Gendered Stereo In Fashion (Term Paper Sample)

GENDERED STEREOTYPES IN FASHION
Name:
Institutional Affiliation:
Date:
Gender can be defined as the legal or social status of being boy or girl, or even man or woman (Chapman, 1998, 7). How one feels or expresses about their gender is referred to as gender identity (Chapman, 1998, 7). Masculinity and femininity is far much determined by culture by defining gender roles (Chapman, 1998, 9). Gender stereotyping has especially trickled down to the fashion industry (De Zegher, 1996, 13).
No matter how much people may try to prove otherwise, it is undoubtedly true that fashion is a two gendered activity. However there has lately been the trend of production of unisex garments (De Zegher, 1996, 22). Retails shops are however, being divided into men's and women's sections or even separate shops for each. For instance the case of production of T-shirts has raised concern. People would prefer buying T-shirts basing their choice on color, style or size. The retailers have however adopted the trend of forcibly luring men or women to purchase from their delegated men or women shops (Chapman, 1998, 57). As a matter of fact, many women would feel more comfortable in large t-shirts with a suitable color as opposed to the tight ones that have been stereotyped as theirs (De Zegher, 1996, 60).
Of late, fashion has been deemed to dictate on what each gender is supposed to wear. However, this was not the case years ago. For instance, bright colors and frills were open to be worn by either gender but the same are specified for women in this 21st century. Pink, for instance, was worn by children of any gender until the 1940s when the color was stereotyped for girls (Chapman, 1998, 64). 1n 1960s corsets were not only for ladies but also worn by those men who craved to have athletic figures, unlike presently where they have been stereotyped as women's (Chapman, 1998, 65). In the 19th century, wealthy men were also fond of wearing heels and stockings that are nowadays mostly marketed for girls and women (Chapman, 1998, 65).
What women and men wear have differed greatly but at times they resemble greatly. A recent exhibition at the New York's Museum sought to explore the changes in the masculine and feminine wear over the years. The exhibition was dubbed "His and Hers" (Crane, 2001, 154). Changes in the cultural structure and practices could account for the changes in the fashion trends. Fashion could therefore be an influence itself putting cultural factors aside. Designers could have contributed to the stereotypes in the fashion industry (De Zegher, 1996, 69). Culture could have played the role of altering or transforming people's attitudes and fashion taking the advantage of engraving its sentiments into their minds.
The manufacturers and designers in the fashion industry are not the only ones who are taking advantage of the existent assumptions on gender, but also the advertisers too have sought not to work hard enough but rather exploit the same (De Zegher, 1996, 101). They have exploited the stereotypes on traditional ideas to convince their clients on what men and women should wear. Androgyny is a trend as earlier mentioned but some critics would stage opposition against the advertisement of clothing that is for both men and women (Crane, 2001, 39). Magazines have currently adopted the androgynous trend by featuring cross-dressing codes in their fashion pages. However, most fashion press is mostly inclined into feminism. They have more pleasure for showcasing feminine outfits to the disadvantage of the masculine outfits. It therefore leads to the notion that there is no definite attire for men as it is for women (Efrat, 1995, 69). Masculine attire can be termed as good and universally accepted as that. It observed that casual attire for men can be viewed as unisex especially when photos of them are taken without bodies in them. The feminine wear is however seen as feminine and nothing more (De Zegher, 1996, 98).
It is sarcastic that no everybody feels comfortable with the roles that the culture assigns them but the same people will find it rather a tough task to choose clothing that does not fit to the gender that culture has accorded them (Crane, 2001, 23). However, in attempt to revert the stereotype on men gendered dressing, several designers have had men to wear feminine clothes rather than restrict themselves to the menswear only (De Zegher, 1996, 68). The stereotype is that men can only wear feminine clothes for comic purposes but designers have sought to prove otherwise (Crane, 2001, 79).
The increase in the production of gender neutral clothes can be attributed their demand by the people who do not fall in the categories of masculine and feminine (Crane, 2001, 77). Most online stores for instance, do not only have masculine and feminine stores only but also the unisex department. This is especially a trend in America. Most of what designers and manufacturers are doing is producing traditionally accepted clothing for a specific gender and then tailoring it to be unisex (Efrat, 1995, 88).
The photo above is among the many designs of Rad Hourani who has majored in the production of unisex clothes. Gender performativity is among the theories used to subvert the stereotype on gendered dressing. The theory attempts to disambiguate the gender roles in cultures. Fashion's relation to this is theory fosters the design and production of unisex attire. This is since the roles of the members of the society, whether masculine or feminine are slowly merging. The culture assigns the two groups their roles based on the looming trends (Crane, 2001, 28). Presently, the culture has evolved and men and women can interchangeably play various role. The theory therefore provides a platform where the two genders are free to clad freely regardless of the boundaries set by traditional stereotypes (Frueh, 2001, 128).
Camp is the other theory that has triggered major changes in the fashion industry. Camp refers to the humor or agility that is created by a design to its viewer (Efrat, 1995, 46). It is the aesthetic sensibility that matters here; how much the audience finds it ridiculous. As earlier mentioned, men seem ridiculous in feminine attire (Frueh, 2001, 41). This therefore contributes to the designing and production of more attire especially for theatrical purposes. Other humorous attire would be the unisex type (Crane, 2001, 95). The lady in the photo displays a design that would s...