age:40 location: Citizen of the world occupation: writer
do you identify as: male other
do you think of yourself as someone who:
f. other - Knows a bit about fashion. Thinks it can be fun, but can also be very classist and damaging to female self esteem. It's a good thing and a bad thing at the same time.
I. What is your reaction to this statement: "Most male fashion designers are gay."
c. well...that's a stereotype, but also probably true
-Why do you think that this is true?
and/or
-Why do you think that other people would believe that this is true?
Because I think that as a male if you are attracted to femininity as an aesthetic to the point where you can use the female body as a canvass, you probably have to have some sexual distance from females themselves because otherwise you'd be distracted and/or swayed by physicality in a way that would distort your artistic judgment. In other words, to create fashion you need to objectify women in a ways that's different from how straight men objectify women.
II. What is your reaction to this statement: "Many major fashion designers of the last hundred years have been gay men."
g. I don't know much about fashion in the first half of the 20th century so I can't say. I would guess there is a high probability of it, but who knows.
Do you have any thoughts on the effects, positive or negative, of the prominence (past or present) of gay men in fashion design?
I think that it can tend to lead to fashions that make women feel that they have to fit a difficult to attain body type, because subconsiously there can be a tendency for gay male fashion designers to ignore the reality of the existence of and desire for feminine curves.
and/or
Do you have any thoughts on the effects, positive or negative, of the perception that gay men are (or have been) prominent in fashion design?
It gives women an "out" if their body type does not fit the mold fashion is designed for. In other words it allows them to say "Well, it was probably made by someone who likes boys."
That man is Yves St. Laurant. I know that he had a long term male partner, but I'm unsure if he was bi or gay.
would you by any chance do me a huge favor and link to this on your blog? I feel like you have a huge readership that likes to answer questions, esp. about clothes and sexuality, and I would love to get responses from some of them...
thanks! yes, it is for my dissertation, though in a sort of peripheral way -- it's very useful to me in trying to work out some ideas, but isn't intended as any kind of actual research and won't be cited/quoted in the thing. (Unless someone says something that turns out to be particularly relevant/awesome, in which case I might take that back, but would ask them first!)
location: Citizen of the world
occupation: writer
do you identify as:
male
other
do you think of yourself as someone who:
f. other - Knows a bit about fashion. Thinks it can be fun, but can also be very classist and damaging to female self esteem. It's a good thing and a bad thing at the same time.
I. What is your reaction to this statement: "Most male fashion designers are gay."
c. well...that's a stereotype, but also probably true
-Why do you think that this is true?
and/or
-Why do you think that other people would believe that this is true?
Because I think that as a male if you are attracted to femininity as an aesthetic to the point where you can use the female body as a canvass, you probably have to have some sexual distance from females themselves because otherwise you'd be distracted and/or swayed by physicality in a way that would distort your artistic judgment. In other words, to create fashion you need to objectify women in a ways that's different from how straight men objectify women.
II. What is your reaction to this statement: "Many major fashion designers of the last hundred years have been gay men."
g. I don't know much about fashion in the first half of the 20th century so I can't say. I would guess there is a high probability of it, but who knows.
Do you have any thoughts on the effects, positive or negative, of the prominence (past or present) of gay men in fashion design?
I think that it can tend to lead to fashions that make women feel that they have to fit a difficult to attain body type, because subconsiously there can be a tendency for gay male fashion designers to ignore the reality of the existence of and desire for feminine curves.
and/or
Do you have any thoughts on the effects, positive or negative, of the perception that gay men are (or have been) prominent in fashion design?
It gives women an "out" if their body type does not fit the mold fashion is designed for. In other words it allows them to say "Well, it was probably made by someone who likes boys."
That man is Yves St. Laurant. I know that he had a long term male partner, but I'm unsure if he was bi or gay.
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would you by any chance do me a huge favor and link to this on your blog? I feel like you have a huge readership that likes to answer questions, esp. about clothes and sexuality, and I would love to get responses from some of them...
Reply
Is this for your thesis? Or something else?
Just so I know how to pitch it to people.
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I just want to give people a reason to respond to it.
Because "Help out a cute blond with her dissertation" is a better pitch than "tell us if you are gay and like fashion."
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