#How Fashion Is Advancing Gender Fluidity: Through Cross-Dressing and Androgyny

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How Fashion Is Advancing Gender Fluidity: Through Cross-Dressing and Androgyny

Have you ever purchased men’s perfume as a woman? Do you like to dress in boyfriend blazers and oversized T-shirts? Have you ever been disappointed by the lack of vanilla, raspberry, or cocoa butter in men’s bath products, gentlemen? Do you lament the absence of baby pink in your closet, gentlemen?

If you answered yes, now is the time to be alive, because individuals are increasingly imitating the style of the opposing sex these days, regardless of their sexuality. And he’s able to get away with it.

Gender fluidity is a big challenge in a world where all markets are rigid orga utilized, such that gendering helps sell their products better because it breaks down the hierarchies that underpin patriarchy. We are obliged to comply with an age-old ploy that reinforces existing preconceptions and confines people to gender norms. Failure to do so would jeopardize a framework built to capitalize on disparities.

Andreja Pejic, the world’s most renowned transgender supermodel,
who has now fully transitioned into a female, is a pioneer in such androgynous fashion. Pejic memorably closed a Jean Paul Gaultier presentation in a bridal gown when she was still a guy who had no plans to become a woman.

This makes one question what will happen if the world begins to define style in a more androgynous way that includes both genders. What if everyone went one step farther and started wearing pants, skirts, and bangles all at the same time? As Jaden Smith indicated, such a celebration would throw our easy uncomplicated system on its head.

Photographer Bikramjit Bose’s photographs for Elle India, which were highlighted on Buzzfeed, are a good illustration of how fashion is progressively catching up with this trend.

While the Elle piece features a guy in a dress, it also has a beard and body hair to accentuate the man’s’manliness.’ Similarly, the lady has smooth skin and is hairless, as ladies are supposed to be.

Mainstream gender fluidity in India and the West is an issue.

Because most androgynous fashion entails clothing women like men, but not vice versa, androgyny has become a one-way path. This is sometimes referred to as “power dressing,” and it is extremely problematic since it links to power, strength, and better social position with the male gender. You will be considered more seriously if you ‘wear the trousers.’ The feminine gender, as well as everything linked with it, is regarded as inferior to the masculine gender. This is why the slur ‘gay’ is flung at non-masculine persons.

It serves our sexist, gendered culture well to tell a woman she is unattractive and needs a slew of things to be appealing. All of this with the sole purpose of labeling her frivolous when she does apply lipstick to make herself feel better. It’s a cycle that can only be broken when the stigma attached to all things female is removed.

Korean fashion offers a glimmer of light, as prominent South Korean celebrities, known as KPop singers, are rapidly dominating the worldwide market and bringing their gender-positive, androgynous style to the forefront.

These male celebrities are expressing their identity as ungendered human beings by using elements normally associated with females, such as contouring, long hair, manicures, eyeliner, and a variety of other techniques.

Male and female celebrities flaunt comparable cat-eyes, pink lip stains, immaculate complexion, and haircuts, in addition to wearing identical attire and accessories. What’s even better is that these popular celebrities are the rule rather than the exception. For example, all of the photos, from the one above to the ones below, show guys dressing up whichever they like, regardless of gender or public view.

The wonderful part about gender-neutral fashion is that simply by looking at them, you can’t tell what gender label you should put on them. True androgyny, which is not to be confused with homosexuality, aims to bring genders together and dissolve their divisions so that they can express themselves.

Consider Jared Leto without the beard and with no regard for uniformity. For example, the image below does not depict a lady. It’s a man’s, with no fucks to provide for gender-specific priming.

Conclusion

We don’t need to be afraid. We can accept that our initial identity and status should not be seen as decisive in a variety of essential spheres of life, and we understand the significance of widening our sympathies via art, travel, and imaginative labor. The transvestite is only executing some simple sympathetic movements with which we are already familiar in numerous situations. Cross dressing is a fairly common occurrence, even if we haven’t completely noticed it.

by Asher Fergusson

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