ZE
is a gender neutral pronoun. It refers to someone who does not fit into gender binary.
Êpicène
lacking in
gender distinction
IS FEMINISM THE NEW‘IT’BAG? Can fashion and feminism really be BFF’s? Or are the fashion power players using this prevalent social issue to push high price products onto the public? Whatever the answer, feminism is the hottest word on everybody’s lips right now.
Stereotypically when talking about feminist’s, the image that springs to mind is a man hating, bra burning, spinster who shares her home with several feline companions. Fast-forward to the twenty first century, Jane Austen is to be the first female to feature on British bank notes and feminism has a completely new profile picture. After undergoing a few nip and tucks, feminist isn’t a label people shy away from. It is worn with pride. Feminism has been made fashionable. The ‘He For She’ initiative launched by Emma Watson at the UN Consulate is just one campaign that has brought feminism back into the stratosphere.
Watson addressed the UN with a very sincere and powerful speech. “We want to try and galvanize as many men and boys as possible to be advocates for change.” Her speech has then gone viral and several high profile males, such as Benedict Cumberbatch, have shown their alliance to the campaign. Watson’s speech also put her on the cover of Elle Magazine, in their special – The Feminism Issue. Editor in chief, Lorraine Candy, in attendance at The UN Consulate describes Watson’s speech: “I don’t like the overused phrase ‘game changer’, but it the only way to describe the scene I’m privileged to witnessing.
In just twenty minutes, I watch Watson become an agent of change.” If a glossy fashion publication can dedicate an issue to raising awareness for gender equality, the movement has filtered into the fashion industry surely? Apparently not. Rewind to the Chanel faux protest at Paris Fashion Week. The show received particularly mixed reviews, was it a feminist statement or a clever PR move? It was questioned whether Karl Lagerfeld was trying to fool his fashion disciples into believing that feminism has been reduced to the hot new accessory for next season. Political activist and singer, Annie Lennox recently spoke out in an interview regarding Beyoncé and her VMA performance where she proclaimed herself a ‘feminist’. The word feminist was lit up in huge letters on stage. Lennox criticised Beyoncé for her provocative dance moves: “twerking is not feminism.” She also brands the singer as a “feminist lite” - rather than a feminist. “I see a lot of it as them taking the word hostage and using it to promote themselves, but I don’t think they necessarily represent wholeheartedly the depths of feminism.”
Although to some extent I do agree, but Lennox shouldn’t judge a woman solely by her beliefs or the way she dances. Feminists love a good booty shake on the dance floor too. By labelling Beyoncé as a watered down feminist, is Lennox trashing the importance of the word? Any kind of feminist is surely better than no kind of feminist? With society technologically obsessed and addicted to social media, the fashion industry had to evolve to survive. Business Analyst at Roksanda Ilincic, Claire O’Reilly comments: “Internet and social media have made fashion, designers, models, muses much more accessible. Businesses are accepting and embracing the fact that fashion has a newer, less well off, aspirational market which they need to cater to.” I believe this is the road feminism has to go down too. With several different platforms available at our fingertips, it was only inevitable that the once exclusive worlds would collide. A ‘fashion x feminism’ collaboration is something that every man and woman should want to wear. - Alex Revell
neutrois
an abscense of gender experesion.