Rosa 1 Justin Rosa Dr.

Ane Lynge-Jorln The Meaning of Style September 8, 2013 Prisoners of Masculinity Fashion can be expressed as the dominant style and practice at a particular period in time. Aside from being essential and acting as protection, garments form and delineate an individual in social, cultural, and psychological qualities. It has been a characteristic of culture and identity for centuries. This is a world where fashion and garment adopt a significant role in molding and determining the identity of people. This physical appearance often determines another individuals impressions of oneself and becomes a measurement of self-worth. Contemporarily, with a rise of self-consciousness and the inevitable occurrence of creating the social identity of an individual, fashion and dress have gained a rather important role in society. While femininity has long been the central characteristic of fashion, the marginalization of male dress in the past has impacted the gender identity of non-homosexual men who are interested in fashion and dress. Consequently, the social perception of men who are fashion conscious became critical. As homosexual men found that they can subtly express their identity through fashion, homosexuality and fashion have been merged as a couple in the minds of many. This is a social construct that can be utilized to transcend the ideology of masculinity as moral and righteous. Questions of masculinity and sexuality are inevitable for any male interested in fashion or simply, his appearance. Criticizing particular articles of dress or even the very idea of caring about appearance as being feminine constructs a barrier for fashion conscious men. There has been an understanding that wearing certain forms of clothing

Rosa 2 or thoughtfully choosing your outfit is related to a preference of having sexual desires for other men. This perception of fashion as an unethical and corrupt surfeit is held in the most disapproving manner. The notion, of course, excludes men that are fashion conscious from the realm of true masculinity. The way in which one dresses will always be judged according to societal philosophies of gender identity and roles. In reference to the constant reformation of dress codes, Jennifer Craik asserts that women are given the role as the fashionable gender (Craik, p. 176). With this gender role as one of the various societal ideologies, a male that desires to express himself through his appearance is measured to be an indication of weakness. Power is significant to social identity, especially to men. Men showing interest in fashion and care about their appearance would lose power over women, as they would then be perceived to be the equal of women. Women are stereotypically seen as being susceptible to immoderate interest in their appearance. The notion at hand is that the intention of womens and gay fashion is to promote appreciation of the human anatomy, whereas heterosexual men desire to improve and preserve their dynamic male roles. Subtly, these men also want a hidden admiration from other men, providing them with an impression of social power. Fashion conscious men should not feel restricted by the idea of having to preserve their masculinity while also having to face social constructs. Rather, it can be used as another tool when thinking about how the next outfit will look. Fashion and dress are concepts that can be manipulated at will and exploited to transcend the social construct of masculinity as being virtuous. All non-homosexual men that are fashion conscious should consider this idea. The main idea about it is being able to comprehend the role that

Rosa 3 fashion plays in our external identity and how connected it is with gender. The act of dressing well or the desire to do so is the desire of dressing in natural harmony with oneself and with ones personality. The manner and style in which one dresses their external identity should naturally come from their own ideologies. This is the essence of being genuinely expressive in dress. An individual should not feel obliged to any external system or standards. Masculinity as defined by societal ideologies, especially when it is as uproarious and in a continuous shift, is not something to necessarily aspire towards. The ideas presented in this essay do not exist alone. Rather, they are accompanied by concepts that stand against them. As previously stated, fashion has been the realm of the feminine soul. Men, Thorstein Veblen would argue, created this realm. Veblen believes that fashion is irrational. As a lady of the bourgeois house, one was incapable to work or provide and had to demonstrate her masters pay, his pecuniary strength to remove her entirely from the sphere of work (Steele, p. 311). The female personality becomes an object; a sign of wealth and masculine power. With wealth and power, fashion would be of no importance to the man as it is simply a playground for the women. Consequently, fashion conscious men are questioned about their masculinity. The social constructs that men lay equal to women and/or the ignorant perception of being homosexual are created. The existence of these social constructs makes it difficult for non-homosexual men to express their male style and sexual identity. While homosexuality and metro sexuality are accepted today, many are still criticized when an outfit appears to have feminine origins. Craik declares, Contemporary men struggle to articulate the image of male sexuality appropriate to their circumstances (Craik, p. 179). While his reference

Rosa 4 may seem clich, pop icon Kanye West, as be one individual who was never afraid to explore with fashion and his style. Certainly with an ego as big as Kanyes, he rarely shows concern for criticism that might cross his path. Kanye adopted the kilt, originally worn by Scottish men. It was a brave and distinctive choice that Kanye made. Nonhomosexual men should be embrace their individuality and attempt to avoid any social construct. Masculinity neither entails righteousness nor morality. It is simply a social construct. Criticizing a non-homosexual man for the manner that he chooses to express his style and sexuality is an attempt to deny his freedom as an individual. In Fashion, Clothing and Meaning, Malcolm Barnard states, What is perceived as idiosyncrasy or artistic originality, is revealed as the manipulation of a number of relatively simple rules (Barnard, p. 65). Social constructs are indirect rules that society subconsciously finds solidarity with and to transcend them, one should choose to break them. It is something to consider and to understand, as the individual exists described by the world him. Fashion that undermines our views of gender and masculinity are as worthy of discourse as a three-piece suit. Nevertheless, it is time to dismiss the pairing of fashion and homosexuality.

Rosa 5 Bibliography Barnard, Malcolm. Fashion as Communication. London: Routledge, 1996. Print. Craik, Jennifer. The Face of Fashion: Cultural Studies in Fashion. London: Routledge, 1994. Print. Steele, Valerie. The Berg Companion to Fashion. Oxford: Berg, 2010. Print.