Gender fluidity in fashion

What the? Fashion, really? This is totally unaceptable on a queer blog! What about the twisted bodyideal the fashionindustry provides? What about the ridicoulously high heels which ruins your back? And what about exactly everything about this industry ? Are we endorising that shit now?


I know. This is a bit off our usual topics. And this is not a post about the wonderfull world of fashion.

Let's be honest; it's not. Fucked up industry. Fucked up shit. Basically; don't do this at home, kids.

But I like fashion. As in the estetics.This winter/fall collections has shitloads of beautifull clothes that I'll never afford, but still. I like pretty things.
And right now, fashion actually has brought some kind of queer into this world. Not into our little queer bubble world, but outthere, where people really needs to see it.

So I'm gonna do a fashionblogg anyways. With pictures and everything And please; bear with me. Just this once. It won't be about the cashmere sweater I really really really want. I promise. Eh, atleast from now on.


A couple of days ago a friend of mine posted a  video  on facebook. The video is an interview with a model, Elliot Sailors, with a background in female modeling who recently "switched" to malemodeling. For many different reasons. One of them beeing that there are more jobs for older male models. Another however, is their identity.

"[..] it's totally true that I never identified as a male, but I've always described my self as a guy. [...] So, who it is that I am, is not limited to just, you know, beeing perceived as a female. Who it is that I am is inclusive of what it is that is percieved as a male. It's a part of how I see myself  [..].



After seeing this clip I just had to search www for more (mildly obsessive gender/fashion dork at your service). So worth it. Sailors talks about gender in a refreshingly reflected way.



"Gender and sexuality are two different things. There’s two different conversations: it's about staying true to who you think you are and staying authentic to who you are and it’s not limited to how you were born or who you were yesterday. Who you are can be expansive; it can include many things."
from an inteview with hairpin.com

picture: French Vouge 2010

 And there are others out there. The one most known is Lea T, the first open transexual model in the industry.

There's a point to be made; it's in no way easier to identify outside the gendebinary in the fashionindustry than other industries, or society in general. The lonliness Lea T describes in an  interview The Guradian is heartbreaking.

"[...] it is a variation on solitude," she said. "We transsexuals are born and grow up alone. After the operation we are born again, but once again alone. And we die alone. It is the price we pay."

Still, in 2010 Lea T choose tom appear in French Vouge. Completly naked. "I agreed to pose in the name of all my transsexual friends,", she was quoted saying. I'm in awe of this woman and her courage.
 Enough said. The picture speaks for itself.





Last one! Really. There are others, but I realize that this bloggpost has to end at some point.
In their interviews Elliot Sailors talks about Andrej Pejic, as one of their inspirations for their "transformation".

"Andrej has worked with some of the biggest names in the industry including Steven Meisel, Marc Jacobs,  Juergen Teller, Mert And Marcus, Paolo Roversi, Carine Roitfeld, John Galliano, Raf Simons  and has had the rare honor of becoming Jean Paul Gaultier’s muse.  Pejic was the first known transgender model to walk in a couture show.  The list of editorials for magazines like Vogue, Numero, Elle, W, ID, L’Officiel  and more is long. Pejic has even been given the title of having the most magazine covers of any male model to date."

from Andrej Pejics offical website

 That's it folks. Hope you enjoyed my fashiongalore!

                       /A                                      

 

Når sensur av rasisme blir rasistisk

Fredag 18. oktober havnet stand-up komikeren Özz Nûjen og avtroppende statsminister Jens Stoltenberg i debatt om rasisme i Norge. De to var gjester i tv-programmet Skavlan som vises både i Norge (NRK) og Sverige (SVT). Men denne gangen satt man nærmest igjen med en følelse av å ha sett to forskjellige program. For i den norske versjonen av programmet ble debattens slutt klippet og limt slik at Stoltenberg fikk siste ordet etterfulgt av en applaus. Mens det på svensk tv (og i virkeligheten) var totalt motsatt:

Özz Nûjen:
- Till exempel vill man massdeportera romer från Norge. Och det är både Höyre och Fremskrittspartiet. Om det inte är rasism, vad är då rasism?
Jens Stoltenberg:
- Jag menar att rasism är när du diskriminerar människor på grund av ras eller hudfärg. Det är förbjudet i Sverige och det är förbjudet i Norge. Det är jag emot, säger han i programmet.
Han fortsätter:
- Men jag menar att det är desto viktigare att vara tydlig i förhållande till hur vi använder ord och uttryck som skapar fördomar som bygger upp avstånd mellan människor. Där har vi som politiska ledare ett ansvar, och där har jag varit kritisk till mycket av det Fremskrittspartiet har stått för och gjort, men jag tänker likväl att det är en skarp skillnad mellan det och rasism, säger han i programmet.
Skavlan påpekar att Fremskrittspartiet inte är på plats för att försvara sig.
Özz Nûjen:
- Ja, det vet jag men det är också många som jag som inte heller är där och kan försvara sig när Fremskritts­partiet pratar.

At en allment kringkastingsselskap som tv-kanalen NRK velger å sensurere disse delene av programet er ikke bare feigt, men veldig problematisk på flere områder. For det første er sensuren med på å usynliggjøre en svært alvorlig uttalelse og holdning om en allerede svært marginalisert gruppe i det norske samfunnet: Rom-folk. I sitatet over hevder Stoltenberg at det er et klart skille mellom å massedeporterere rom-folk fra Norge og diskriminering på bakgrunn av rase eller hudfarge. Stoltenberg definerer med andre ord forskjellsbehandling og diskriminering av rom-folk ut av rasisme-definisjonen!

For det andre mener jeg at sensuren ikke bare er feig, men at klippingen i seg selv er en rasistisk handling. Özz er svensk med kurdisk bakgrunn, når NRK velger å frata han siste ordet i debatten og heller la hvite norske Stoltenberg få avslutte med applaus, sier det ganske mye om hvor sterkt hvithetsnormen står i Norge. Er det virkelig for mye for den norske befolkningen å se selveste Stoltenberg bli satt på plass av en farget mann? Virkelig?

For det tredje er sensuren problematisk fordi den norske versjonen legger lokk på en viktig debatt som vi virkelig bør ta på alvor: Vi har en regjering med et parti som er rasistisk! For som Özz sier i den svenske versjonen: "Selv om du sier at du ikke er rasist og at du ikke står for de holdningene nazistene og rasistene står for, betyr ikke det at du ikke gjør rasistiske saker i hverdagen, deler rasistiske meninger eller utfører rasistiske handlinger." Vi har en rasistisk regjering, og vi har en rasistisk tv-kanal! Det er på tide at vi ser oss selv i speilet og anerkjenne fakta, for det finnes rasisme i Norge på alle plan!

/B

Basic survival techniques

So, it seems like this autumn is going to be an all time high for every -ism, -phobia and -ty I don't care for in norwegian politics. A homophobic person gets to decide familyppolitics, a liberalst gets to run the economy, abortion is suddenly up for grabs, I mean I knew it would be bad but abortion? Really? What's next? Why don't we do a Governor Ultrasound-stunt while we're at it?

And as if the right didn't send us enough crap, the left side does an unbelivably heteronormativ meme-stunt in the campaigns, which makes me feel like... We'll lets do thos meme-style:

Now,  of course I can't go around looking like this. First of all,I don't like cat's.*Shocked gasps and outcry from the audience*, I know. But it's true. Second, I need to focus about other less scary things if getting up in the morning is going to be a viable option for the next four years.

So I do what I always do. I see this political bulls*** as the largest practical joke ever. It has to be. Somewhere someone is sitting an laughing their asses of, I'm sure of it. I mean; the head of the department of  agricultures background is in social services? in OSLO? Hahaha. I've been laughing about that for days. I guess we'll just have to thank our lucky star that our head of the department for enviromental issues didn't turn out to be a climatesceptic. Or that teachers (at this point at least) aren't forced to teach creationism.

The joke is on you politics. You are hilarious.

xoxo

A

So far from friday

But this monday doesn't suck as much as a usual monday. Why you say? Because Monday is kind of close to Wedensday.  And this Wedensday will be even better than Friday.