North Texas Daily

Has it ever occurred to clothing industries to add more pockets onto women’s pants? I constantly struggle on a daily basis to fit things into my pockets, and most of the time, the pockets aren’t even real or deep enough to carry anything.

I’ve gone through many pants since my adolescent days and I remember being able to fit a handful of change, ChapStick, a pack of gum and a bunch of random items into my pockets. Now, I can’t even recall the last time my pockets were functional.

But, if you want to know why this is an issue, let me sum up the history of the gender politics of pockets. According to The Atlantic, “mid-range fashion is a male-dominated business, driven not by form and function, but by design and how fabric best drapes the body.”

The lack of pockets in women’s clothing is unfair and it’s another reason why women have the need to buy purses. As a woman myself, I like to think 10 steps ahead and being prepared for the worst. So, we tend to carry more items than men.

Yet, my question still remains. Why do men get the luxury of having accessible pockets, while women have to find other, creative ways to store their belongings that are not simple things like pockets? Well, because of the inherent sexism found within the fashion industry.

Another insulting fact is that most designers think that pockets are ugly and think that women don’t need them. This ideology is obviously wrong on many accounts. For example, when I go to concerts I don’t like carrying my purse with me mainly because I want to keep a low profile and not get my purse yanked. Another example is when I’m out during a night of drinking with my friends, I don’t want to worry about lugging around my big purse filled with necessary items such as my phone, wallet, keys and other assorted miscellaneous items.

Putting my phone in my back pocket has never been an option either, especially since that makes you more of an easy target to get your phone stolen and I do not have the funds for a new phone.

It is a battle for me to find pants that are not only affordable, but come with full-sized pockets. Most stores that do carry pants with pockets are usually not trendy and are absolutely horrendous to look at. Women actually have to pay more to look stylish and be comfortable. This should not be a thing that women have to worry about, but so many factors of fashion prevent this.

To fix this catastrophe, there’s a few things that should happen, most notably that we need to hold designers accountable for the lack of accessible pockets for women.

Firstly, we need to make sure that designers are hearing out their consumers’ complaints. It’s important to recognize that pockets may not be deemed as “fashionable” to them, we are the ones that will be buying it.

Then, we need to point out the many obvious reasons why women need pockets by explaining to them how purses should not be an alternative to pockets. Some of us really don’t care to sport a purse or don’t have the luxury in doing so.

Thirdly, we need to stop buying pants and clothing that serve no purpose to us other than for looks.

I know this may sound a bit overdramatic, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that functional pockets need to be included in women’s wear. I hope that whoever is reading this knows that women deserve the same and equal compartments in clothes, just as much as men do, and starting with more deep sized functional pockets would be the right first step in doing so.

Featured Illustration: Olivia Varnell