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EN:GENDER THE Gender and Sexuality ISSUE Autumn Winter 2014
3 . GENDER FLOUTING 9 . DRESSING THE PART 11 . PHIL EDDIE
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“I wasn’t lady like, nor was I manly. I was something else altogether. There were so many different ways to be beautiful.” - Michael cUNNINGHAM
Gender Flouting SHOULD SOCIETY BE ABLE TO DETERMINE HOW A WOMEN IDENTIFIES HERSELF? WOMEN HAVE EVOLVED AND LEARNT TO ‘MAN
UP’. THE RESULT, the androgynous
modern style of a well dressed woman WHO doesn’t want to know how to dress like a girl.
PHOTOGRAPHY-STYLING MODEL
AMY PARKER REBECCA BONE
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DRESSING THE PART - WORDS BY AMY PARKER In a society where our notions of gender classify our self-image, it is no surprise we strive to subvert the distinction between a sex provided to us, or a man made classification.
Deuteronomy verse 22 states that the Bible prohibits the desexualised form, “The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, nether shall a man put on a woman’s garment”. So where do Jean Paul Gaultier and Rick Owens fit into this?
We must learn to question why, if a skirt is of adequate length can a man not wear it? And if a woman wants to wear a suit isn’t that acceptable? Why do we diminish the most detectable way to communicate our bodies, personalities and identities?
Gender is historically a challenging subject that holds dated limitations that do not belong to an advancing world. Only recently has gay marriage and gender reassignment surgery become accepted into modern day culture. It is no wonder we feel our self-image is consistently categorised by an ideal, rather than our individual choice.
Author Michael Cunningham said, “I wasn’t lady like, nor was I manly. I was something else altogether. There were so many different ways to be beautiful.” This is an opinion I hope will replace the strict gender rules and stereotypes, that for generations we have perceived as the norm.
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“I’m gay. I’m butch. I’M A WOMAN. i’M QUEER. i’M 36. I’m 6ft 2in. And caring for ‘otherness’ matters to me”. - CaSEY LEGLER
Durham Head Teacher Gillian Parker 58 is a typical example of this, “I’m not comfortable with it. Its not natural men should be men and ladies should be ladies. I would never query it”. However, designers have a desire to confront society. Creating solutions to the ‘old school’ belief of what it means to wear clothes that aren’t meant for you. Androgynous fashion began before ‘the mainstream’ learnt how to use it as a style symbol. From the 1700s when men wore wigs through to the 1970s where trailblazer David Bowie created alias Ziggy Stardust. Fashion has continuously flouted gender divides. So it still confuses me today that our generation is still not fully accepting. Student Nicola Chapman 24, said, “I think women can get away with unisex clothing much easier than men. Boys in dresses and skirts? Hell no!” It’s the 21st century…welcome to the world of gender-neutral fashion. Nonconformist model Casey Legler is the first female to be signed exclusively as a male model, although she walks for both menswear and womenswear. When questioned about her industry achievements Casey replied, “I’m gay. I’m butch. I’m 6ft 2in. And caring for ‘otherness’ matters to me”. Gender is no longer a uniform. Clothing is no longer confirmative. It is designed as unisex, eradicating gender norms.
Described by J.W. Anderson as “a different kind of expression – one tied to liberation of sexuality, placed firmly above the gender issue”. It’s apparent ambiguity is becoming a consistent idea, rather than a seasonal trend. Designers including Dries Van Noten, Walter Van Beirendonck and J.W Anderson are creating collections that cut away proportions of traditional garments to unveil erogenous areas. Silhouettes previously ignored in menswear collections. In doing so eliminating ignorance, encouraging a wider interpretation than we currently have. Professionals have conflicted views as to whether it is realistic, to dress a man shaped like an adolescent boy in women’s clothing. The fear being it is extensively different from an average body. The reality is this is nothing new and the majority of what we see on the catwalk is an unrealistic ideal. My understanding is an individual who can capture a male and female role, is undoubtedly fortunate. Limiting ourselves to one niche is careless and nothing short of ignorant. Isn’t it time that society reflected the diversity of our ever-changing bodies and minds?
PHOTOGRAPHY
AMY PARKER
P HIL EDDIE Our sexuality should not define us or limit our ability to sucCeeD. Navy Officer Phil Eddie helps us to understand that APPEARENCES CAN BE DECEIVING EVEN IN A POSITION OF POWER.
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When did you first become aware of your sexuality?
Have you ever felt you had to hide your sexuality?
I beleive I was always aware of my sexuality through my early teens but I never acted upon it till I was around twenty.
Definitely, I didn’t tell any of my friends I was gay until the age of twenty-three and my family became aware a year later. That wasn’t because I thought my friends and family wouldn’t accept me for who I actually was, it was mainly due to my insecurities, I didn’t know how to tell them. The thought of telling them made me feel extremely awkward.
Have you received or experienced prejudice towards your sexuality?
any
Most of the time the general reactions towards my sexuality are no different to a hetro-sexual male and why should they be? You can see if people are a little uncomfortable towards it but everyone is entitled to their own opinions, even if I don’t agree with them.
The general perception is for men to have kids and get married. It was definitely a big hurdle that I had to overcome. I would regularly drink in excess on a night just to hide my sexuality.
Have you experienced any obstacles because of your sexuality within the workplace or everyday life? I still now find it difficult to talk about my sexuality to people I am not that familiar with. For example if I get asked ‘do you have a partner’ I will answer yes and 9/10 times the next question will be ‘how long have you been with her?’ I tend to answer but not correct them so they are aware I have a partner but not that it is a male. I don’t want the person I am speaking to, to feel uncomfortable, not that they should but I wouldn’t want to put them in that position.
It sounds ridiculous but it’s an obstacle that for me is difficult to overcome. Do you ever find it frustrating that people have such conventional ideas of how men should act? The job I am in means I get to see all walks of life and all different kinds of male personalities. I wouldn’t say it is frustrating but just how society is. Sexuality is something that should be discussed by society, keeping quiet is of no benefit to anyone.
“SEXUALITY IS SOMETHING THAT SHOULD BE DISCUSSED BY SOCIETY. KEEPING QUIET IS OF NO BENEFIT TO ANYONE” - PHIL EDDIE
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