Redefining masculinity; what has fashion done?
The display of skirts on men is described as undermining of male power.
When we think of fashion, it tends to remind us of a mean by which we express ourselves. In other words, people utilize fashion to add a compliment to their appearance, and the most important point behind the fashion concept is that we, people, control it, but what we have always been struggling with is that fashion has brought us thousands of expectations to be fitted in. That is, fashion has been defined by gender stereotypes and tends to box us into our genders unfairly. In this regard, men being humiliated by society every day if they choose to dress like women, requires a serious concentration. The idea of men dressing like women is still unusual to a huge proportion of people since being gender non-conforming makes them less masculine in public eye while I believe that individuals should be free expressing themselves by their appearance regardless of their gender identity. Fashion industry despite introducing Fluid Fashion to the world has failed to bring men with a comfort zone to fashioning themselves and their attitudes.
Gendered clothing (male vs. female) reinforces strict gender stereotypes that box people unfairly. As Gina Rippon argues in her essay, even before a child is born the world has pushed them into a gender-based identical path. Throwing gender-reveal parties which are common nowadays can be a clear example of traditional gender binary culture. She maintains the notion that our mindset is shaped based on what we go through and by experiences from the world around us.
a gendered world produces a gendered brain.
It is not surprising that most men feel guilty when they even think of themselves behaving in a womanly manner. They live in a world supporting the idea that the girl traditional rules (For example, playing with dolls, put on high-hills, and etc.) are forbidden territory and if they cross the border, they will experience aggressive actions against themselves. Besides, it becomes more complicated for them to dress like women when society forces them to consider females as the weaker gender. They experience various similar situations that they are expected to behave manly and not to be like a woman. They will be judged if wearing make-ups. They have always been told that they should not cry since being emotional is a feminine behavior. The outcome of this culture then leads to restricting and captivating individuals in their gender frames passing from a generation to the next one.
As opposed to men, women do not face a negative feedback when choosing men’s style. The reason behind it might be the society’s definition of men suits giving women power. Sometimes they even receive compliments about how attractive they are by men’s clothing which itself can promote gender stereotypes where encouraging women to abandon femininity. As Komar mentions in his essay,
A woman is gesturing using the codes of the ruling class: men. A man gesturing to the codes of the oppressed class gets him nothing, except ridicule.
When we compare these two contradictory situations for men and women, we can conclude that all our decisions are directly attributed to our gender imposed by our traditional culture. It is also of significance to mention that men and women are not the only members of society being influenced by gender stereotypes. After people being boxed by their gender identity, regarding men choosing to wear women’s dress, society and even their family tend to believe that he is gay rather than being a straight man interested in a different style! And as a result, every single part of the social community with any gender identity they have feel uncomfortable to dress up according to their personal taste not whatever is appropriate.
what has fashion done?
High-end brands of the fashion industry have tried to tear down the barriers built around gender norms; however, they have not been completely successful in redefining the idea of masculinity. As Akdemir clarifies in his essay, gender stereotypes are predefined ideas about men and women that direct their behavior based on their gender. Fashion industry has tried to eliminate gender hurdles over the last decades. Fashion designers’ interest in challenging gender stereotypes was sparked by the first forms of revolutionaries since 1920 that pants for women began to be tolerated in sports and some limited activities such as cycling and horse riding. Then, the industry moved further where major brands investigated some of the stereotypical masculine and feminine qualifications and tried to introduce measures easing them. Feminist and gay rights movements Played a significant role in practical actions being introduced regarding non-binary fashion trend.
After a while, the concept of fluid fashion was built where fashion designers were not interested in feminizing men or emasculating women and their goal was to,
blurring the masculine/femininedivide and eliminate those labels.
These days we are experiencing the most modern levels of fluid fashion to the point that Gucci’s director, Alessandro Michele stated,
If the clothes are beautiful, what does it matter who’s wearing them?
It is of importance to mention some examples of fashion industry breakthroughs like, Burberryand Bottega combining their men’s and women’s collections into one show and Dolce&Gabbana introducing leopard patterns in its male fashion show, and also other collections of fashion industry frontiers such as Gucci, Calvin Klein and H&M which are important attempts regarding gender neutralizing in fashion.
Despite all the measures explained above, we are still far from a world where people can dress up regardless of their genders. That is to say, creating unisex collections and performing it on runways is not enough in order to prepare the public eye for men and women out of their traditional box. As a primary influence on people’s appearance, fashion industry should be aware of the fact that it is completely different when it comes to merchandising but not runways. In this regard, Katya Foreman asserts this fact that the way gender non-binary trend impacts retails is more questionable. Consider men’s building of a retail store as an example. It is still so rare that we see some certain sectors dedicated to women’s dresses in men’s sizes in men’s building, like skirts and high hills. When boys do not see a skirt as an option for themselves, how we expect them to gain acceptance towards this trend? Besides, men’s and women’s buildings being separated itself brings avoidance for people to conform with the non-binary fashion flow. Sanders in her essay, talks about a gap between the real fashion and the ideal fluid-fashion world causing by industry’s default that needs to be bridged. In other words, there are still brands that want to use gender as a way of being proactive or exciting and do not talk about the issues that matter.
They’re taking the top line, which is trend, and not speaking about the realities, which is not fabulous all the time. It’s not fashion all the time. It’s survival.
Another case that needs more deeply digging into the realities about fluid-fashion trend refers to some brands like Zara and Thom Browne, companies showing the present gender fluidity more avant-garde than an everyday trend.
A lot of these big brands say that they’re designing gender-friendly clothing, but the margin that’s able to buy these pieces is just rich people.
In spite of all positive developments towards creating an ideal fashion world, there is still an unwillingness to accept women dress on a masculine body. I have tried to build an understanding and an acceptance towards gaining more freedom, creativity, and expression for all genders by exploring the basic reasons behind this resistance. Also, investigating industry’s attempts to bring fluid fashion up, I have examined the gaps that high end brands should focus on as a means to achieve an unrestricted fashion atmosphere.
