Page 2 - No Labels Final Presentation

Planning

Magazines today, despite the growing non-conformity in pop culture, represent
men and women in ways that are prominently separated. These representations are

rhetorical and exaggerate what it means to be masculine and feminine,

perpetuating patriarchal ideologies. This leaves no room for people who identify as
neither. In our representation, we chose to challenge the ideology of the femininity

and masculinity binary by producing androgynous images that specifically allow

men access to femininity. We collaborated with our friends Jay and Connor to

create a magazine called “No Labels” that transcends beyond traditional gender
norms.

Androgyny

Historically, the term gender was used to differentiate between biological sex and
the stereotypical traits of masculinity and femininity. Gender was seen as a stable,

binary order that was achieved through socialisation soon after a child was born.

West and Zimmerman (1977) described gender as not an inherent personal trait but
‘an emergent feature of social situations’. Gender identity is one of the most talked

about topics in recent years. Who can define gender and how to define it is an

enormous field of discussion not only within social media and pop culture but
academics as well. Androgyny is a phenomenon that blends both masculine and

feminine characteristics which can be represented through fashion, gender identity

or sexual orientation. For example, women with hard faces or men with narrow

shoulders. People who choose to express their gender as androgynous are not

limited by traditional stereotypes associated with gender. With the development of
fashion and art shows, androgynous fashion is constantly being brought to

mainstream media. What is problematic with mainstream and everyday

representation of androgyny is that it is predominantly centred around the
masculinisation of women. It is only a further reinforcement of valuing masculinity

over femininity when masculine women are referred to as ‘tomboys’ which is not a