From dandy to macho: Every facet of male sexuality in fashion
Reporting Headlines From the men's fashion weeks, the words “gender ambivalence”, “fashion dualization” and the like are full of them. Obviously, men's fashion today is undergoing a powerful transformation, reflecting changes in society, following the revision of the very concept of male sexuality and gender identity. We decided to figure out what this means and how it happened.
Recently, we wrote about the return of sexuality in women's fashion, which now keeps pace with the ideas of feminism, and not with the long tradition of the objectification of women. It turns out that women have defined their new roles (or almost) and women's fashion has followed. The question arises: what happens with male sexuality, identity and fashion? How are these concepts interrelated and what are they now? The ambivalence of men's fashion demonstrates that there is no obvious and unambiguous answer yet - and the background is extremely fascinating.
Clothing, in one way or another, is an embodied thought and image enveloping a person. Despite the historical functionality, the need to cover and protect the body, clothing for centuries has been an important element of non-verbal communication. Through it, we express our identity and moods, read the intentions and social roles of others. Through clothing and, in particular, fashion, we, consciously or not, express our sexuality, which is a natural part of our personality. The issue of gender identity today is particularly acute - but we must not forget that we realized its importance as a result of a long struggle for our rights and freedoms.
It is curious that the most vivid experiments with gender and new sexuality are now seen in men's fashion weeks, and not in women. It can even be said that for women's fashion this is a partly passed stage. Over the past five years, she has strongly flirted with the traditional "male style", androgyny and asexuality, and now sharply headed for a revision of traditional sexuality, rethinking things that emphasize femininity, figure and revealing the body. It is noteworthy that men's fashion took a similar course. Today, men's fashion allows itself more experiments, reflecting the situation in society and behind which are more fundamental questions than marketing and trends of the season.
There are different types of ideas about how male sexuality should look. We can roughly denote the two poles: "natural" and "cultural" - both terms in quotes. The first implies an underlined masculinity: muscles, aggressive behavior, the image of a strong male. According to this view, clothing that refines masculine features and is not coarse enough is perceived as asexual. At the second pole, the opposite is true. Here, the more “aristocratic” and more refined the image, the more sexual it is. In this case, the main role is played by taste in clothes. It should be as refined as possible. This division is conditional. The world is too complicated to make these types meet in their pure form. It is important to remember that today male sexuality is strongly associated with financial well-being and the availability of free time: the more of the one and the other, the more time there is to think about sex as an aesthetic phenomenon, and not only as a primary biological need.
Amazingly, in 2015, male sexuality, or at least its public demonstration, remains a little-studied territory. How to define it? What is it expressed in? What does she have to do with female sexuality, and what are the differences? The concepts of male sexuality in the manner in which it is customary to understand and describe female, in mass culture almost does not exist. They do not write about it, and the topic looks taboo. Sexuality as a trait, especially underlined, is still commonly attributed to women - although, of course, it is common to all, regardless of gender. So, male sexuality is stereotypically linked in our mind with abstract concepts that characterize a person: masculinity, strength, determination, success, intelligence, power. At the same time, female sexuality has always been expressed in a visual, physical form, praising the female body and its curves and movements, even when the girl is wearing a men's suit. Thinking about female sexuality, many of us are likely to present Marilyn Monroe in a dress with a deep cleavage or a similar image: in the history of women's clothing, the determining factor in sexuality has always been the degree of openness and closeness of the body. What was in the man?
Today we rarely see a man in a skirt, although it was their men who wore for a long time in different ancient cultures: from antiquity and the Chinese empire, the peoples of India and the Middle East. However, in ancient times, clothing carried primarily functionality and was an indicator of social status, and did not determine gender identity. Antiquity is a good example: everybody wore tunics. Even in the XIV century, from where the modern clothing system originates, and the differences in men's and women's fashion became more pronounced, things were mostly androgynous. Remember the medieval universal upelands. Interestingly, at this time, women are wearing massive clothes, hiding the body from harmlessness, and men, on the contrary - tight leggings and tunics with a cutout on the chest. Moreover, in the 15th century, the length of the legs of a man was already emphasized by pointed shoes and began to wear codpiece, the predecessor of underwear.
We see the emergence of eroticism in the men's fashion at the end of the 17th century with the development of the ideas of Mannerism, whose mood partly finds expression in clothes, for example, in the open collar of shirts. The ideal of a refined man appears, and men's clothing takes on a more feminine (at least, modern look) look: taut, fitted silhouette, huge toads and cuffs, usually in several layers of lace, and the neckband is completely knotted with a lush bow. These ideas will develop in the XVIII century already on the wave of dandyism, and fashion will return to them more than once: the image of an elegant gentleman will return in the 60-70s of the last century and will eventually appear on contemporary shows.
It is interesting how the manifestation of male sexuality, located in the subconscious, manifested itself in fashionable details. For example, Marcel Proust always wore a boutonniere with an orchid - this habit dates back to the 16th century, and at the end of the 19th century, in the era of decadence and symbolism, boutonnieres personify hidden sexuality and sensuality. Flowers become a symbol of awakening of feelings and lust, and Proust in the unfinished novel “Jean Santey” describes masturbation, comparing it with the beauty of irises and lilacs.
Another example of a thing with sexual overtones is the men's belt. Anthropologists and historians of costume attribute a borderline sense to the belt, as it denotes a moral line, a framework of permissible, a division into the top (soul, breath and mind) and bottom (water, instincts and sexual characteristics). The belt completes the outfit and can become a murder weapon. A man without a belt is a man without pants. The unbuttoned belt is a symbol of sex. Another example is shoes, and in particular, boots. In the men's fashion, as later in the women's fashion, boots represent sex - they are historically associated with taming nature, horses and military achievements, and boots - with overcoming distances and obstacles. So shoes are a fetish from time immemorial. But there are more ambiguous things: for example, socks are perceived as an antisexual element, and socks - as sexy. Is it because hairy calves for a long time were taken to close? However, today even socks are becoming a fashionable subject - it suffices to recall the last show of Gosha Rubchinsky with white socks stretched over his trouser legs.
In the Middle Ages, as is commonly believed, European civilization did not particularly care about appearance. Discourse of sexuality was not as such. In the Renaissance, more attention was paid to the body, since they interpreted antiquity. We recreate ideas about sexuality in the pictures that we have left, which, it is worth remembering, were in circulation only in elite circles. It was about social status rather than sexuality. In the XIX century, Victorian aesthetes flaunted frilly clothes, and sexuality is still secondary here. Victorian England in the face of suppression of sexuality has developed a specific male response - aestheticism. The more elaborate clothes in the neighborhood of sophisticated manners were thought of as the peak of male sexuality and perfectly combined with orgies in brothels. Dealing with the history of culture, it is worth remembering: the discourse of sexuality occurs only in the twentieth century. Men's clothing began to be perceived as a sign not only of social status, but also of sexuality recently. Sexuality is a feature of the culture of late capitalism. At the same time, natural sexuality is preserved in cultures not affected by industrial capitalism.
It was the 20th century that gave us a key revolution in fashion and the perception of our sexuality. For example, the decade of the 1920s, in fact, shaped male and female fashion, as they have come down to our days, and gender roles began to undergo noticeable changes. At the beginning of the 20th century, sport became fashionable and the ancient body cult was revived, adding to the values associated with male attractiveness. At the beginning of the 20th century, the first bodybuilding competitions were held in England and in America: muscle mass becomes the personification of masculinity. Bodybuilding will be incredibly popular by the 50s. Suffice it to recall the advertising posters of bodybuilding guru Charles Atlas, who promoted his program of physical exercises under the slogans: "I will make you a new man," "Hey, gasp, we see your ribs." What is under clothing becomes more important than clothing. At this time, a new macho man’s ideal is being formed, who does not hide his muscles under his clothes. Atlas posters can be considered the first prototypes of male pop sexuality, which is still present in the mass consciousness, as well as advertising of spirits, cowards and hot sauces.
The manifestation of sexuality in fashion is directly related to the roles established by society. In a world with a dominant heterosexual model, where women acted as sexual objects and men as consumers, there was no talk of male sexuality. For the first time, men were objectified by other men in a homosexual context, which is full of evidence both in painting and in literature - it is worth remembering at least Jean Genet, with his admiration for thieves, sailors, prostitutes and smugglers. In the film version of his "Qur'el", filmed in 1982 by Fassbinder, it is clearly seen what is so sexy about the vest and the cap.
As sex is de-sensitized, sexuality is gradually attributed to men and women as hell. The greatest contribution was made by popular culture and rebellious youth subcultures. Hollywood chic, the appearance of glamorous masculine and feminine ideals, which carry a certain charge - all this marked quite specific points on the axis of traditional sexuality, which we see in the images of the sex symbols of the time and their outfits, be it a silk dress on Jean Harlow and fur or single-breasted three-piece suit by Clark Gable. The American fashion industry and ready-made clothes quickly responded to the demand of society, launching into production and wide sale of a copy of outfits from films.
It is interesting that at the same time in Russia, on the contrary, the ideas of androgynous fashion are developing. Rodchenko and Stepanova offer the uniform of the man of the future, who, in their opinion, should wear overalls. The constructivist standard - a universal men's suit that would give warmth, freedom of movement - was characterized by a simple cut and an economical consumption of fabric. There is even the idea of creating disposable paper clothes for peasants. Rodchenko and Stepanova were ahead of time - because, in fact, their ideas anticipated modern fashion. But talking about sexuality here, of course, did not go. The design was put at the service of functionality and utility - almost like now. Industrialization required such efforts that the very sexuality and talk about it looked something redundant and, in fact, inappropriate or even impossible.
In the West, meanwhile, sexuality was gaining momentum, expressed through manners and clothing. One of the first manifestations of the influence of urban street style and subcultures on men's fashion can be called the appearance of a zut costume at the end of the 30s - jazz musicians set the fashion for it, and then other men picked it up. Nevertheless, the 50s and their generation of “rebels without a reason” should be considered the defining boundary of the birth of a new fashion and talk of a new sexuality. As the Canadian anthropologist and writer Grant David McCracken wrote in the book “Plenitude” in the middle of the century, “in the 50s you are part of the mainstream, or James Dean”. The icons of the 50s with their undisguised sexual charisma and the power given by the cinema, continued to endow clothing and other items of clothing with sexual overtones. Marlon Brando in a white alcoholic "T-shirt" and wide trousers erotized the image of a simple proletarian; then who just did not wear such a shirt as a sexy item - from the first rappers to Pete Doherty.
By inertia, the energy of the 50s turned into a movement of the 60s and 70s. Although the 60s we remember the sexual revolution and the movement of nudists, nudity was perceived, nevertheless, as a manifestation of naturalness and original purity, unity with nature. John Lennon and Yoko Ono performed in this spirit, starring completely naked, while their contemporary Jim Morrison looked defiant even in leather trousers. In 1969, the circulation of Lennon and Ono's plates "Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins" was confiscated at customs for an obscene cover, and Morrison was arrested for displaying a penis and simulating oral sex at a concert in Miami. For the prank, he was entitled to six months of imprisonment, from which the rock idol fled to Paris.
In the next decade, the London youth scene and a whole stream of new unchained subcultures, each of which understood sexuality in its own way, became a trendsetter. The “headquarters” of the 70s punk movement served as a Sex shop on Kings Road, where Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren sold latex dresses, bandages, torn mesh stockings, garbage bags, dog collars, piercings, and coarse boots. Martens. At the same time, the feminine male image returned to the scene - a kind of reincarnation of the epoch of dandyism. Sex-symbol and Roxy Music soloist Brian Ferry, for example, considered the most elegant men of feminine men with their delicate taste and adjusted manner of dressing. Brian himself wore a white tuxedo and spoke of himself exclusively as an "orchid on dim land" (Proust, hello).
Of the whole wave of glam rock (from where Ferry came from), Mark Bolan and, of course, David Bowie demonstrated the brightest of all the new sexuality. Not only the cover art of the album "Diamond Dogs", where Bowie is depicted with a dog's body and clearly visible genitalia, speaks about flirting with gender. Roland Barth will compare his other canonical image, Ziggy Stardust, with Parsifal, his victim who has revived humanity. David Bowie was then "more than a man - an idea": he was followed by a crowd of androgynous boys with wild make-up, wearing platform shoes, tight-fitting jumpsuits and a feather boa.
Androgyny in some circles was in vogue before. Many aforementioned British aesthetes of the end of the 19th century simply did not think in terms of "femininity", "masculinity" when it came to clothing. By today's standards, they are quite androgynous. Although the modern desire to choose clothes without regard to stereotypes and gender is understandable, the fact that today men try on women's things is an emancipatory trend and is perceived as homosexual in patriarchal discourse. At the same time, homophobia harms both homosexuals and open-thinking heterosexuals, who cannot freely choose their clothes. If a man puts on a thing that is prescribed to women, he will experience the full power of homophobic aggression.
The 70s give men the opportunity to metamorphosis. Another important figure of this time will be Esquire art director Jean-Paul Good, whose ideas will largely determine the fashion of the 80s. The style guru of the time offered men to fight sexual complexes through clothing. Hood himself was short and instead of high heels he wore shoes and sneakers with a special design that included a hidden platform. In his opinion, an ordinary American man dressed disgustingly. Instead of the usual outfits, he suggested wearing a jacket with hangers, emphasize the waist, and also combine fleece sweatpants with a bulky jacket. In his column with Esquire tips, he tells how men improve their appearance with a variety of tricks: platforms, shoulders and even dentures - stating new principles for modeling a male silhouette.
На смену утонченности, рафинированности и гендерной неопределенности приходит конформизм и традиционализм 80-х годов, понимающий мужскую сексуальность как "власть" и "силу": атрибутами мужской привлекательности становятся успешная карьера и физическая форма. Это расцвет явления, которое на Западе называется power dressing - манеры одеваться демонстративно, по дресс-коду, подчеркивая одеждой свой социальный статус. Пока женщины отвоевывают свое право быть полноценными игроками в мире бизнеса, банкиры с Уолл-стрит задают маскулинный тон в моде. Телевидение, реклама и популярные сериалы вроде "Полиции Майами" транслируют образы мужчин-мачо в бежевых костюмах, лоферах на босу ногу, с закатанными по локоть рукавами пальто. Ближе к концу десятилетия эти же силуэты начнут использовать дизайнеры женской одежды и обуви - очевидно, что женщины в стремлении доказать свою состоятельность перенимали мужские визуальные коды.
The fashion of the 80s exploited another extreme interpretation of male sexuality, a force expressed in the volume of the biceps. Jackets with hypertrophied broad shoulders seemed to be created in order to sit well on the heroes of the era. The most popular of arts - cinema - broadcast the image of a strong guy who can stand up for himself and whom no woman can resist. It is not surprising that the main sex symbols of the era were the guys with strong fists, headed by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Dolph Lundgren.
The main ones who combined both material readings of male consistency - expressed in monetary and muscular equivalent - were hip-hopers. In the 80s, following the song "My adidas", sneakers and a gold chain around their necks become a new uniform, symbolizing success, rappers master luxury brands. In their footsteps, most fashion brands of the 1990s and early 2000s will turn to a simple, proven and effective “sex sells” formula - designers and marketers are starting to exploit male sexuality for selling both men's and women's things. Extremely erotized male image is a frequent engine of commerce at that time: it’s enough to remember how Calvin Klein, Versace, Roberto Cavalli and D & G worked with him. In English even appeared a special term - hunkvertising, denoting the objectification of the male body in advertising.
A man in shorts and with a bare-chested in advertising is perceived as homosexual, because until recently in the practices of the image of the male body it was not accepted to represent him as sexy. Social status played a much larger role than physiological parameters. Conditionally sexual, rather, is considered the very shirt and costume, because status is sexual, and not the body as such. The emphasis on male physicality in heterosexual circles is associated with homosexuality, primarily because of its marginality. Another question is how does the image of Russian men in tight pink jackets of the 90s relate to their traditionalist views. This is a specific phenomenon, and it is associated with processes rather political in a broad sense than with gender. This is an example of adaptation to the collapse of the USSR and the diversity that has appeared on the shelves of clothing stores.
Objectification of men is, of course, a sign not of gender balance in rights, but a brainchild of marketing and capitalism. At the same time, in the minds of the majority, the view of a naked male body is perceived either in a homosexual manner, or as a satire. A good example is the advertisement of Old Spice with Isaiah Mustafa on a white horse or the hot Italians in an advertisement for Kraft sauces. David Janatasio, a journalist and author of the article "Hunkvertising: The Objectification of Men in Advertising", says that men perceive objectification of men with humor, because none of them admits that women can really imagine men in their sexual fantasies.
Vivienne Westwood once said that fashion rests on the fact that in the end you will be naked. The last shows from the men's fashion week have interpreted this opinion literally. From bare torsos, transparent and mesh things, to "that very" show of Rick Owens. Rick has released models in loose overalls demonstrating naked penises. The Russian Internet turned out to be especially susceptible to the show: “Where does the world go and why does the show go at all?”, “Europe is trying to break down values and generally accepted norms of behavior”, “No collection, apparently the creators are aware of it, so they showed the genitals of models” - This is fashion ???? This is ugliness !!! " In the mildest case - "Bad taste".
The reaction to the show showed the vulnerability of society. Anyway, the male naked body is still a taboo. Suzy Bubble writes: “The show provided itself with a powerful information cover. However, I am convinced that this gesture was about freedom. Rick Owens’s things would have looked weird if underwear stuck out from under them.” Guy Tribei of The New York Times commented on the show like this: “Despite the fact that we were used to depicting genitalia in culture, films and art, it turned out we were easily shocked, and Rick Owens’s show will remain in history. Such a controversy about gender as after we rarely see the show. Having shown us the flesh, Mr. Owens hinted how scanty our knowledge of what we call masculinity. "
Male penis is a taboo of modern European, American and Russian culture. The image of the naked phallus is perceived as pornographic, that is obscene and forbidden, condemned. Perceptions of what porn is, have changed over time. However, until now, these ideas have been determined by men as the main consumers of the relevant products. Famous feminist Andrea Dvorkin wrote that sex itself is defined as what a man does with his dick. Thus, the naked penis on the catwalk is perceived as a rough embodiment of sex. High fashion is closely related to sexuality, but the rules of this market imply a share of theatricality, such concealment of the body with the help of clothes, so that it would be perceived as “beautiful” and “sexual”. Male exposure here is an avant-garde step, which is precisely designed for a violent reaction.
Rick Owens himself says that exposure is the simplest and most basic gesture of a person. But nudity knocks down, it really holds great power. On the one hand, for Rick, the naked body of a model is akin to the naked body of an antique sculpture. On the other - his gesture could be assessed as trolling. However, it seems that Rick is still fighting for the normal perception of the male genitalia. And here he is not alone. Recently, at the presentation of the Spring-Summer 2015 collection, Acne treated people with canapés in the form of penises, and a year ago, Walter Van Beyrendonk decorated shoes with images of the penis. Christians, meanwhile, continue to rebel against Tom Ford jewelry in the form of penile crosses, which sell in different sizes for $ 790.
Speaking of half-naked models at the Owens show, many have forgotten that the casting itself was very androgynous - most of the models looked feminine. Here we find another important feature of men's shows - the very gender ambivalence. Designers release both girls and men at the show and tell us that fashion is the same for everyone. Double shows were held at Prada, Raf Simons, Saint Laurent, Givenchy, Moschino, N ° 21, Kenzo. So, Raf Simons showed exactly the same images for girls and men.
However, the commercial brand Gucci was the most interesting. Her new creative director Alessandro Michele released models of both sexes in androgynous dresses: it was difficult to distinguish who was who. Men and girls wore transparent blouses with bows, wide trousers and lace tops. Gucci has always broadcast sexuality in fashion, and this show was an indicator of what is happening in 2015. True, the Russian audience, especially the female, again reacted painfully. On a woman.ru they write: “Gays rule the world”, “What a horror. I’m just in shock. If only it wouldn’t have reached us,” “Where is the masculinity? We’d just have it in Russia”, “Their goal is to reduce the birth rate” . As if in response to this, Gucci's like-minded people for their love for luxurious sexuality - Versace - in the new season allowed themselves the image of the classic 2000s metrosexual, who now wears a tight-fitting cardigan dress and white tights.
Many critics from Angelo Flacavento to Suzy Menkes note that most brands, including Hermès or Saint Laurent, exploit the image of an exquisite young man who prefers neutral and comfortable clothing, rather than a brutal man. Perhaps a coincidence, and perhaps not, but 2015 seems to reanimate the 1970s with their androgyny and the feminization of men and women. “To the point of impossibility, thin, tall and out-of-age models become tools that encourage us to buy,” Flacavento writes. The Umit Benan, Pigalle shows, as well as a number of London shows, which have always been famous for the diversity of beauty, stand out against the general background: Astrid Andersen, KTZ, Nasir Mazhar, Grace Wales Bonner. Here we see an image of a subcultural brutal guy, often bent and shaven, who looks equally courageous in flares and in a mesh t-shirt.
The return to service of underlined female sexuality as a demonstration of one’s power can be regarded in the context of “fondant feminism”, suggesting that women have the right to control their own sexuality and emphasize it as they please. Is the same talk about the sexual freedom of men possible? Do they have something to fight for? It turns out that yes: today, men are also shackled in the framework of stereotypes. They have yet to beat for the right to show their body and strip themselves for advertising without fear of looking like idiots or daffodils, for the right to wear bows and blouses, as in the 17th century, if you want to. In fact, all this is a manifestation of male courage that has been sexual at all times.
Jean Cocteau wore four buttons on his sleeves unbuttoned - and at the beginning of the XX century it looked like a rebellious gesture. "There is no courage without disobeying the rules," he said. Sexuality in its pure form is the absence of complexes: to be able to both undress and, conversely, get dressed. It is no secret that for many people to wear dimensionless clothes is no less audacious gesture than to publicly show their body or at least part of it. In his article for iD, Greg French writes that “male fashion sexuality is rooted in sexual freedom. In breaking the rules: wearing pants with skirts, mixing monochrome and bright colors. There is nothing more sexy than just being me. I will choose freedom of expression than a pumped up press. " With this we can not agree and do not remember the main character of David Lynch's film “Wild at Heart” by Nicolas Cage. When he is told that he looks like a clown, he replies: "You know, this snake-skin jacket. For me, this is a symbol of my individuality and faith in personal freedom, boy."
It turns out that for men who have been chained in traditional roles for centuries, there is a lot to learn from women, who right now stand for the right to be themselves and look like they want. First of all - the courage to study and broadcast their sexuality, not only in a conservative, "masculine" way. Perhaps, after this, a variety of male beauty will also appear in men's shows and in advertising. Examples such as the participation of 67-year-old Mikhail Baryshnikov in advertising Rag & Bone, or casting the male show Umit Benan, already give hope to it. As they say, long way to go.
Illustrations: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 via Wikimedia Commons, Getty Images / Fotobak (1), Acne, Rag & Bone