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Key points
- New research suggests that women are more likely than men to wear clothing that hurts, interrupts their focus, or makes it difficult to move.
- Women were between three and 10 times more likely than men to wear shoes that cause pain.
- People who wore painful, distracting, or restricting clothing reported spending more time monitoring how their body appears to others.
It’s a saying that too many girls and young women grow up hearing: Beauty is pain. From hair removal to facial injections to plastic surgery, for many women, the pursuit of physical attractiveness comes with pain and discomfort.
But there’s a more everyday type of beauty-related pain and discomfort that many women endure—the kind that comes from simply wearing women’s fashions. In new research conducted by my lab (The Body and Media Lab at Northwestern University), we conducted what we believe to be the first scientific research study of how often women (vs. men) wear clothing that is painful, distracting, or restricting. We also examined some of the psychological consequences of wearing these kinds of clothes. The results were clear: Women are substantially more likely than men to wear clothing that hurts, interrupts their focus, or makes it difficult to freely move.
A quick glance at the fashion landscape certainly suggests that women’s clothing is less comfortable than men’s clothing tends to be. But even questions for which the answer seems obvious deserve empirical scrutiny. After all, the first step in changing a pattern is often to carefully document it.
We conducted two large surveys (both prior to the COVID-19 pandemic) that asked nearly 800 men and women how often they wore different types of clothing and why. The first survey targeted U.S. college students and the second a broader sample of U.S. adults. Each survey respondent was presented with a list of different types of painful, distracting, or restricting clothing, and asked whether they wore this type of clothing, and if so, how often. For painful clothing, we asked about things like shoes that cause pain or blisters, and clothing that leaves welts on the body. For distracting clothing, we asked about types of clothing that can interrupt the focus of the wearer (for example, clothes that you must regularly adjust to keep in the right place). Finally, for restricting clothing, we asked about clothing that limits movement, like shoes that make it difficult to stand or clothing that makes it difficult to move your arms or legs. Pointy-toed shoes are a good example of painful clothing; shapewear and tight skirts are good examples of restricting clothing; low-cut shirts that you have to keep adjusting or short skirts that require you to carefully monitor how you sit are good examples of distracting clothing.
Women were more likely than men to wear nearly every type of painful, distracting, or restricting clothing. Some of the biggest gender differences were found for questions specifically addressing shoes. Women were between three and 10 times more likely than men to wear shoes that cause pain, and between four and 12 times more likely to wear shoes that leave them unable to comfortably stand. Much of this gender gap is likely driven by the continuing popularity of high heels for women.
Shoes have a major impact on the wearer’s ability to comfortably and confidently stand, walk, or run. While some men’s shoes are likely less comfortable than others, overall, men’s shoes are designed to facilitate movement whereas many women’s shoes clearly emphasize form over function. As my co-author on this research noted, given that the main purpose of shoes is to make it easier to stand and walk, too many women’s shoes do a terrible job of being shoes.
Results of this research also showed that between 32 and 55 percent of women reported wearing clothing that is so tight it leaves welts on their bodies after they remove it, whereas only 12 to 15 percent of men reported wearing such clothing. One-third of women said they wore clothing that requires ongoing monitoring and adjusting throughout the day—more than twice the rate of men. Most alarming was how often women reported wearing clothing that makes it difficult to breathe. Women were between three and six times more likely than men to report wearing clothing so tight that they couldn’t take a deep breath.
Interestingly, when we asked men and women why they wore clothing that is painful, distracting, or restricting, they gave us very different reasons. Men were more likely to say that they wore this type of clothing when they didn’t have a choice. For example, they might wear a tie to attend a funeral or have to wear a suit as part of a workplace requirement. On the other hand, women were more likely to say they wore painful, distracting, or restricting clothing because they felt the sacrifice was worth it in order to look good.
Wearing painful, distracting, or restricting clothing is less than ideal for many practical reasons. These types of clothes can interrupt your focus, make it difficult to do the things you need to do, and create a background level of pain that is unpleasant at best, debilitating at worst. But these types of clothes also have psychological consequences. Across two surveys, regardless of gender, people who wore painful, distracting, or restricting clothing reported spending more time engaging in “body surveillance.” Body surveillance is a research term that refers to monitoring how your body looks to others. In general, body surveillance is bad news. It’s linked to body image struggles, eating disorder symptoms, and depression. Body surveillance also disrupts your flow of thoughts, making it more difficult to concentrate.
Though we often think of fashion as trivial, it’s clear that the differences between men’s and women’s fashions have implications for physical and mental well-being. Fashion designers can certainly produce women’s clothing that is comfortable and functional while still being attractive. Selecting clothing that lets you move and breathe comfortably is an act of kindness toward your body. Avoiding clothing that distracts you just might be a gift to your brain as well.
Facebook/LinkedIn image: Prostock-studio/Shutterstock
