Analyzing Coco Chanel
from the Aspect of
Feminism
By Jane Chen 陳潔恩 & Laura Huang 黃品瑜
National Tainan Girls’ Senior High School
Advisor: Dr. Meg Lu 呂明蓁教授 & Vivian Su
1
Acknowledgement
We would like to start off by thanking our advisors. Thanks to Dr. Meg Lu for
helping us to think from a different perspective about Coco Chanel and to make sure
that the information provided in our thesis is accurate. Thanks to English teacher,
Miss Vivian Su, for correcting inappropriate wording in this thesis. Thanks to every
member in class 217 for encouraging us when we were stress out. It felt so much
better knowing that we were all in this together. Special thanks to our Chinese
teacher Miss Wendy Chang for being so generous whenever we needed help. Your
constant support helped us got through the difficulties we encountered. Also, a big
fat thanks to our supportive families. Thank you for staying up late with us, offering
tips about writing a thesis, and most importantly, reminding us how we could pull off
this research. Last but not least, we would like to express our most sincere gratitude
to people, including you, for taking time to read our thesis.
2
Contents
Chapter1 Introduction................................................. 5
1.1 Motivation and Purposes
1.2 Limitations
Chapter2 Overview of the History and
Background of Feminism ................................... 12
2.1 First Wave Feminism
2.2 Second Wave Feminism
Chapter3 Timeline of World History, Feminist
Movements and Coco Chanel’s Life ................ 16
Chapter4 Chanel and Feminism .............................. 20
Chapter5 Conclusions and Reflection .................... 22
Chapter6
References ................................................. 23
3
Ch1. Introduction
1.1 Motivation and Purposes
While flipping through the popular teen magazine, Seventeen, what caught our
eyes were not glamorous accessories and clothes, but aspiring stories of girls our age.
These girls were amazing in different ways but what they had in common was the
goal of making a difference in their own lives despite the fact that other people and
real life problems constantly tried to tear them down. From our point of views, these
young women represented females that are strong-minded. They did not intend to
advocate how outstanding females could be but their achievements encouraged girls
to pursue their own dreams and to be tough when confronting barriers.
One girl named Zoe Damacela was raised by a single mother, had medical issues
to deal with, and was too poor to shop at high-end boutiques. Growing up, she did
not fit in, but the turning point came when she sold a dress she made to her friend.
Her clothes looked so polished that people started to ask her to make clothes for
them and she eventually launched her own clothing line. Now, her business also
supports her college tuition. Zoe won the Pretty Amazing Contest1 held by the
Seventeen and was selected to be the cover girl among thousands of competitors. In
addition to her success, she shared about how she would like to give back. Zoe
donated clothes to fashion shows for the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless and
raised money with ticket sales for people who have similar backgrounds like her.
In our opinion, girls like Zoe Damacela can all be referred to as feminists in
some ways because they are determined to follow their goals, and they fight against
obstacles such as being stereotyped, poverty and illness. However, the definitions of
“feminism” and “feminist” are complicated. Since the 18th century when feminist
movements started developing, many people have regarded feminists as women
who loathed men and went awry from the expectations that the society imposed on
them. This led us to think about Coco Chanel, one of the most legendary fashion
designers. Even though she has been dead for more than four decades, her legacy
continues to influence the fashion industry.
Coco Chanel had achieved success in an era when most women depended on
men financially. From a poor orphan, Chanel made her way to the top of the then
men-dominated fashion industry. She is often regarded as a role model by people,
1
A contest held by Seventeen, which was open to female from 13 and older around the US who are
legal residents of the 48 contiguous states or District of Columbia (Hawaii and Alaska excluded).
Entrants have to submit an essay that is less 1000 characters and describe how she is “pretty
amazing”. –reference from http://www.seventeen.com/fun/articles/official-rules
4
particularly by girls who are strong-minded and strive to achieve their goals against
all odds. To us, Chanel is not only a brand but an attitude. Her unique taste in fashion
reflected her free spirit, a woman who was not restricted by the criteria set by the
society.
Although Chanel was never married, she had dated several high-profile men,
including Boy Capel, Igor Stravinsky, and the Duke of Westminster. Her attitude
towards relationships was impressing; as a woman living at a time when females
were expected to stay at home instead of going out to work, Chanel proved that she
could find the balance between her love life and her self-realization. She got
involved with men because of love yet she was not afraid to end a relationship for
she could make a living on her own. Chanel made it clear that her work was an
essential part of her life that she wouldn’t give it up to satisfy her lovers.
Surely enough Chanel was an aspiring woman who refused to rely on men but it
was obvious she was not a men-hater either. This intrigued us to think deeply about
people’s comments about Coco Chanel-- have people overestimated her influence as
an independent woman? Or can many of her behaviors be practically referred to as
feminism? This has been a controversial question. Therefore, in this thesis we look
back at feminism history, clarify some myths about it and compare the general
movements of feminism to Chanel’s life. There are two purposes of this study. First
of all, it is aimed to conclude what behaviors of Chanel can be referred to as
feminism and what cannot. Secondly, we can learn what girls like us can do not to
only fulfill our dreams but make contributions to the society.
1.2 Limitations
A lot of people have regarded Coco Chanel as a feminist because she had a
successful career and she did not give up her work to please the men she loved.
Nevertheless, there was a big difference between being an ambitious woman and
being a feminist. Therefore, this study first looks at the development of feminist
movements to better understand feminists’ achievements and the background
intrigue of these movements. Then, we compare Chanel to other feminists to see
their similarities and differences. However, due to time constraint, limited amount of
information since Chanel did not have any autobiography and the research was done
in Taiwan, the thesis would narrow down to focusing mostly on events that
happened during Chanel’s lifetime and the sources would be based only on
biographies and analyses that other people have written.
5
Ch2.Overview of Feminism History and Background
2-1First Wave Feminism
In the second half of the 18th century France, although being the country where
many important philosophers of the Enlightenment2 such as Montesquieu, Voltaire,
and Rousseau originated, was still very conservative. The theories raised by these
philosophers that were meant to create a fairer society were hardly put into practice;
not to mention pursuing equality for women, since this was the part most male
philosophers neglected. For example, in Emile, a book published in 1762 by
Rousseau it was mentioned that "A woman's education must be planned in relation
to man. She will always be in subjection to a man and she will never be free to set
her own opinion above his."3
However, in 1759, a girl who would later mark the significant start of feminism
movement was born in England. In 1792, thirty-three-year-old Mary Wollstonecraft
(1759-1797) published a book called A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, which
soon became a best-seller and the foundation on which feminism is based on. Her
theory has continued to influence the world until today. Besides, for the first time,
the concepts raised during the Enlightenment were implemented on women.
Wollstonecraft declared that women should share the same rights with men
including work, education, and politics. She also insisted that denying these rights
was tyranny and that women relying on men financially in marriages was legal
prostitution. Wollstonecraft symbolized the beginning of First Wave Feminism which
primarily focused on pursuing legal equalities for women; for examples, voting rights
and property rights.
The declaration of Mary Wollstonecraft gained its reverberation when the
French Revolution broke out. During the chaos of the French Revolution, it offered
women a chance to break away from some customs that restricted them.
Approximately six thousands women protested at the Paris City Hall complaining
about food shortage and demanded that the government lower the price of daily
products. As the French revolutionaries split into the more radical Jacobins and the
2
A cultural movement took place around the 18th century Europe. (UK and France were two of the
most important sites.) Within all the theories raised during the phase, the reformation of politics was
the most significant one. Scholars hoped for a more democratic and fairer society.-reference from 古
偉瀛、王世宗編輯之《三民高中歷史第三冊》
3
From Heather E. Wallace Woman’s Education According to Rousseau and Wollstonecraft-reference
from http://feminism.eserver.org/theory/papers/womens-education.txt
6
more liberal Girondins, one of the women’s groups in Paris called Revolutionary
Republican Women Citizens supported the Jacobins. These women advocated their
suffrages, and they worked in high positions for the new republic government. On
the other hand, Girondin women, although they passed divorcement law that was
more beneficial to women, their power and influence declined when the Jacobin
took over and brought France into the Reign of Terror4.
There were numerous examples of Girodin women attacked by the Jacobins.
Olympe de Gouge (1748-1793) was an illegitimate daughter of a noble man and a
butcher’s wife born in Montauban, a town in the southern part of France. She
moved to Paris and became an actress after getting married, having two kids and
realizing that she could never adapt to the narrow values of her hometown. She
began to advocate abolishing slavery, establish workshops for the unemployed and
set up theaters especially for women all over the country. In 1791, she published the
Declaration of the Rights of Women to claim women’s equal rights with men in
education, law and politics. However, she ended up being executed by the Jacobins
when she opposed the execution of King Louis XVI.
Theroigne de Mericourt was a poor daughter of a farmer in Ardennes, France.
She moved to Paris before the outbreak of the French Revolution and earned a living
by being the mistress of rich men. No sooner did Theroigne got tired of living on sex
than she started giving speeches during public assemblies of women. She also
formed an alliance with the Girodins. Unfortunately, her outstanding achievements
led her to be attacked by Jacobin women. In 1793, when she walked around the
Tuileries Garden, Jacobin women threw rocks at her and damaged her brain
permanently. Afterwards, there were hardly any feminist movements taking place in
France.
In the United States of America, anti-slavery movements gave not only Black
women but also Caucasian women an opportunity to enhance their social positions.
Take Sojourner Truth, a black woman, (1797-1883) for example, in 1827, she fled
from her employer’s home to make a living as a helper in New York and joined a
missionary organization there. In 1843, after her children were grown, she started to
travel around and preached about her belief as well as promoting the abolition of
slavery. When she came across some Abolitionists in Massachusetts, she was
introduced to women’s rights movements. In addition, as Truth preached around,
she was simultaneously raising women’s rights by proving to men that women were
not weak and could be acquainted with life in the public. This was an example of
how anti-slavery movement and feminism movement were associated together.
4
A period of tyranny that occurred from 1793 to 1794, started when the republican, Maximilien
Robespierre, took charge of the republic government, and ended with his death.
7
Other examples were people like Sarah Mapp Donglass, a Quaker 5 from
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who formed the Female Anti-Slavery Society in 1833 with
Harriet Purvis, Sarah Forten, Margaretta Forten and some white women such as
Lucretia Mott. While these women gained attention and position by promoting
anti-slavery, things did not go favorably in England. In June, 1840, Lucretia Mott and
her husband, James Mott, attended the General Anti-slavery Convention (better
known as the World’s Anti-slavery Convention) in London. In spite of Mott’s position
as one of the six female delegates attending, before the conference started, men
voted against letting American women participate and that British women should sit
in a segregated area.
Another activist from the United States, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, also attended
the conference and befriended Mott. Stanton’s father was a judge and she married
an abolitionist as a way to resist her conservative family. In 1848, Mott and Stanton
came up with the Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments and formed a women’s
rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York. On 19th, July, they proposed the
resolution in a small church and after several heated debates, the resolution won by
a small margin of votes. Even Mott found the radical resolution hard to accept.
Almost all the news reports in East Coast criticized the convention but that also
made Elizabeth Cady Stanton a house-hold name; hence, feminist movement
activists gathered at Seneca Falls and Stanton got a new companion, Susan B.
Anthony (1820-1906).
Through the entire 1850s and 1860s, while Stanton continued giving speeches,
Anthony played her role as a planner skillfully, arranging assemblies, printing leaflets,
brochures and posters, etc. They endeavored to give married women their rights of
voting, education, developing their own businesses and acquiring their wages. They
appealed to the New York legislative to oppose employers forcing married women to
give their wages to their husbands. In 1860, about fourteen states had reformed
enactments regarding these issues.
Although feminists in the U.S split into two groups when they held opposite
views about the fifteenth amendment to the United States Constitution which gave
African-American suffrages but denied women’s rights to vote, they cooperated once
more in 1888. Stanton and Anthony, who were against it, worked with Lucy
Stone(1818-1883) and Antoinette Brown(1825-1921) who were for it, again and
established the National American Woman’s Suffrage Association.
Before the Industrial Revolution, for women, work was limited to helping out
at home or on the ranches owned by their families. On the other hand, after
mid-nineteenth century, career women were emerging from their restricted family.
5
A Christian group that derived from the Church of England.
8
Independent women who worked in factories could be found mostly in prospering,
new cities like Yorkshire. However, women worked more irregularly and got paid less
than men; thus, getting married seemed like the best way for them to get higher
positions in society. Despite this fact, working class women in fact enjoyed more
independence than middleclass women who relied heavily on their husbands
financially. These middleclass women did not even feel that they needed proper
education and disregarded their own rights as citizens. It was not until a series of
feminists’ exertions did British women gained their basic rights of education, voting
and holding their own properties.
Barbara Leigh Smith (1827-1891) was born in a forward- thinking family as was
her friend, Bessie Rayner Parkes (1829-1925). In 1856, they formed a committee and
strived to pass A Married Woman’s Property Bill which would give married women
the rights to keep their own properties and salaries. In 1858, they published
Englishwoman’s Journal in which they discussed topics that included women’s rights
to work, vote and be educated. A year later, they established the Society for
Promoting the Employment of Women. In 1865, the Ladies of Langham Place (the
name these feminists gained because of the location they gathered) proposed
Woman’s Suffrage Bill. With the help of a legislator, John Stuart Mill (1806-1873),
who also promoted gender equality and was a friend of Bessie Rayner Parkes’
parents, their views gained support from the public.
During the 1870s to 1880s, another group of feminism rose, emphasizing the
differences between “moral wives” and “immoral prostitutes”. Josephine Butler
(1828-1906) was a courageous feminist who often risked violating the Contagious
Disease Act when she advocated welfare for prostitutes. According to the Contagious
Disease Act, the police could arrest prostitutes at naval ports and army towns to do
venereal disease checkups, and prostitutes that were infected would be forced to
stay in hospitals. She attacked the double standard between men and women of the
Contagious Disease Act and thought it was unfair to impose penalty on women
because men were the ones that had their carnal desires satisfied on these
prostitutes. She pointed out that the only difference between wives and prostitutes
was that prostitutes had sexual intercourses with men with one motivation- money.
Feminists who were supporters of the social purity movements asserted that
women were more moral than men since they needed little sex. These feminists also
believed that alcohol, violence and sexual abuse posed threats to women at home.
In the U.S, Lucy Stone fully agreed with the points of view mentioned above;
however, Elizabeth Cady Stanton disagreed with the part that claimed women hardly
need sex. Stanton held the views that healthy women could be just as passionate as
men. There were still others who advocated prohibiting alcohol, believing it could
9
change the way men treated women. However, implementing the Prohibition during
1919-1934 only caused more disorder in the U.S as gangs expanded by illegal alcohol
trading and it did not have any obvious impact on improving the attitude men held
towards women.
The next crucial step would be getting suffrage for women. Within all the
feminists, Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928) and her family were particularly
outstanding. She was married to Richard Pankhurst, a lawyer who advocated
women’s suffrage. In addition, although Pankhurst was a married woman, she did
not depend on her husband entirely. She opened a small fabric shop named
Emerson& Co. after her husband failed the election to become a member of the
parliament. Later, after they moved to Russell Square, activists of all kinds often
gathered and discussed at their house.
In 1894, the Pankhursts moved back to Manchester and joined the left-wing
Independent Labor Party which was one of the socialistic parties that supported
feminists and had the most female spokespeople. Pankhurst’s daughter, Christabel
also participated in movements of young women who believed in socialism. In 1903,
concerned that the Independent Labor Party’s attitude towards women’s suffrage
wavered, Pankhurst founded Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) herself. The
WSPU kept expanding and became more and more influential with more than three
thousands divisions across the country and the newspaper they published, Votes for
Women, issued about forty thousand copies per week.
In 1911, success seemed at hand when Prime Minister, Herbert Henry Asquith,
agreed to give women suffrage although on the condition that the woman had to
hold certain amount of property. However, when King George V was crowned in
1912, the law that was previously promised to be passed was cancelled. This led to
riots from feminists and the government arrested women who rebelled.
When World War I (WWI) broke out in 1914, many women went to work in
factories to do jobs that were previously considered men’s, such as producing
machines and maintaining weapons. These women got to share the same amount of
salary with men as well. In 1918, after all the damage from WWI, the British
government could not bear any more “attacks” from feminists. Therefore, it
permitted women over thirty years old suffrage. The movements of getting women
suffrage occurred all around the world. For example, Australia, Canada, Germany,
Sweden, U.S.A, etc. all offered women suffrage around the time although it might be
limited to certain groups of women.
In the 1920s, most women in Europe and North America went to school for
education. Generally, feminist movements seemed to have abated. Having their own
jobs allowed women to lead an independent lifestyle. When the Great Depression
10
happened in 1929, the number of unemployed increased rapidly and, men
complained that women “stole” their jobs. Nevertheless, not long afterwards, the
outbreak of World War II (WWII, 1939-1945) required men to fight at the front line
and once again led to women filling the vacancies men left.
2.2 Second Wave Feminism
After WWII ended, through the 1950s, while most women were keen to keep
their jobs, men thought differently. The information media displayed often
brainwashed women into believing that they were supposed to play the role of a
housewife. Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986) was one of the very few active feminists
during the time. She left her middle class family and lived in Paris. Beauvoir was best
known for the book she published called The Second Sex. The book contained
comprehensive information on feminism and affected later feminists. Beauvoir also
marked the start of Second Wave Feminism. The Second Wave Feminism covered a
broader range of issues than did the first wave, including reproductive rights,
sexuality, equality at the workplace, etc. It was also known as the Women’s
Liberation Movement.
During the 1960s, women were active protestors in all kinds of social
movements. In the U.S, President Kennedy set up a committee with the goal to
understand women’s circumstances better. Betty Friedan (1921-2006) was a reporter
in the committee. In 1966, Friedan founded National Organization of Woman with
the purpose of bringing women into the majority of American society and sharing
equality with men.
In addition, internationally, many women liked to have meetings without male
participants. This behavior offended men because they felt that they were being
excluded. Refusing to let men join the meeting might be a reason some people
misunderstood feminists as “men-haters”; however, women simply enjoyed talking
freely without the pressure coming from men. In those meetings women shared
different opinions and helped each others to come to self-realization. They also felt
the urge to free women from men’s judgments.
For example, in 1968, feminists staged protests at the Miss America pageant. In
these protestors’ opinions, it was wrong for women to dress up to please men and to
let men judge the way they looked. One momentous act from these feminists was
setting up the “Freedom Trash Can” in which they burned things that symbolized
women such as bras, faux eyelashes, corsets, etc. The action stirred up controversies
and made the headlines of various news reports. This also resulted in the false
11
impression that feminists tried to look and act boyishly. Yet what feminist were
attempting to do was freeing women from having to look certain ways so men would
think they were beautiful. They were not against women dressing up as long as they
did it to please themselves instead of fitting into a mold. However, most women
thought they spruced up because they loved it, while as a matter of fact; they were
subconsciously yielding to what the majority thought about outward beauty.
Throughout the 1970s, feminists divided into three main groups: Radical
Feminism, Socialist Feminism and Liberal Feminism. Radical feminists targeted issues
such as women being the victims of sexually abuse, domestic violence and porn
pictures. They were more influential during the 1970s. Socialist feminists usually
cooperated with other minorities that were being oppressed in the society. They
were the most active during the 1960s. Liberal feminists were the smallest group of
the three and took a more temperate approach. They preferred making
amendments rather than overthrowing old regulations. After 1990s, the three
groups took each other’s pros and cons and combined; feminist movements became
much less extreme.
Second wave feminist movements covered issues such as rights for lesbians,
rights for women to get abortions and make birth control decisions on their own.
Besides, although by this time, a lot of women had had job opportunities, many of
them were not treated equally with men. Therefore, the need of a gender-friendly
working environment was necessary. Frankly, the movement has persisted to this
day.
Throughout feminist movements, as feminists promoted equalities between
women and men, they often cooperated with other activists who took parts in social
movements in order to enhance different minorities’ positions. Thereby many
feminists were supporters of socialism because it sought for ultimate equality in a
society, and they were against militarism and autocracy which gave privileges to
particular classes. Despite the fact that feminists sometimes hold different opinions
and split up, they share these beliefs generally.
12
CH3 Timeline of World History, Feminist
Movements and Coco Chanel’s Life
Coco Chanel’s early life, fashion designer career and relationships were all
influenced by things happening around her. She was molded by the life experiences
she encountered. Therefore, in order to understand how the evolution of world
history and feminist movements might have affected Chanel, this timeline shows
major world events and feminist movements side by side with Chanel’s life events.
Chanel’s Life Events
World Events
General Evolution
of Feminism
1880-1890
1883: The birth of
Gabrielle Chanel. She
was the second
daughter in her family.
1890-1900
1895: The death of
Chanel’s mother,
Jeanne Devolle.
Abandoned by her
father, Chanel and her
1. The Second
Wave of the
Industrial
Revolution.
Economy of
most of the
Western
countries
prospered with
1. Get women
suffrage and the
rights to hold their
own properties.
2. Working in
factories allowed
women to be more
independent but
married women
sisters were sent to an
orphanage in Aubazine,
France.
mass
productions.
2. With the
often had to hand
their salary to their
husbands.
Year
13
1901-1910
1. 1901: Left the
booming
orphanage at Aubazine
at the age of 18.
2. 1904: Met Etienne
Balsan, who introduced
her to the lifestyle of
high-class people.
3. 1908: Chanel did not
want to depend on
men all her life and
talked to Balsan about
economy,
Western
countries
invaded the
weaker
African, Asian
and South
American
countries.
opening a milliner’s
shop in Paris but was
refused.
4. 1909: Left Etienne
for Arthur Edward
Capel (better known as
Boy Capel).
14
1911-1920
1912: Opened first
1914: World
During WWI, many
milliner’s shop on Rue
Cambon in Paris with
financial support from
Boy Capel.
1913: Chanel had made
enough money to pay
Boy Capel back. She
also opened a branch
shop on Rue
Gontaunt-Biron,
War One.
Triple Entente
(UK, France
and Russia)
was against
Central Power
(Germany,
Austria, Italy)
1915: Italy
joined the
women replaced
men in their
working fields.
Approximately, a
dozen countries
offered women
suffrage before or
after WWI.
Deauville.
1919:
1. Boy Capel died in a
car accident.
2. Chanel met Ernest
Beaux, an expert
perfumer. The launch
of Chanel N°5.
3. In the same year,
Entente.
1917: US
joined and
Russia
withdrew.
1918: The
World War I
ended with the
surrender of
Chanel was introduced
to society as the lover
of Grand Duke of
Russia, Dimitri
Pavlovich.
4. Gossip spread about
Chanel and a famous
composer, Igor
Stravinsky, having an
affair.
Germany.
15
1921-1930
1931-1940
1941-1950
1. Chanel came out
Although the
Most women in
with manmade jewelry
collections.
2. Chanel began to sell
perfume and beauty
products in Paris.
3. 1926: The debut of
the “Little Black Dress.”
4. 1927-1930: The
public thought Chanel
would marry the Duke
economy of
European
countries
declined, U.S.A
seemed more
prosperous
than ever.
However, the
Wall Street
stock market
Europe and North
America could go
to school for basic
education.
Generally, feminist
movements
seemed to abate.
of Westminster but
Chanel would not give
up her work and would
only marry him if she
was pregnant. In 1930,
the Duke married
Loelia Mary Ponsonby.
crash in 1929
led the world
into the Great
Depression.
1. Despite the
economic downturn,
The Great
Depression
Chanel came out with
more jewelry
collections.
2. 1936: Chanel had a
few conflicts with her
workers when they
asked for a better
working environment.
In the end, Chanel
reluctantly agreed.
caused the
“stole” their jobs.
unemployment
rate to
increase
rapidly.
1939: The
outbreak of
World War II
(UK and France
were against
3.1939: Chanel
retreated from the
fashion industry.
Germany).
With Nazi’s seizure on
Jewish property, Chanel
tried to get her
perfume company back
1941: US
joined the War.
1945: The end
of the war.
16
Men complained
that women
Women once again
got the chance to
replace men in the
working fields.
from the Wertheimer
brothers who were
Jewish during WWII but
did not succeed.
1951-1960
1961-1970
1. Chanel made her
comeback to the
fashion industry in
1954. Although at first
disappointed with her
sticking to her old style,
people soon liked how
The Soviet
Union
expanded and
eventually
became the
intense Cold
War. The
1. Simone de
Beauvior published
the book The
Second Sex.
2. Media often
brainwashed
women that they
Chanel’s fashion would
not fall out of the trend
when new designs
came out every season.
2. Rumor has it that
Chanel might be
lesbian because of her
particular liking for one
model and she
Korean War
(1950-1953)
and the
Vietnam War
(1960-1975)
were incidents
that were
related to the
Cold War.
should be “happy
housewives”.
designed clothes right
on models which
involved physical
contact while other
designers scratched
their designs on paper.
3. 10th, January 1971,
Coco Chanel died in the
Ritz Hotel. She had
worked until the very
Feminists were
active in all kinds
of social
movements. They
also freed women
from the worldly
values of outward
beauty and fought
for a more
gender-friendly
working
environment.
end of her life.
From the timeline, we could infer how Coco Chanel was influenced by events
occurred around her and the possible reasons that she was thought of as a feminist.
For example, around WWI, as more and more women went to work in factories, they
needed more comfortable and convenient clothes instead of heavily embellished
gowns. Therefore, Chanel’s simple wardrobe that was inspired by men’s clothes
became popular and helped her business to flourish. Furthermore, how did Chanel
come up with the innovative tomboyish style? One of the reasons was that Chanel
17
used to be too poor to buy herself sophisticated dresses so she often took her lovers’
clothes and made them into clothes she could wear. Further analysis of the relation
between Coco Chanel and feminism will be discussed in the next chapter.
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Ch.4 Chanel and Feminism
Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel was considered an “unusual female” back in her time,
which was attributable to the fact that she created her own business and was quite
successful in it. Unfortunately, that kind of success was not much appreciated by
the society as it would be nowadays. For example, Chanel was once rumored to be
a lesbian due to the fact that Chanel made her clothes, cutting and sewing right on
the models instead of sketching down the designs first like other designers. As a
result, physical contact was inevitable. Therefore, rumor has it that Chanel had an
unusual relationship with a young French model named Marie-Helene Arnaud. To
add fuel to the fire, Chanel seemed to be particular fond of Marie-Helene in
comparison to the harshness she displayed towards other models. But eventually, it
was proven to be just a rumor6. As a matter of fact, throughout Chanel’s legendary
life, she had been in love with more than five men. The following chapter includes
the analysis of the similarities and differences between Chanel and some
well-known feminists, along with the connection between her success and her
lovers.
Chanel went from an abandoned orphan to one of the richest and most
successful women in history completely breaking the stereotype that females’
achievements can never be as high as men’s. This is one of the main reasons why
Chanel is thought to be a feminist, even though she never defined herself as one.
The truth was that feminists were often considered “men-haters” then, which might
be the reason why Chanel denied being a feminist.
On the contrary, almost all remarkable feminists in history were married and
had several children. Take Elizabeth Cady Stanton for example; despite her activism
in feminist movements during the 1950s and 1960s, she was also the mother of
eight children. Thus, she had to squeeze in her work as an advocate for feminism
between house chores. Lucy Stone was another one that faced the same situation.
Being the mother of seven children stopped her from giving speeches around the
country at one time. Her companion, Susan B. Anthony, who had no children, once
complained that Stone missed an important conference due to having to take care of
her sick daughter. Hence, feminists being “men-haters” was just a myth created by
the society. It was also important to keep in mind that these feminists were not
forced to marry but made their own decisions of who they wanted to be with which
resembled Coco Chanel.
In some ways, Chanel’s success had a lot to do with her lovers. Her first lover,
6
According to one of Chanel’s friend, Marcel Haedrich, Chanel was upset about the rumors,
bewailing, “Imagine – me, now! An old lesbian! It’s unbelievable how people dream up these things.”
19
Etienne Balsan, who was described as “Chanel’s stepping stone from Moulins to
Paris,” 7 introduced Chanel to the lifestyle of the upper class. In between her
relationships with Balsan and his good friend Arthur “Boy” Capel, Chanel realized
that she would rather be anything than a “kept woman.” As a result, after some
negotiations, Balsan and Capel shared the cost of Chanel’s first business to sell hats.
Later, with a loan from Capel, Chanel opened new premises in Paris but Chanel paid
him back soon after her business took off.
Throughout the history of France, where the Enlightenment originated, and
where concepts of Natural Rights as well as equality among all mankind were
strongly promoted, human rights had been improving greatly ever since. Women’s
rights, however, seemed to be the least-developed part of human rights. It was the
beginning of the twentieth century when Chanel first stepped out of the orphanage
and into the society; she soon realized that women were expected to be wives,
staying at home feeding babies, doing housework, and creating a comfortable place
for their husbands to spend the night after work. At some early points of Chanel’s
life, she was a girl with nothing but her beauty, and she was clever enough to know
how to use it to get what she wanted. Chanel used her first two lovers to enter the
upper social class and caused a sensation in the fashion industry. She was once a girl
living in Ritz with money provided by her lover; still, she was not satisfied depending
on men for a luxurious life even though she did not have to give anything except
being with the man to have it all.
Chanel’s experience was similar to Theroigne de Mericourt, a French feminist in
the late eighteenth century. Mericourt was a poverty-stricken farm girl, who later
made her living as the mistress of some high-profile men. After she was rich enough,
she started to tour around the country giving speeches while wearing riding clothing.
When Chanel was living with Balsan, in contrast with his other mistresses’ heavy
gowns, Chanel wore simple riding breeches and equestrian jackets. She described
herself as dressing “neither as a great lady nor as a scullery maid.”8 However, Chanel
had no intention to advocate feminism or to give speeches around the country about
women’s rights. In addition, just like Mericourt, Chanel refused to live a comfortable
life by being the mistress of rich men. In fact, it seemed to be a greater cost for
Mericourt and Chanel to spend time and have intercourse with the men they might
not actually love that much.
After Chanel’s business started to flourish, she devoted most of her time and
energy to her work. Even though she fell in love many times, she was never married.
She once said when she was old, “One should not be alone, it’s a mistake. I used to
7
8
Quoted from page 49 of Coco Chanel: the Legend and the Life by Justin Picardie
Quoted from page 52 of Coco Chanel: the Legend and the Life by Justine Picardie
20
think I had to make my life on my own, but I was wrong.”9
Chanel remained unmarried her whole life because she was too busy working to
have a family, not to mention having kids. “There are a lot of duchesses of
Westminister, but only one Chanel.” This is a famous quote from Chanel, it is said
that she turned down the proposal of the Great Duke of Westminister with this
simple statement. However, a few years later, Chanel clarified that she never said
anything like that to the Duke, she expressed, “He would have laughed at my face if I
had ever said it.”10 Although the quote turned out to be made up, it indicates that
people believe it was what the typical Chanel, who was tough and independent,
would say.
Apart from Chanel’s sharp separation of her relationships and her work, another
important reason why people regard her as a feminist is the style of her designs. At a
time when women were required to wear corsets and heavily embellished dresses,
Chanel stood out with her unique ideas of dressing comfortably and simply. At first,
her designs were not well-accepted. It was not until the World War I, when a large
number of women worked in factories instead of staying home as housekeepers,
that Chanel’s designs became popular. Emphasizing on what was comfortable and
what brought out a woman’s natural and unique shape, Chanel’s designs rose in
popularity. Moreover, the materials shortages resulted in less sumptuous clothes,
which was one of the traits of Chanel’s designs. Therefore, despite the outbreak of
the WWI, Chanel’s business in Deauville and Paris flourished. Her jersey jackets,
straight skirts and unadorned sailor blouses became almost the only designs that
were accepted by society, including both working class and upper class people, given
that they can be worn to work and were still very stylish.
Some of Chanel’s behaviors qualify as feminist, while others of her behaviors
differ greatly from feminism beliefs. One of the important elements of feminism is
equality; feminists promote not just equality between women and men, but also
equality between the rich and the poor. However, Chanel’s thoughts about how her
employees should be treated were way different from feminists.
In fact, Chanel was rather capitalistic when it came to her business. In 1936, a
general strike in France was ended by the Matignon Agreements, Chanel obeyed the
agreements, but she fired 300 employees not long after. Then, the whole thing went
out of control: workers refused to leave the workshop, and the entire production
system crashed. At last, Chanel gave in to her employees, for the deadline of her
winter collection would not be met if the whole chaos did not end soon.
Moreover, Chanel saw herself as an exception in the male-dominated society,
9
10
Quoted from page 327 of the same book above.
Quoted from page 171 of the book Coco Chanel: the Legend and the Life by Justine Picardie
21
one of her famous quotes goes like this, “I don’t know why women want any of the
things men have when one thing that women have is men.” However, what she did
was completely opposite. She wanted to be independent instead of someone’s
mistress who was kept in a luxurious hotel, and later refused to let Capel launch her
business by insisting to pay him back exactly how much he had paid.
Chanel even once turned down the requirement of higher wage for her models by
saying something like, “Since they are very pretty, why don’t they get themselves
men to sustain them? Finding rich men for financial supports should not be too hard
for them!” It can be concluded that Chanel thought if a woman wanted to succeed,
the right way is to rely on men for money. It seems like Chanel thought since being
rich men’s mistress was how she made it in the first place, it would make no sense if
these young models did not work as hard as she did. Apparently, despite Chanel’s
suffering from poverty in her early age; she never showed sympathy to her workers.
Some said that she had long forgotten how it felt like to be impoverished.
Another difference between Chanel and feminists was that her revolutionary
clothing designs created a sensation in the fashion industry with their simple cut and
the use of light fabrics. Her designs emphasized on what brought out women’s
natural shapes instead of forcing women to fit into certain clothes, and by wearing
them, women could move more freely when they were working. Although her ideas
about fashion was to be true to women’s natural shapes Chanel still had a very strict
standard when it came to her models’ weight and height. Unlike most feminists who
are against the body images dictated by the majority.
Coco Chanel was a creative designer, a very successful entrepreneur, and most
importantly, a woman. She was a woman living in a country run by males, in a time
of gender inequality. Most fashion designers then were men, for example, Christian
Dior, Paul Poriet, and Mariano Fortuny. Chanel was considered one of the first
female fashion designers and one of the few who had changed the world of fashion.
She was famous for her unique menswear-inspired fashion, and her distinctive
points of view about love, career, and life. Chanel knew very clearly what she wanted
and how she could get it. Along her path to fulfill her dream, she encountered many
obstacles, but she never once backed down. She had made her way from an
abandoned girl to one of the richest women in her time. There is no arguing that
Chanel’s success was remarkable; however, there seems to be more capitalistic
quality in Chanel’s achievements than feminism since she was more concerned
about her business making money than providing her workers a friendly working
environment.
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Ch.5 Conclusions and reflection
From this thesis it is shown that feminists, overall, pursue equalities between
men and women and often the rights of other minorities as well. Despite the fact
that feminists sometimes split into various groups according to the particular issue
they are more concerned of or the different views they hold toward the same topic,
they have the consensus goal of enhancing women’s position in society. It is simply a
matter of the measures they implement to achieve the goal that women can be as
independent as men and share equal rights as citizens.
Furthermore, feminists are not “men-haters” and they do not have to behave
boyishly. As a matter of fact, many feminists were married and had children. They
also are not against women dressing up if they do it with the sheer motivation to
please themselves. What they really mind is women yielding themselves to meet the
expectations of the majority, which in this case means men. Through the evolution
of feminism, feminist movements adjust to the needs of the society but their
principle of giving women more independence in making decisions relating to
themselves persists.
Chanel’s business came from her first relationship with a wealthy man, and she
had been in numerous relationships with other rich men later in her life. However,
she never let any of them affect her business. She once revealed in an interview that
the only two men whom she ever truly loved were rich, yet they never understood
her ambition and that Chanel, Inc was like her own child, which could never be
replaced by men. Her relationships influenced some of her designs, but never her
profession. Her sharp separation of her relationship and her work was the main
reason why people see her as a feminist.
However, when it comes to the treatment of her workers, Coco Chanel was
nothing like a feminist. It was believed that women were oppressed by men because
men usually got the upper hand. For example, when men could earn from working,
women, even if they got jobs, might have to hand the salary to their husbands, or
worse, the majority discouraged women from working. Therefore, feminists did not
approve of giving a particular group power; namely, they often fought against
autocracy and supported socialism which promised to give everyone the same rights.
This was obvious when the working class called for a better working condition from
the capitalists, feminists would be at the same side with the working class. On the
other hand, Chanel was reluctant to offer her workers more benefits. For instance, in
1936, after the Matignon Agreements which guarantee some benefits for the
workers, were made by the French official in response to a general strike, Chanel
dismissed 300 of her workers.
23
Coco Chanel was definitely a successful entrepreneur if she was judged based on
the money she made, the size of the “fashion kingdom” she founded, and the fact
that her signature designs are still continuing to influence the runway shows
nowadays. However, her attitude towards her workers seemed to indicate a sense of
selfishness especially since Chanel was born poor but could not relate to people with
similar backgrounds, which was a contrast from feminists who constantly strived to
give rights to the minority. Hence, her insistence on starting her own enterprise and
refusing to comply with men’s anticipation of being an obedient wife at home
resembled that of feminists’ but may also simply be that Chanel was somehow
self-centered and all she did was to satisfy her own ambitions.
There were actually a lot more to being a feminist than just being an ambitious
career woman. The later generations tend to glorify Chanel’s achievements and
made her the role model for aspiring women to look up to. There was no denying
that Chanel confronted a lot of obstacles before she made it and she did deserve the
success she gained with her talents and hard work. She was also one of the pioneers
to live an independent life like feminists believed women could. But Chanel could
have been an even better person if she learned how to take people’s needs into
consideration; this would make her a true feminist who gave back to the society.
Besides, Chanel might have more companions if she was more thoughtful and had
the compassion for people who had experienced something similar as she did.
Girls in our generation have a lot more opportunities now than in Coco Chanel’s
time and we are currently living in the coziness which was the efforts paved by
generations after generations of feminists. We are allowed to attend school, go to
work, and stay single, etc. without having to face too many difficulties. Therefore, it
is even more important to keep in mind that our achievement is the result not only
of individual efforts but also support from other people. We can look up to Chanel
for her confidence and her decisiveness as an entrepreneur but also keep in mind
about making contribution to society and helping the less fortunate ones.
As teenage girls living in the twenty first century, despite the differences
between our time and Chanel’s, we can still learn from her independence and
determination when it comes to achieving our goals. However, giving back to the
society is also very important, which is what Chanel lacked. We hope that as we
combine them altogether, we can be even more successful than Chanel, just like Zoe
Damacela who never forgot the people who grow up like her.
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References
Picardie, Justine (2010). Coco Chanel: the Legend and the Life. HarperCollins
Publishers
Madsen, Alex (1990). Chanel: A Woman of Her Own Henry. Holt and Company Inc.
Watkins, Susan Alice (1992). The Beginners Series: Introducing Feminism. Big Apple
Tuttle-Mori Agency, Inc.
Feminism and Women’s Study: (accessed on 27th, May, 2012)
http://feminism.eserver.org/theory/papers/womens-education.txt
Bianchi, Jane. Pretty Amazing, Seventeen (October, 2011). Hearst Magazine.
古偉瀛、王世宗 (民國 100 年 8 月) 《高中歷史第三冊》 三民書局股份有限公
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古偉瀛、王世宗 (民國 101 年 2 月) 《高中歷史第四冊》 三民書局股份有限公
司
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