드레스 개혁과 여성 위상: 길먼의 글을 중심으로

초록

This paper examines the social and symbolic significance of women’s dress through Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s writings. Well-known as a writer who strenuously grappled with various issues related to women’s status, Gilman addressed the issue of women’s clothing and dress reform in her essays and fictions. Gilman’s concern with the issue of women’s dress was closely related with the emergence of the New Woman types, such as the Gibson Girl and the Flapper at the turn of the twentieth century. Engaging with these changes in women’s cultural images, Gilman deals with the issue of clothing as an important part for the promotion of women’s status. In essays, such as “Why Women Do Not Reform their Dress” and The Dress of Women, Gilman critically analyzes the ideological support of gendered practices of women’s clothing. On the other hand, in her fictional works, she presents alternative ways of looking at the conventional ideas about women’s clothing and proposes the need for dress reform in a creative way. As a result, Gilman’s co-work of fiction and non-fictional essays helps us view the issue of women’s dress in a more multi-faceted way.

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