DO CLOTHES HAVE A GENDER

Is redefining clothing as a non-binary choice without addressing the inherently binary classification of sizes as men's and women's be addressed?

Fashion has always played quite a significant role in all social aspects affecting urban and rural lives directly or indirectly. It not only causes changes in socioeconomic and political landscapes of the governing lives but also takes into effect the apolitical form the fashionable trends from today and the clothes we wear that defines us. Thus fashion invariably affects social status, trends, and how clothes are even applicable to society. It withstands a stimulatory effect which benefits society through the promotion of creativity and highlights fashion as an art which is invariably a significant medium of expression as it enforces identity, talent, and culture through statement choices.

However liberating our fashion might be, fashion quintessential has reinforced gender stereotypes, fashion should not be taken into a wrong perspective regarding gender identity or how we even express ourselves on the clothing we put on.

Something most fashion brands want is for today's society to know that there's nothing feminine or masculine about clothing and within historical aspects shows that many people were trying to break that barrier on what men or women should wear. This is not just a commercial or a capital inducing approach for a wide-stretched market but also a social experiment to highlight how gender is a social construct and fluidity gives the real freedom to express one's self.

In a predominant environment where most cologne advertising agencies endorse men in suits wearing strong cologne, finding it easy to seduce women, such brands continue to give in to the capitalist culture of patriarchal values through heteronormative conditioning. And this heteronormativity happens when genders, men and women, having an only sexual orientation are exposed to a predefined set of activities or actions.

The fashion industry, largely built upon self-expression ideals promotes such new varying ideas which might seem daunting to the pre-existing terminologies and ideals, but are hidden inconspicuous opportunities to bring about a change. The movements of the fashion world have long been intertwined with wider societal discussions about gender and identity.

Ruby Rose from the show Orange Is The New Black in an interview once explained what gender fluidity was to her:

“Gender fluidity is not feeling like you’re at one end of the spectrum or the other. For the most part, I don’t identify as any gender. I’m not a guy; I don’t feel like a woman, but I was born one. So, I’m somewhere in the middle, which — is my perfect imagination — is like having the best of both sexes. I have a lot of characteristics that would normally be present in a guy and then less than would be present in a woman. But then sometimes I’ll put on a skirt”

As a more conscious choice and a better understanding of the new ideas that keep coming up, more and more people seem to want to free themselves from gender roles and norms, and this attitude influences the current fashion scene, which is becoming increasingly more gender-neutral. Of course, fashion houses have been blurring the line between menswear and womenswear for decades, but nothing quite like what we are witnessing now, as society’s perception of gender is visibly shifting. There has been a proliferation, in the streets, of oversized clothes, shapeless silhouettes, and traditional gender-neutral patterns. This has unknowingly started a revolution with one’s self to let loose the gender constraints and ensure a more vivid expression of one’s identity with clothing and fashion being the palate to the brush of creativity.

In my understanding, the growing influence of Gen-Z has tremendously helped in the shaping the new landscape of gender-bending fashion brands and retail experiences. Gender is an ever-mutating concept that has continuously evolved with time, varying its meaning and relevance regularly. Today, it manifests across many facets of life. Whilst theories of gender began as a device to categorize individuals and groups, these have evolved into a broad, complex system of identification to describe the uniqueness of the individual. Highlighting the discussion of gender is the question of how we can understand human conduct and experience in technologically laden marketing environments. With rising awareness and a better understanding of gender, its construction and how liberating the upcoming genderless fashion is a mind-boggling revolution, the demarcation between masculine and feminine clothing can soon be removed to make the industry a more open and promising forum.

- Manas Anand