Page 3 - No Labels Final Presentation

diminutive term but effeminate men are often put down by the use of words such

as ‘wimp’ and ‘sissy’. Effeminate men are still considered problematic in public.
They are criticised or even discriminated against by some people who believe that

men cannot wear makeup or paint their nails because these traits are apparently

exclusively feminine. Our representation deals with androgyny and in particular
allowing​ ​men​ ​access​ ​to​ ​femininity.

David​ ​Bowie:​ ​A​ ​Rebellion

David Bowie opened the conversation about androgyny and gender ambiguity in

mainstream media with his performative personas such Ziggy Stardust and The
Thin White Duke. These personas were not born out of need for constant alteration

but as a process of performativity wherein Bowie recreated and mimicked gestural

traits that he borrowed from performers like Elvis Presley, Katharine Hepburn and

Frank Sinatra In her book, Gender Trouble (1990). Judith Butler described this
aspect of gender play as drag- an ongoing process through which gender is

performed, imitated and reperformed as ‘drag’. Bowie’s “borrowed” gestural trait

known as the lipstick smear is one of, if not the most iconic of them all. Ultimately,