“there is no gender identity behind the expression of gender…identity is performatively constituted by the very ‘expressions’ that are said to be its results.” -Judith Butler
Style, often mistaken by the masses as merely trends within the fashion industry, actually plays a bigger role in our lives than dictating which outfit will be on the cover .We use clothing as a creative outlet to portray ourselves, and for many of us, who we are and how we feel within our bodies changes from day-to-day. Our individual style is both an expression and performance of who we are. With that in mind, should we not be constantly renegotiating this expression since we, as people, are constantly evolving? Any discussions surrounding style can be seen as shaped by social gender norms as well as constructing these norms themselves. As gender can be described as the social constructions of masculinity and femininity, we perform our gender every day through the styles we adhere to. The two go hand in hand whether you know it, like it, or chose to be defined by it or not.
Over the years, femininity in particular has challenged what these rules mean. Often looking beyond, them to create a space within the blurred margins where normalcy is reimagined, and self-expression happens to be the driving force. Coco Chanel protested against these social constructs with an arsenal consisting of materials and silhouettes previously deemed to be for men. In 1916 she began using jersey to make comfortable clothing for women that freed them from the suffocating grip of corsets. Mary J Blige showed us that a woman’s femininity is not contingent on a ballgown but can be just as strong and powerful in a sport jersey and Timbs. The New York ball scene taught us that even when the masses refuse to acknowledge one’s place in the world, clothing and what YOU chose to do with it can be both liberating and empowering.
Now, in more recent times we’ve had the pleasure and privilege to see men like ASAP Rocky, Young Thug, and Harry Styles choosing to embrace style and beauty norms typically only deemed appropriate for those who identify as feminine. Society has also taken steps towards creating space for those who do not Identify with the mainstream idea of gender as a whole.
Progress is being made and our eyes are being opened, but we still have a long way to go before we reach a point in which the performance of gender no longer creates such rigid limitations in how we express ourselves in our day-to-day lives. In order to do this, we, as a society, must begin the process of deconstructing and therefore unlearning what we believe it means to be feminine or masculine, and as individuals we must resist these limitations and reconstruct what it means to express yourself, especially when it comes to style.
To widen my perspective on the topic I sat down (virtually) with Mimi Osa a prominent up-and-coming Drag Queen to discuss their experiences, making connections between clothing and the performance aspect of gender in both his everyday life as Andres Caravantes and her professional life as Mimi Osa.
One of the first discussions we had during this interview was on how Andres feels while shopping for his everyday wear. "I don't identify as gender nonconforming. I still identify as man, so for me even though it's such an arbitrary idea to stick gender labels onto clothing I’m still very much conditioned to shopping in the men’s section and dressing my body to the societal expectations of what a man’s body should look like" He began to explain the importance and understanding of spaces within society that dictate what is deemed appropriate. He stated "It's important to acknowledge that certain pieces of clothing already had an inherent understanding within society". Continuing on the same note, he began to share examples " Women have long hair, men have short hair; these are cues that we pick up in order to help us identify what we are looking at. When you start to mess with those, there is an unlearning that needs to happen." Explaining that even though he takes so much pride in his queerness, because of society’s conditioning, he himself experiences instances of internalized homophobia such as not feeling comfortable pulling women’s pieces and adding them into his everyday fashion.
Now, when it came to Mimi, there was a lot to learn about who the character is, the power in her interpretation of the performance of gender, and the performance in and of itself. She explained that when it comes to being a drag queen,, they are still trying to figure out what exactly they are trying to say with their art and what the purpose of it is. Explaining that Drag itself can be in fact be misogynist, as it is taking aspects of usually white femininity that are already incredibly harmful to women growing up and then heightening it. “I don't want to be seen as a man performing as a woman. I want to be seen as Mimi Osa, a character who is blurring the line between femininity and masculinity” she then went into the notion that drag isn’t something that has to be defined by what gender and individual identity you associate with but more with the transformation, and the heightening of gender play as a performance. Giving explains like Uma Thurman in her role of cat woman or Freddie Mercury. "I'm not trying to Rainforest the pervasive idea of acceptable femininity through my drag…yes, I love doing my hair and wearing my makeup and I like having a female body, but I also love the genderfuck aspect to it like I have a piece by “Bcalla” which is like a mesh tube dress and it’s baggy and it’s bulky and it doesn’t give any particular shape and then I’ll have my male nipples exposed." While Mimi is performing, she is in a space where she can live both truths; yes Mimi is a character played by Andres but, there is a crossroad as Mimi said in the interview “The feminine obviously bleeds into the masculine…Like it is Andre’s but its an Andres who is comfortable enough to exude my more feminine energy"
As my time with Mimi was coming to an end, we talked about the gatekeepers for society. We discussed how the foundation of our society was built on these social constructs that they put in place as a way to ensure that certain people and ideas were and remained in power. Mimi and I also took the time to speak on more positive topics such as the silver lining that is the hope that we have. Younger generations are pushing back on these boundaries, learning to take what their predecessors gave them and updating those outdated ideas. We see the effect of outdatedness in our everyday lives, through the help technology. It makes useful things, such as our smartphones, slow and frustrating, and after a certain point, renders them impossible to use. If this can be said about our smartphones, traffic lights, medical practices, why can’t this concept be applied to the realms of style, gender and expression.
With that Mimi left me with her final words on the importance of self education surrounding these topics and how in order to create a world where there is space for all gender identification in fashion we must tackle the issue at its root and replant it in new soil, soil that is fertile for all. This means fighting and rooting for the unlearning of social constructs.
“I am a drag queen cause it is my chosen form of expression…and as a gender studies major I’m going to say that all people need to be continuously learning and unlearning things that are embedded into us such as racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism. Also capitalism is bad and the patriarchy can go as well.” -Mimi Osa
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