As we grow up, the children become the center point of conversations. How each is growing up and what are the typical traits developing. As the many meets and the conversations flowed on, I realized that somewhere there was a new pattern emergent.
Accepting the feminine side of you - a sea change from the testosterone heavy atmosphere we have grown up in.
Patriarchy had directed that there is an LOC between males and females : each form must adhere to his or her own traits. That is anyway how behaviour was simplistically segmented. Hence the popularity of Raymond led ads of "Feel like a Complete Man". What is a complete man or what completed him : few questioned. The symbology of controlled power, grace, compassion and the 'father' archetype was promoted as the benchmark of manhood / masculinity. Anything below would be an 'effeminate male'. We turned down our noses at the 'queers' : never respecting their courage to being who they were.
For females, the same Patriarchal dogma imposed on virtues and deeds of being a 'good woman'. Every semblance of her was dictated to fit the stereotype. Deviance raised eyebrows and silent toasts. 'Like a girl' became akin to a curse phrase. In fact the Nike ad brings this pain point out beautifully.
The change now is seen at 2 levels :
1. Androgynous styles or the Gender Bender
2. Rise of femininity
1. Gender Bender or no difference between males and females. Rooted to the spirit of equality and frankly speaking not a new trend. But what is new is the embracing and celebration of the same. Fashion circuits are abuzz and agog with this new trend.
While, to some, it appears that it arose completely out of the blue, this trend has actually been around longer than many might think. The “unisex” clothing movement began in the United States around the ’60s, and had already began spreading throughout Europe long before the trends when one gender would wear the others’ typical clothes. High heels, for example, were originally worn by high society men to set themselves apart from those of lower classes.
Though as time passed, women began wearing high heels and eventually men stopped, and the rest is history.
Recently a report - Andrej Pejic is part of the new femiman trend in fashion. He’s one of a new breed of androgynous models who have risen to prominence in the past few seasons
Now both on the runway and daily lives, we see more women dressed in a masculine fashion and more men embracing hair styles, colours and accessories. This has more to do with shedding gender constraints personally and professionally. Women on top - pun intended - is the new normal that has seeped into the post modern age. Women started accepting this new normal with cropped hair and masculine power dress code to work to make a statement than be the statement.
Patriarchy had directed that there is an LOC between males and females : each form must adhere to his or her own traits. That is anyway how behaviour was simplistically segmented. Hence the popularity of Raymond led ads of "Feel like a Complete Man". What is a complete man or what completed him : few questioned. The symbology of controlled power, grace, compassion and the 'father' archetype was promoted as the benchmark of manhood / masculinity. Anything below would be an 'effeminate male'. We turned down our noses at the 'queers' : never respecting their courage to being who they were.
For females, the same Patriarchal dogma imposed on virtues and deeds of being a 'good woman'. Every semblance of her was dictated to fit the stereotype. Deviance raised eyebrows and silent toasts. 'Like a girl' became akin to a curse phrase. In fact the Nike ad brings this pain point out beautifully.
The change now is seen at 2 levels :
1. Androgynous styles or the Gender Bender
2. Rise of femininity
1. Gender Bender or no difference between males and females. Rooted to the spirit of equality and frankly speaking not a new trend. But what is new is the embracing and celebration of the same. Fashion circuits are abuzz and agog with this new trend.
While, to some, it appears that it arose completely out of the blue, this trend has actually been around longer than many might think. The “unisex” clothing movement began in the United States around the ’60s, and had already began spreading throughout Europe long before the trends when one gender would wear the others’ typical clothes. High heels, for example, were originally worn by high society men to set themselves apart from those of lower classes.
Though as time passed, women began wearing high heels and eventually men stopped, and the rest is history.
Recently a report - Andrej Pejic is part of the new femiman trend in fashion. He’s one of a new breed of androgynous models who have risen to prominence in the past few seasons
Now both on the runway and daily lives, we see more women dressed in a masculine fashion and more men embracing hair styles, colours and accessories. This has more to do with shedding gender constraints personally and professionally. Women on top - pun intended - is the new normal that has seeped into the post modern age. Women started accepting this new normal with cropped hair and masculine power dress code to work to make a statement than be the statement.
What tilted the scales towards the unisex dress code is men adopting to heels, skirts (kilt hangover?), jewellery and accessories. Interestingly, men adopting to 'feminine' clothes raised far more eye-brows termed as deviance - mainly because of the innate fear of loss of masculinity / shedding of masculine power. The power equation has been the biggest barrier to androgyneity. Social media dubbed this new man as the 'femiman'.
In India, Ranveer Singh has been touted to having brought the post modern androgynous culture to India. His flared skirts, colorful ensemble and stepping out of the codes that prescribe and bind men's wear made all of us sit up and take notice. Some thwarted him. But most admired the flamboyance.
In India, androgynous clothing soon crept up the popularity or at least awareness ranks. Dhruv Kapur of DRVV fame started crafting a new era in men's fey wear - with tunics and skirts making waves in the man's wardrobe. "For me, it is more an expression of power rather than gender. Power has traditionally been associated with men. Through androgynous silhouettes, there is a sense of power being transferred to women. Making women look more masculine than men — not only does this change gender stereotypes, but it is also an empowering gesture. It is not a fad, it is here to stay. Something as simple as a skirt can look androgynous, purely because of its cut.”
2 Rise of Femininity - The observation comes at the back of observing my baby sister and another girl of almost the equal age. Both are almost 6 and extremely feminine. At 6 I would have expected most of the girls would be gender neutral in terms of outlook or dressing. But to my surprise 6 year old is not completely child-like anymore. They are adulting earlier today - be it their lifestyle, appearance, outlook towards relationship or even their own self-perception.
For instance, the 6 year old today easily knows and uses the language of having a boyfriend / girlfriend - to them the difference is clear from the viewpoint of the emphasis placed on the distinct status of either. The way they see their elders speaking to their significant others on phone or 1:1, is the pathway for them to emulate and bring the nuances in their own conversations.
In terms of appearance, there is a special craving for make-up and feminine accessories - viz. bindi, dupatta, jewellery : the mother's wardrobe becomes the raid point as it symbolizes femininity. This is in stark contrast to my own childhood where at 6 I was seen playing cricket with the boys in shorts - a defiant attitude towards being typecast into a feminine mould of playing with a generic kitchen set or the Barbie doll.
Today, its the opposite. There is a deeper inclination to the 'codes' (or so we see it to be) of femininity - or maybe its the adulting of children that is more noticeable and we term it as femininity. Adulting would have been a phenomenon that could have been related to teenage years - instead it has rapidly progressed to start early - now from the age of 5 or 6.
Rise of femininity also includes the overarching attitude of there is nothing wrong in being a female - indeed there is nothing wrong in it but so long we were made to believe that certain aspects of femininity were wrong to be embraced at a certain age / life stage. Now, there is no boundary. The men too do not have an expectation benchmark - instead the mere need from life is to flow without borders, demarcations and markers.
Rise of femininity is also rampant therefore among the men - ergo their own contribution to it by their androgynity.
In fact, this brings to mind the original reason which is a question that started off this rant : are we headed for a world that is supremely feminine? Is patriarchal archaic hold slowly fading away to a more feminine society (equally applied for men and women?)
Food for thought? Would love more examples and observations - as well as accounts for the impact at micro and macro level to the socio-cultural melting pot we live in today..
In India, Ranveer Singh has been touted to having brought the post modern androgynous culture to India. His flared skirts, colorful ensemble and stepping out of the codes that prescribe and bind men's wear made all of us sit up and take notice. Some thwarted him. But most admired the flamboyance.
In India, androgynous clothing soon crept up the popularity or at least awareness ranks. Dhruv Kapur of DRVV fame started crafting a new era in men's fey wear - with tunics and skirts making waves in the man's wardrobe. "For me, it is more an expression of power rather than gender. Power has traditionally been associated with men. Through androgynous silhouettes, there is a sense of power being transferred to women. Making women look more masculine than men — not only does this change gender stereotypes, but it is also an empowering gesture. It is not a fad, it is here to stay. Something as simple as a skirt can look androgynous, purely because of its cut.”
However, androgyny in India is nothing new - in fact its the rise of the Phoenix. The Maharajas had long sported the androgynous look -with jewellery, colourful clothing, angarakhas and achkans. Floral designs and fauna motifs are not unknown to men's fashion.
Today the androgynous fashion is more about just clothing - its about expression of a bold statement of equality - where men too crave for the colours so long held into the female territory. The blurring of boundaries, gender bending and the rise of unilateral codes of power and expression point out to the macro cultural equanimity that most have come to expect and accept today. The deviant only rapes / molests / is regressive towards the females : mainly because in "the survival of the fittest" trend of today which is pronounced more strongly than ever before - the men feel threatened by not only the women's rising power and status in the society - but also, majority men's acceptance of the new social code.
Let's now come to the second observation -
Today the androgynous fashion is more about just clothing - its about expression of a bold statement of equality - where men too crave for the colours so long held into the female territory. The blurring of boundaries, gender bending and the rise of unilateral codes of power and expression point out to the macro cultural equanimity that most have come to expect and accept today. The deviant only rapes / molests / is regressive towards the females : mainly because in "the survival of the fittest" trend of today which is pronounced more strongly than ever before - the men feel threatened by not only the women's rising power and status in the society - but also, majority men's acceptance of the new social code.
Let's now come to the second observation -
2 Rise of Femininity - The observation comes at the back of observing my baby sister and another girl of almost the equal age. Both are almost 6 and extremely feminine. At 6 I would have expected most of the girls would be gender neutral in terms of outlook or dressing. But to my surprise 6 year old is not completely child-like anymore. They are adulting earlier today - be it their lifestyle, appearance, outlook towards relationship or even their own self-perception.
In terms of appearance, there is a special craving for make-up and feminine accessories - viz. bindi, dupatta, jewellery : the mother's wardrobe becomes the raid point as it symbolizes femininity. This is in stark contrast to my own childhood where at 6 I was seen playing cricket with the boys in shorts - a defiant attitude towards being typecast into a feminine mould of playing with a generic kitchen set or the Barbie doll.
Today, its the opposite. There is a deeper inclination to the 'codes' (or so we see it to be) of femininity - or maybe its the adulting of children that is more noticeable and we term it as femininity. Adulting would have been a phenomenon that could have been related to teenage years - instead it has rapidly progressed to start early - now from the age of 5 or 6.
Rise of femininity also includes the overarching attitude of there is nothing wrong in being a female - indeed there is nothing wrong in it but so long we were made to believe that certain aspects of femininity were wrong to be embraced at a certain age / life stage. Now, there is no boundary. The men too do not have an expectation benchmark - instead the mere need from life is to flow without borders, demarcations and markers.
Rise of femininity is also rampant therefore among the men - ergo their own contribution to it by their androgynity.
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| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFmKbUAmFNI |
In fact, this brings to mind the original reason which is a question that started off this rant : are we headed for a world that is supremely feminine? Is patriarchal archaic hold slowly fading away to a more feminine society (equally applied for men and women?)
Food for thought? Would love more examples and observations - as well as accounts for the impact at micro and macro level to the socio-cultural melting pot we live in today..
