Gender definition doesn’t only refer to the sexual identity of an individual, it’s the social and cultural meaning linked to females and males, the way a person should behave based on their sex. Gender is not something we are born with, it is taught. “Gender is learnt through a process of socialisation and through the culture of a particular society concerned.
In many cultures, boys are encouraged in the acts
considered to display male traits (and girls vice versa) through the toys given to children (guns for boys, dolls for girls), the kind of discipline meted out, the jobs or careers to which they might aspire and the portrayal of men and women in the media. Children learn their gender from birth.” (Wallace and March, 1991) We grow up with these ideas set by society. In western world, boys and girls learn from an early age that skirts and pink are for the ladies, and suits and blue are for gentlemen... this is what my generation is taught while growing up. It is, in my opinion, confining people in boxes, it constrains the identity you will built up, imprisoning the individual in a set of pre-concepted ideas about sexuality. A good example are the toys children play with, in toy stores there are aisles for girls and aisles for boys. Dolls, barbies and different kinds of objects for future mums and housewives. Boy’s aisles are filled with cars, war soldiers... I think this says a lot about the gender roles society is defining to our children.
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In fashion, the rules from the past are being erased through creativity and innovation, it interprets the passed fashion statements and re-constructs them into new concepts. It’s about innovation and going forward, and for that past images history is used. We see fashion coming and going, is a cycle that redefines itself season by season. We have been dividing men and women, categorising and organising human social relations in this way, fashion as well. Should we be free to combine and transform in any way we want femininity and masculinity? Would it make sense to merge these two dualistic and opposite concepts? Picturing the future with a highly diverse society, is that where we are heading? “Androgyny is a term, derived from the Greek words άνδρoς (andros, meaning man) and γυνή (gyné, meaning woman) referring to the combination of masculine and feminine characteristics. For humans, androgyny in terms of gender identity, is a person who does not fit clearly into the typical masculine and feminine gender roles of their society.” The Greeks concept of the hermaphrodite and how the sexes were created and separated is described in Plato's (429 a.C-347 a.C) writing in "The Symposium". In it, the character Aristophanes describes two humans joined as one, which Zeus decides to split in half: "The original human nature was not like the present, but different. The sexes were not two, as they are now, but originally three in number; there was man, woman, and a union of the two, having a name corresponding to this double nature, which once had a real existence, but is now lost, and the word "Androgynous" is only preserved as a term of reproach. (...)” (Benjamin Jowet, trans., Great Books of the Western World, Chapter 7, page 157) Throughout fashion history, female and male fashion lines have been crossing for decades, blurring the boundaries between genders, setting up a new dialectic, the harmony of both genders, perhaps in most cases as a counter movement. After the first world war (1914-18) women started to emancipate and experimenting with clothing, becoming more mannish. Le “garçonne” style was characterised by looser clothes and shapeless lines, no waist and no bust, the shoulders became broader and the hair shorter and shorter. A silhouette that eliminated women curves. Coco Chanel, 3
introduced the Chanel suit in 1923 a knee high skirt and boxy jacket with gold buttons and black trim.
In the 40ʼs and with World War II women began to wear their husbandʼs pants while working in the garden and in leisure activities. Rock and Roll was born in the mid 50‘s and changed the scene of this fashion decade. Personalities like Elvis Presley and Little Richard had a slightly androgynous appeal which teenagers aspired to. The Beatniks look was extremely androgynous, using mainly black clothing, black turtleneck, black skinny trousers.
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In the 1960s a new generation was dictacting trends, fashion turned into a statement of personal freedom. The iconic fashion model Twiggy had a huge influence in fashion at the time, with her short hair and androgynous look.
The following decade, we saw even more gender blending fashion thanks to music icons such as David Bowie. Men's fashion adopted a more feminine look, shirts were tight fitting with big collars and were brightly patterned, jeans increasingly spread and platform shoes were popular with men and women for everyday wear. That same year, Woody Allen’s classic movie Annie Hall was released and influenced fashion world, the 5
character style was quite masculine, shirt, vest and tie, mannish trousers, blending the masculine with the feminine,in a unisex look.
Boy George, Annie Lenox, and others set an androginous look in the 80’s. Puffy shoulder pads, tailored jackets paired with matching knee length skirts or trousers and a buttoned up to the neck blouse, were usually accented with a broach or kerchief to give a look that was definitely feminine, but with a masculine influence. Madonna shaked the fashion industry; bringing a mixture of extreme femininity and also suspenders and boys shirts.
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At recent fashion shows, we are observing that models are becoming more androgynous, males have increasingly a feminine appearance and females a masculine look. A screaming indicator of the androgyny trend in fashion and in society itself is the Bosnian male model, Andrej Pejic, a 19-year old blond man that looks like a woman.
Marc Jacobs appeared on the cover of Industrie magazine wearing women cloths.
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Mainstream brands like American Apparel and Urban Outfitters, offer clothes and jewellery for either men or women. American Apparel has no fewer than 724 unisex items.
The American fashion brand Calvin Klein is based around the concept of androgyny, youth, and minimalism designs. The advertising campaigns and CK One, the unisex fragrance are perfect examples. The slogan for CK one fragrance says "We are One" and this scent is marketed for both males and females.
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In Japan men are using skirts over their jeans. They are “skirt men” (suka-to danshi, ス カート男子). The skirts are really simple and there’s no girly decorations. They look more like aprons and apparently are becoming increasingly popular in Tokyo now. An online shop called Cross Gender opened in February.
In our times the line that separate the appearance of the sexes is increasingly lighter. In social terms roles are blending together and developing. In my point of view the difference between men and women performing in society is gradually disappearing, we are heading to an Era where gender will not be relevant, men and women roles will have no disctintion. The androgynous blends the masculine and feminine qualities in such way that will not allow confusion regarding the sexual identity of each person. In the future I believe that men and women will change their behaviour. By developing within, through a process of inner improvement that will lead men and women to see themselves as a whole unit.
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