Artist Hana Pesut’s intriguing photo collection, Switcheroo, challenges our ideas of gender by asking couples to swap outfits.
Tom Matlack came upon this awesome photo project by artist Hana Pesut on her blog, Sincerely Hana and sent it to me right away with a note on how cool it is. I totally agreed and asked Hana to share some of her photos with The Good Feed Blog.
Hana describes her project like this:
Switcheroo is a dual portrait series by Vancouver-based photographer Hana Pesut. Accomplices are photographed twice, once in their own clothes and again wearing reversed outfits against the same background. The magic in this series lies in the similitude of the normal and affected versions that becomes distanced when their variances become more apparent.
The photos raise a lot of questions for me… like why my perception of who the people are changes so dramatically based upon the outfit and hairstyle. Not just men in skirts, that’s obviously a deeply cultured gender signifier, but even the gender-neutral stuff. Why does she look artsy when she wears something, but he looks like a thug? Why does a man with his hair pulled back look more feminine than when it’s down and flowing?
Hana’s photos really make you question what exterior qualities define masculinity. I asked Hana what insights into gender performance and masculinity she’s gained in the process of building this collection. She told me, “One thing I’ve noticed from doing this project is that a lot of the men who were hesitant to put on the women’s clothing end up being ok with it once they’ve actually got the clothing on or afterwards. Most of them say ‘that wasn’t so bad’ and some even realize how comfortable women’s clothing can be (other than the heels) and that they actually look good.”
Here are some of my favorites:
So what do you think about how the people’s personalities seem to change with the clothes? Which is your favorite? Would you participate in Hana’s Switcheroo?
For more of Hana Pesut’s photos, visit her blog and her Tumblr page:
My girlfriend and i swap also clothes from each other, my girlfriend is a bit taller than i am , her clothes fits me very good, and i like to wear them.
There ok but my girlfriends chlothes are really itch got any other clothes to wear and swap
I love this! How fascinating! And the hair changes as well as clothes. My partner and I are about the same size…any chance you’re coming to Tennessee?
Great pictures. Would be fun to try 😉
These are fantastic!
Is it wrong that this also switched their sexualities in my head?
I was going to point out which of these three were my favorite…but pretty much the more I thought about it the more I found to like about all of them. They’re all showing such different things about gender performance with regards to clothing and appearance. I love it. Thanks for sharing this with us, Joanna.
Am I right in assuming you mean the actual clothes in my closet versus the ones in hers? This requires the couple to be roughly the same size. I’m a very big guy. It would be hard for me to find someone to swap with. Aside from the physical limitations, there’s also the perceived insult of asking such a thing. In my experience, and I daresay the experience of many other men as well, I would be an incredibly insulting jerk to even suggest that my partner’s clothes would even come close to fitting me. She would prefer that her… Read more »
Exactly. What do I think about walking into a minefield? No, thank you.
Ha!
Are you saying you don’t want to see Jamie and me switch clothes?
Interestingly I think that says a lot about the pressure put onto a woman to be small.
No, it says a lot about the fact that men tend to be significantly taller and larger than women. Not everything is due to social pressures. Some things just are.
HeatherN: “the pressure put onto a woman to be small.”
Or, the pressure put onto a man to be big. 🙄
Please consider the strain on a relationship that would come from just raising the question with one’s mate.
If that’s true, if the idea that you and your partner are about the same size (if indeed you are) is such a taboo, that speaks loads about a gender- and self-esteem issue that would benefit from being out in the open.
Agreed.