I Hate Art Seminar: Gender Neutral Clothing

 For tomorrows lesson in Art Portfolio we have to choose a concept or artist in the art industry which we dislike for valid reasons. Due to my progression route being fashion design I have decided to choose a subject which has been popping up on most of my social media feeds which is gender neutral clothing. As a person I am very open minded and I believe that people should do what makes them happy and no one has the right to judge them. Having said that I would not mind if a person or a close friend of mine which is a man wore skirts or a crop top or a woman wore baggy pants and bomber jackets or oversized tops but I am just not a big fan of this type of clothing. Due to the rise and empowerment of the LGBTQ community gender neutral clothing have also been empowered and are used as a form of proving that someone is still masculine even if they do not wear clothes made for men. I fully support this movement as empowering people is something I like to be part of. To prove my point of view though I dislike gender neutral clothing not because of hate towards the people but because of how the clothes fit the body. As a person who wants to become a fashion designer in the future I am fond of the concept that fashion allows us to express ourselves and that clothes have no label but there is a reason why there are sections of men and women in clothing stores (Sodano, n.d.). I personally do not believe that gender neutral clothing compliment ones body (Larsen, 2019) (speaking for women too not only on men), they are not masculine nor feminine and cannot help differentiate a man and a woman and most gender neutral clothing are more feminine. Another thing that confuses me and makes me dislike gender neutral clothing is the fact that even though they are empowering towards the society, they diffuse men and women. Judging from the history of women and their level in society there is still inequality in some countries. I believe that it is a bit of disrespectful for men wanting to diffuse with women as in the past they wanted to be in a higher place, have more rights but also feel better about themselves about who had the best tailored suit. In my opinion, yes society changes but it is a bit hypocritical for a man to wear gender neutral clothes such as crop tops or skirts as if these clothes were not introduced as an empowering tool towards supporting equality, men would not even bother to look at skirts or heels (Reis et al., 2018).

Additionally yes they are used as a tool to support several communities but men mostly in 2021 began dressing up more femininely even if having a girlfriend and stating that they are straight but also having dirt on them in the past about making fun of gay people hence this justifies what I state as hypocritical. 

As an example of what I am trying to say other than the fact that I just do not like the way they lean towards the feminine side and how they fit, an example of most men pretending to like this type of clothing only because it became a trend recently is Noah Beck. Beck is a TikTok star who has been accused of being homophobic in the past either because he posted videos rather "imitating" how gay people walk or that he hates the LGBTQ community and many more homophobic comments (Popbuzz, n.d.). 

Here is an example:

Noah and his friends making fun of how gay people walk in their opinion

And then months after, (what I am trying to say when I say that most people view it as a trend) he posted this "empowering" photo shoot on instagram:

VMAN photoshoot via instagram

Now Noah Beck is the majority of people who just support this type of clothing just because it is a trend. On the other hand there are people like Harry Styles who changed the perception of people and from my point of view made gender neutral clothing a trend which fully support this movement and wear these clothes to express themselves and empower others.

Harry Styles

Harry Styles

Billy Porter

Bad Bunny

Michael Urie

To conclude I am fond of supporting the LGBTQ community and empowering others and people who empower, I just dislike imposters who pretend to support something that represents something bigger when in reality they do not. As a person and a woman I would not be attracted to a straight man wearing a skirt as I believe he would not pull it off as he would feel uncomfortable in due to several reasons, it leads towards the feminine side, it is unflattering and leads me into believing that they just do it for attention to show that they "support" the gay community when in reality they do not as much. In addition I do not believe that one has to dress femininely to show support towards a community.

Reference list:

Sodano, L. (n.d.) Genderless fashion: trend or necessity? [online] Naive Magazine, Available at: <http://www.naivemagazine.eu/2021/02/12/genderless-fashion-trend-or-necessity/> [Accessed 14 April 2021]

Larsen, N. (2019) I Tried on 'Genderless' Clothes and Was Extremely Disappointed [online] Vice.com, Available at: <https://www.vice.com/en/article/bj43d8/gender-neutral-clothing-store-stockmann-finland> [Accessed 14 April 2021]

Reis, B., Pereira, M., Jeronimo, N., Azevedo, S. and Miguel, R. (2018) Genderless clothing issues in fashion [online] ResearchGate, Available at: <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337114029_Genderless_clothing_issues_in_fashion> [Accessed 14 April 2021]

PopBuzz (n.d.) Is Noah Beck homophobic? [online] Available at: <https://www.popbuzz.com/internet/youtubers/noah-beck/homophobic/> [Accessed 14 April 2021]