richardegansey:

truthisborninargument:

richardegansey:

Ok so obviously I can’t speak for everyone, but the people saying everyone concerned about Izzy’s over-sexualisation are slut-shamers is, I don’t think, entirely fair, because in at least this example I’m going to talk about, people are ignoring the context in which Izzy is depicted in revealing clothing (her crop-top) and the boys’ aren’t: the pandemonium scene. this context is significant because the shadowhunters are effectively going into battle/a potentially dangerous situation where they could incur significant injuries in the process of killing a demon

and to that end, there is a purely logical/practical reason for not exposing bare skin, especially around a critically vulnerable area like your abdomen. Izzy wearing a crop-top here, then, denies her the ability to a) wear any kind of protective gear (as she could have been, theoretically, in the dress she was wearing in the book) and b) disguise any extra weapons around her midriff (as we know some shadowhunters have done in the past (e.g. Will in CA)

yes, it’s important to recognise that Izzy’s clothing in this scene is SUPPOSED to be sexualised, but in this case, the exposure of her skin potentially impedes her from *doing her job as a Shadowhunter*: it renders her physically vulnerable in a way that the boys’ aren’t. this is not necessarily about Izzy being sexually confident by wearing revealing clothing (as, if this were another context, it would be absolutely fine!!!), but about being subjected to the male gaze in an inappropriate situation

You apply your own logic to what should be worn in battle – safe clothes – to a character that simply thinks differently than you. It’s really simple: for Isabelle Lightwood safely is not a priority in battle, but the way she looks doing it is! (she seduces demons and then slay them). It may not coincide with your thinking, you may not like it or think it’s silly and dangerous, but that’s who Izzy is!

Izzy is also famous for always wearing high heels or wearing long skirts. It is highly impractical to do so in battle, but nobody complains about it. But when there is skin exposed you suddenly remember that it is impractical? That’s just an excuse for slut shaming and it sounds hypocritical.

i’m just going to repeat back to you what you’ve said, ok: 
“for Isabelle Lightwood safely is not a priority in battle, but the way she looks doing it is!” for izzy, safety isn’t a priority?? ISABELLE LIGHTWOOD, according to you (and apparently you alone can know exclusively what she is thinking? wow. which version of fictional izzy are we talking about here??) DOESN’T CARE ABOUT HER OWN SAFETY. not only that, but apparently her need to express her sexuality ~specifically through her clothing~ is so all-encompassing that it overrides her most basic instinct of self-preservation? i’m sorry, but are you even being serious?

have a good long think about how absolutely, totally absurd that is. not only that, but you’re actually doing isabelle a huge disservice because, now, you’re reducing her down to her sexuality. you are saying that one part of her identity (her sexuality) trumps her identity (and ability) as a shadowhunter and warrior. you are saying that she can’t be both at the same time. that’s a rather sexist thing to imply. 

it’s made very clear in the books that isabelle is fucking exceptional at being a shadowhunter – second only to jace, who essentially has an unfair (supernatural) advantage. i highly doubt isabelle could have acquired such skill and prowess by not caring about her safety in battle???? 

“Izzy is also famous for always wearing high heels or wearing long skirts. It is highly impractical to do so in battle, but nobody complains about it”: i actually addressed this in my OP when i talked about dresses – wearing long skirts, again, has obvious advantages over wearing crop-tops – for the reasons i’m having to repeat here again, you can disguise weapons around your legs/wear protective gear underneath should you wish to. wearing crop-tops completely eliminates that option, as well as exposing Area of Vital Organs. as for high heels – i don’t know if they’re that impractical, actually. as long as you are confidently mobile in them, they can double up as an additional weapon. i think it’s important to make a distinction between what is defined as isabelle expressing her femininity and isabelle expressing her sexuality here. these are clearly different things in different contexts, this being one of them. 

i see that you’ve conveniently passed over what i said about the crop-top, in itself, being fine. and it is! if isabelle were lounging around the institute or on a date w/ simon – in short, in a non-threatening, non-life-endangering situation where wearing revealing clothes doesn’t put her at risk, then that. is. fine. IN A DIFFERENT CONTEXT, ISABELLE WEARING THIS WOULD BE A-OK. but i somewhat doubt that for isabelle, for whom being a shadowhunter is such a massive part of how she constructs her identity, her first choice of battle-clothing would be a crop-top. that is demeaning to her because it suggests that isabelle fundamentally lacks the common sense to see that some clothing is clearly unfit for some pretty dangerous situations and is more interested in CONSTANTLY asserting her sexuality than in simply doing her job, and doing it well. 

in summation = you have not refuted anything of my argument. you have pretty much just proved my original point: izzy exposing this amount of skin in this context is dangerous, and thus is probably only serving one purpose: MALE GAZE. you have also said (to my utter delight) that “my logic” is being used as an “excuse” to slut-shame. which is funny because that implies that in order to not slut-shame you have to be deliberately illogical? how hilarious