresses. Discriminating a child based on their clothing is not done without consequences created upon those children who are discriminated against. Consequences in that young of age can create cognitive and behavioral affects within other sex-linked stereotypes that are formed. By society giving generalized sex-linked behaviors like what clothing to wear, those who want to be accepted into society incorporate those ideas into one’s view of themselves. Generalizing what is acceptable for sex-linked behavior like deciding what articles of clothing to wear is silencing one’s voice in reality because those who do not go with those generalizations are discriminated and judged due to challenging the ideas of what is normal for each gender to wear. If a child does not want to wear pinky, frilly dresses when they are a female, other children and adults may discriminate against that child because they may be wearing masculine clothes instead of feminine clothes which is what is expected of females to wear. 

Leone and Robertson stated it best when they said, “Gender schematic individuals (i.e. masculine males, feminine females) have incorporated conventional sex roles into their self-concepts. For these persons, sex is an important dimension of their social worlds. (Leone & Robertson, 611).” The overall idea of this quote is that individuals, including young children and adults, incorporate generalized sex-roles into their own self-concepts because they want to be accepted into society, whether they are true to how they truly feel on what clothing they wear or not. Something as simple as clothing is generalized based on your sex because society has their idea of what is socially acceptable for females to wear which strictly includes pastel colors because those are seen as “feminine” colors. Females who go against the social norm in what to wear, whether they are young children or adults, are labeled and discriminated against by using harsh words, like being called a dike, if they are not wearing frilly, feminine clothing that people see as the social norm. 

In order to back up these argument, a study is done by Leone and Robertson that included asking students which ranged from the age of 18 to 49, whether an 11-month old infant from a video was a male or female based upon the articles of clothing the infant was wearing. In one segment of the video, a female child was wearing a white dress with a ribbon, gathered sleeves, and was ruffled on the bottom which was seem as the female cue. The next segment was the same 11-month old female infant that was seen wearing the male cue which included blue shorts and a blue, green, and white stripped-shirt. In the same sex-related cue, included the same female infant who was wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and yellow pants. They were shown one of the three segments and then asked how confident they were with their answers. The students who saw either the male or female cue were more confident compared to those students who saw the same sex-related cue. This can relate to the idea of others stereotyping people and generalizing others depending on the articles of clothing they wear. Overall associating a gender with a general idea of what to wear is categorizing people which is generally seen as stereotyping. Stereotyping is generally seen as discriminating someone because others are making false accusations depending on what stereotypes are given in society and what is socially acceptable according to society.

Overall, this relates to The Hunger Games, because Katniss is a female who does not wear as one female would wear in her district or the capital. Other females in her district, including her mother and sister at first, are depicted as wearing a dress or skirt which is socially generalized with the female population. Katniss wears things that are not generally stereotyped as a female wearing, which includes pants. In the capital, her costume dresser is normally seen dressing her in long dresses in which she is also primped and dressed to look “pretty”, until she has to fight to the death with the other tributes in the arena in which she is described as being in the same outfit as the male tributes. She loses her power when she is she wearing a dress because she is going with the ideas of what is socially acceptable for a female to wear. Her power and hope is then gained back because she is challenging the ideas of the capital when wearing what she is comfortable which is when she is not primped and wearing pants and a shirt. This creates her image of a strong female protagonist and the idea of change within the novel because she is comfortable in normal masculine clothing and does not enjoy being primped which is what is excepted from females within the novel. Katniss is creating the change in the novel that the females in the real-world create when they are not wearing clothes that go hand and hand with the idea of what a general female would wear. Those who do not wear the socially acceptable clothing that is depicted with being a female are sometimes discriminated against because they are challenging the idea of what is socially acceptable for a female to wear. 

Whether a woman is wearing a veil or wearing clothing that is normally seen as masculine, both are challenging the social norms for females given by society. Both acts are generally stereotyped and discriminated against because others may not understand that these acts are ironically challenging what is socially acceptable and trying to create a change in those ideas of what is socially acceptable for women. Others should not be discriminated against or have stereotypes placed upon them because everyone’s reason for wearing what they wear is different which helps create their own voice and identity within society. For those women who challenge the general ideas of how women should dress in society, they are creating a choice for themselves that should not be silenced by others just because they feel the need to discriminate those who do not go along with the social norms. Ironically other women, can silence other women’s voices, just like the women who discriminate against those who do wear the veils for example, because they think they the social norm is to not wear a certain article of clothing in order to go along with a socially correct generalization that is made about women. Just because women wear something proudly that is not socially acceptable, does not mean that they should be judged or discriminated against by others just because they are breaking the rules and challenging society to change their ideas of what is socially acceptable. 
