2025 is the New Age Prohibition
If you’re a woman, someone, somewhere, hates that you exist. This, of course, is not your fault. But through this notion, we, as a sisterhood, push against the prejudice and sexism woven into our everyday lives that truly matters.
This rebellion began long ago by wearing pants or Gloria Steinem glasses, but today there seems to be a new, unconscious, way to go about being a “misbehaved lady”: to simply wear nothing at all. It began with the debut of SKIMS nipple bra in October of 2023, a subtle, yet shocking take on traditional wear. It was not made with the intention to begin a movement, but the public had other plans, and #FreetheNipple was born.
This stab at purity culture sparked a chain of events that could not be undone. It was when Charli XCX dropped her sixth studio album, BRAT, that women were inspired to stop wearing bras entirely, and began to embrace erotica. This ideology does not explicitly stem from the music itself, but rather results from Charli’s refusal to hide her confidence.
The streets of New York City following the album began to resemble Woodstock ‘69 in that women had never felt more comfortable in their own skin. The radical rejection of the traditional role of women is now erotic, not pornographic. Instead of solely devoting yourself premaritally to one man, Charli XCX encourages young women, in her song “Everything is romantic,” to “fall in love again, and again.”
Artists like Addison Rae performing in nothing but beaded undergarments and feather boas is loudly an act by women for women, which had rarely been celebrated in the past. This new style blatantly reflects generations of showgirls, flappers, and rebellious women of the past. Does that qualify the SWEAT TOUR (Troy Sivan, Addison Rae, Lorde, and Charli XCX 2024 tour) as a recession indicator? That's up for discussion.
Nonetheless, the new ‘It-Girl’ has been born, and she is reclaiming her desire as something powerful, rather than degrading. This movement is a posterless protest against the sexist men in power. Women are done begging to be listened to, something they’d been marching for since the 1970’s Feminist Liberation movements; now they’re simply speaking louder, drowning out the voices of men who choose to belittle them.
If you’re a woman, someone, somewhere, hates that you exist. But we are in an age of rebirth, so let them. Exist louder than ever before. Not only for you, but for the women before you who couldn’t.