HOW MAN BECOME A WOMAN LIKE OTHERS
While the concept of gender-fluid has penetrated almost everywhere in the fields of fashion, politics or entertainment, men finally seem to be free of clothing standards to adopt a more silhouette and attitude feminine.
Last August, Lewis Hamilton, British star of Formula 1, appeared once again on the cover of the British GQ. Except that this time, it was not in a tuxedo that he posed but in a kilt and diamond bib jewelry. The reason for this change? Simply the desire to make amends after the scandal that had erupted a few months before when the champion of Formula 1 had "shamed" his nephew on social networks for wearing a princess dress.
Following the shields raised by Internet users, Lewis had no choice but to revise his judgment and make his mea culpa. To see a symbol of heteronormativity and sporting machismo in turn wearing a skirt, on the cover of a magazine, was so far as unthinkable as seeing Britney Spears perform without playback. A shake-up of representation confirming that the question of the masculine gender linked to clothing is finally starting to progress. Or even return to its basics. Because throughout history, man has indeed dealt with "feminine" attire: dresses, togas and makeup in Ancient Egypt as well as wigs, heels or court embroidery of Versailles, to name a few.
In The idea of nobility in the Policraticus of Jean de Salisbury (1159), text published in the collective work La Noblesse in question (13th-15th centuries) (ed. Honoré Champion, 2006), the historian Frédérique Lachaud analyzes the writings of the English philosopher Jean de Salisbury at the time of the Middle Ages and recalls to what point men often wore female silhouettes there: “(Jean de Salisbury) mentions the effeminate clothes of those who frequent the houses of kings and even camps, and who go to battle as if dressed for a wedding banquet ”.
Meanwhile, the Revolution went through there. Accompanied by the industrial revolution and the rise of the textile industry, it (in spite of itself) built an opposition between the pieces adopted by the people (the sans-culottes) and those worn by the nobility: "The clothes of the nobles were perceived as effeminate, and associated with decadence, explains Karine Espineira, sociologist and associate member of the Laboratory for Gender and Sexuality Studies at Paris 8 University. Aristocratic men took the image of weak men because they were then associated with softness, luxury and lust. All leading to effeminacy. What could be better as a bloody political and social context for imposing strict rules and establishing, in the centuries to come, the idea of a strong masculine against a weak feminine, with all that that implies in looks and attitude ?
FACE LIFT
Today, we are no longer surprised to hear about a tomboy or to see women adopt a tomboy look, as if the masculine look is all that is most honorable. Alas, it does not work both ways. No matter how hard we look on the other side, it’s hard to find the missed girls and the tomgirls. We can assure you that they will soon come out of their hiding place because many fashion designers are now trying to offer a new type of representation that could broaden the spectrum of social codes of masculinity.
After Jean-Paul Gaultier or Thom Browne, who historically have often dressed their models with dresses or skirts, more and more brands (young designers like big fashion houses or fast fashion labels) have understood the need to break the stereotypes, to finally offer men the opportunity to go and pick in the women's locker room. Without apprehension and without fear of judgment: it is enough to look at the menswear spring-summer 2019 collections to believe it.
For the first time at Prada, male models hit the catwalk with shorts in the form of mini-skirts and handbags, fingers gripped at the handle of their bag in the manner of an ultra-stylish working girl. . At Fendi, we were treated to skirts above the knee, at Dior Homme in transparent shirts with lace or embroidery, at Maison Margiela for boys in evening dresses and at Cottweiler for young men in crop tops or in T-shirts revealing a nipple. As for Chanel, the French house announced last August the upcoming release of Boy, its first line of makeup for men composed of a hydrating lip balm without shiny effect, a long-lasting foundation and a brow pen resistant to the water. In short, the big luxury houses are finally preparing us to adopt masculine silhouettes with much less limited choices.
For its part, the Asos e-commerce platform also offered a crop top for men in September. An unthinkable positioning a few seasons ago for this mainstream fashion site. It seems that he had a hollow nose (and a flat stomach) since the model made the buzz on social networks to the point of being sold out in just a few days. Unfortunately, the product has not escaped the virulent criticism of certain conservative Internet users who are always anxious to assert their (lack of) manhood.
FIGHTING OUTLETS
The example of Asos is reminiscent of similar events that occurred in France previously. And who indicate that whatever the themes linked to the issue of gender in clothing, the proponents of equality and progress always take malicious pleasure in opening it, especially to evoke the idea of a masculine superior to the feminine. “In 2014, during Skirt Day, Eric Zemmour completely and cruelly illustrated this thought, recalls sociologist Karine Espineira. On radio and TV studios, he has consistently used unambiguous expressions such as "the feminization of society" or "the loss of manly values".
At the time, boys and girls were invited on this occasion to wear a skirt for a "no" to sexism, causing a lively controversy, especially in Nantes where elected representatives of the right and members of the Manif pour tous were mobilized against the movement. Then in 2017, still in Nantes, bus drivers who were not authorized to come to work in shorts during the heat wave came in skirts to protest the choices imposed by their management, triggering at the same time a new controversy.
"If there is only one lesson to be learned from these controversies, it is that in the end it is always the feminine who takes the brunt. "
Suffice to say that it may be likely to be as difficult for men to have their right to wear the skirt accepted as for women to have been able to claim the male wardrobe. In her book A Political History of Pants (ed. Points, 2014), French historian Christine Bard highlights how women have had to "fight to wear pants, an emblem of masculinity and therefore of power".
Today trivialized for women politicians, these pants, one of the symbols of feminist struggles, would even have become mandatory if we believe the bad experience lived by Cécile Duflot. By appearing in the National Assembly in a floral dress in July 2012, the former Minister of Housing was seen hooted by a part of the male deputies, visibly destabilized by this burst of femininity ... As if any expression of feminine should disappear from the political, even public, sphere. In short, if there is only one lesson to learn from these controversies, it is that in the end it is always the feminine who takes the brunt. Fortunately, several personalities have taken it into their heads to give it back its nobility thanks to their actions and their speech.
MAN SWEET MAN
For the past few months, Jonathan van Ness, beauty and grooming specialist for Queer Eye on Netflix (a successful reality show in which a gang of five gay men helps heterosexuals better cultivate, dress, eat, play sports etc) no longer hesitates to dress in a tunic, dress or heeled shoes during major events. Last September, on the red carpet of the Emmy Awards (the Oscars of the US TV), the presenter even showed up in an evening dress and captioned his Instagram photo with a “we came downright assured with this look and screw up a gender norm ”. The message couldn't be clearer.
This fight is reminiscent of that of rapper Young Thug, who for the cover of his album Jeffery in 2016 had already chosen to wear a dress, destroying at the same time all the macho or homophobic clichés anchored in the rap game. A bias notably made possible by emblematic figures such as Ru Paul. Through its broadcast of...
This fight is reminiscent of that of rapper Young Thug, who for the cover of his album Jeffery in 2016 had already chosen to wear a dress, destroying at the same time all the macho or homophobic clichés anchored in the rap game. A bias notably made possible by emblematic figures such as Ru Paul. Through its TV-hook show Ru Paul's Drag Race, the American Drag Queen has launched on screens and social networks a whole generation of queer candidates who are no longer afraid to display their femininity, to don a dress and put on makeup.
But one of the pioneers of this new generation ready to send a walk in clothing standards is undoubtedly Jaden Smith. After wearing a skirt for the Louis Vuitton spring-summer 2016 campaign, the young actor / rapper / entrepreneur said on twitter last March: "If I want to wear a dress, then I will do it and that will define the new wave". Her mother Jada Pinkett Smith also reminded her support for her son and even helped her husband Will Smith understand that as long as "Jaden is happy with what he's wearing, that's all that matters."
Like it or not, the rapper is not an isolated case but the true figurehead of a generation of millennials whose gender issues have taken on a whole new resonance. According to a Yougov survey carried out for the daily 20 Minutes in February 2018, 19% of French people aged 18 to 30 identify as no-gender or gender-fluid, that is to say "they can dress one day as a man, the next as a woman ”.
IT IS GENDER-FREE, IT ALL INCLUSIVE
This generation also finds its supporters among a pool of young designers and students of great fashion schools, who decided to deconstruct the binary concept of clothing through their work and their creations. After all, why shouldn't we be free to mix everything up and stop asking questions?
This is what the young designer Masayuki Ino intends to defend, who won the last edition of the LVMH Prize with his Doublet label. A brand for which gender was simply not a determining factor in the making of products. A positioning similar to the Italian designer Alessandro Trincone (who presents at New York fashion week and dresses up his models of tutus, tulle petticoats or crinolines), like Nay Campbell, creator of the Lordele label who does not hesitate to dress his male models of ultra glamorous cocktail dresses. Even Stefano Pilati, former artistic director of Miu Miu, Yves Saint Laurent and Zegna recently released Random Identities (understand random identities), his new line for men made up of waisted jackets, high waisted cargo pants, satin coats or corset belts.
Gender-neutral, gender-fluid, no-gender, agender: the names are jostling to designate this movement. However, the young brand Official Rebrand, directed by MI Leggett, stood out from the crowd by recently proposing, to describe their work, the expression gender-free: "I started using the term gender-free when I launched Official Rebrand in 2016. And it made perfect sense, says MI Leggett. If something can be gluten-free for someone for whom gluten is not suitable, then something that is gender-free will be much more suitable for someone who does not feel comfortable with expectations and standards. typical gender-related ”.
A way of confirming that today we no longer want to wear a piece designed for a girl or a boy but a simple piece of clothing, a free and unhindered combination of fabrics, cuts and custom colors, while remaining creative with the notion of identity and body. "I want to help us free ourselves from this unnecessary social conditioning and become freer and more authentic, without being affected by what society expects from us," concluded MI Leggett. I am convinced that gender-free fashion will be an exciting way to imagine the future of our society. "
