1. High Heels and Chest Hair
Challenging gender norms had become part of popular culture right across the world
especially in the form of art and intrigue. From Annie Lennox, to Madonna, to Yanis
Marshall who had all expressed themselves by bending the rules of their specific gender. As a
form of entertainment, wearing a pair of killer heels regardless of your gender is seen as
‘cool’. However, taken out of the entertainment world it still leaves a bad taste in most
people’s mouths.
With the rise of Hip-Hop culture oozing into all spheres of society yet again, gender bending
is seen as ‘strange’ more than anything else. Going against societal norms with gender in
itself, is an art form and this is what most people don’t understand. It is the exaggeration of
what the individual perceives as masculine or feminine which society had ascribed to each
gender. Society in general only recognises two genders and boxes everything else as an
abomination or relates it to homosexuality. Wearing red lips with a fully grown beard is
frowned upon but, wearing some base to hide imperfections is seen as being metro? Everyone
has their own definitions of what males and females are allowed to do but, never have they
realised that their view of what is expected from males or females differs tremendously from
other people because, it is constructed differently in different contexts. In the Asian culture,
wearing a scarf tied around your neck with tight clothing does not make you less of a man
than those who prefer to wear baggy clothing. It’s more of expressing oneself through fashion
and body adornments and being more open minded.
The notion of religion and its origin of controlling society do in fact play a role in people’s
distaste towards gender bending or anything ‘out of the ordinary’ for that matter. If
something as simple as religious pluralism cannot be accepted by people in society, gender
bending definitely doesn’t stand a chance. This is exactly what gender benders in the
entertainment sense use to their advantage to attract followers especially males. This is due to
the fact that males are constantly reminded of their masculinity and how to avoid being
emasculated which goes back to society and its norms. Shifting from shoving what we don’t
know aside to the appreciation of everyone’s self expression is a process by which society
has to fully grasp. This will only become a norm once gender fluidity is instilled.