Nowadays, women wear revealing clothing, such as short dresses and skirts and low cut tops. These fashions stand out to me as being one suggestion to people as how women are being viewed. Women are being seen as independent and unihibited by opinions of people in society. They can make choices on their own and by picking clothing once prohibited to them, they are making a stand proving that they do not need others deeming what is appropriate for them to wear and do. I believe that styles today also prove that women have more say in what they do. A lot of people are still in the very conservative mode, but women are breaking out of this mold. It is almost similar to the "glass ceiling effect" because they are being suppressed by the past opinions and views. By breaking these "rules", women are standing up for themselves and causing a change in how society views them. Those who are traditional may believe that it is showing women as immodest and immoral, that they are becoming almost trashy. But to others who are ready to move forward and forget these old preceptions concering clothing, it is a breakthrough for women, proving that they have just as much choice as anyone else. Since fashion is so stressed in society, what better way to make a statement.

I believe that history is proving to show that fashion does affect how women are viewed in society. The difference is the view or image being portrayed. Some people believe the fashion of women today is encouraging a image of lust and not very much self-respect. What do you think about how women are dressing today?

During the Progressive era, the image of women also changed which was caused by the new 1920s fashion. The model for women change from the Gibson girl to the Flapper. The flapper showed women having much more freedom in society. They wore short skirts, shirts without sleeves, lots of make-up, smoked, and drank. This shows how much of an effect fashion has on the way women wanted to be viewed. It was the first thing they changed. If they ever want to be viewed a certain way, women change what they wear. Look at history in the different eras and I am sure you will find this.

I believe that the change in fashion also can show a change in role and image of women in society. One example would be in World War II. During the war, the women dressed in shorter skirts as as way to be "motivation" and play their role in the war. Their role was to motivate the soldiers and give them something extra to fight for. Since most of the soldiers were young me, they obviously found the new style appealing and enjoyed it a lot. They wanted to get out of fighting and go back to the women who they found to be very attractive. Once the war ended, a new style of long skirts came in. This changed because women no longer felt the obligation to dress almost immodestly for the men. Instead, they went back to dressing what they liked. Also, their role became more business-like because they actually began to work jobs and do more outside of the home. They became more then just eye-candy and a stay at home mom/wife. They became a part of society and the business field.

Fashion has always been a major component of society, which means it is going to be subject to change. With how much it is stressed in society, I think that it is a very important topic to discuss. When looking at how much fashion has changed over the years, I think that people can agree that it has become a lot less conservative. In addition, the change of fashion has affected the way people view certain groups of society. It has impacted the views of people on the sexes, especially females. I think that it has had both negative and positive effects. I want to see how it has affected society and see how much trends really have changed over the years.