ANDROGYNY

You’re probably wondering why I’m writing about this. It’s androgyny – not fitting into society’s gender roles. These people appear in fashion magazines often. I remember looking at the Marc Jacobs ads in W magazine and thinking, ‘What is going on here?’ (reference photo on left)

At first glance, this ad could be really shocking. Why is there a man dressed in women’s clothing?

Marc Jacobs was probably going for the shock factor because most people would probably consider this racy.

I call it a misunderstanding.

I’ve learned a lot about gender identification in the last month alone, and it didn’t take too much to make me realize that things like transsexuality and androgyny shouldn’t be taboo.

Over break, Laura told me the difference between gender and sex. It’s the same, right? No! ‘Sex’ refers to the organs you were born with. ‘Gender’ refers which sex you identify with, whether it be male, female, both or neither.

A lot people think that if you’re a lesbian, then you’re super butch. No again! There are so many feminine lesbians out there!

Now, this is becoming a  stream of consciousness, so I’ll just post my thoughts individually.

Before continuing, browse through some examples of androgyny on this Tumblr I found. Its tagline reads, ‘Girls who look like boys who look like girls.’

• Who said you can’t identify with another gender on one day and identify with another the next? Who said you have to identify with a gender at all?
• Agnes Deyn looks good boyish. (right)
• Even if you didn’t look good. Do whatever makes you happy.
• And if you do identify with your sex, don’t ridicule those who don’t.
• I regret making fun of ‘Baby Angel,’ a transsexual who hangs out at Aimee’s campus.
• I regret sitting in the Hickey with Tara tonight, trying to figure out if girly looking guys are gay.
• Whether you’re male of female (sex), it doesn’t matter what your gender is.

Did this post make sense? Let me know in the comments.