—
Zachary. 19. Birthplace: Seattle, Washington. Currently: Manhattan, New York. Atheist. Art/Fashion. Student (Fashion Marketing).
What does the concept/word “feminism” mean to you? What does the concept of equality mean to you?
The concept of feminism to me means appreciating femininity and finding the beauty in it. In the communities that I’m in, specifically the gay community, there’s a lot of negativity around being feminine. There’s a lot of talk, on and off dating websites, that say “masc for masc”. It means that they’re only attracted to masculine or straight-acting people. It’s the fact that they’re ashamed they’re gay and they don’t want to act feminine or date someone who is feminine. That’s a part of why I am a feminist – because I appreciate femininity and I don’t think that it should be something wrong in any person, especially a gay person. Also because there’s misogyny everywhere; in the gay community and outside of it as well obviously. Most of my friends are female or are gay so I’m around a lot of feminine people and I think it would be wrong for me not to be a feminist because I need to be there for my female and gay friends, and part of that means being a feminist.
What do you think is the most pressing struggle for women today? What is the most crucial aspect in your eyes?
For women, I think being taken seriously. In the industry that I’m in (the fashion industry), I think the outsider view of it is that there’s a lot of catty women who are dressing to one-up each other, so in this realm I think the most pressing issue would be women in fashion being taken seriously. Being seen as career women who are doing something important. From an outsider perspective, big publications don’t see females in fashion as doing something that is important. It’s seen as something frivolous or trivial which I think is part of the misogyny because they’re not taking into consideration that what they’re doing is actually part of a multi-billion dollar business and has implications ranging from politics through many other things that actually make it an important part of life. I think inside of the fashion industry women respect each other and see each other as equals obviously, but people in other industries see fashion as a throw-away business that doesn’t matter even though everyone wakes up and wears clothes everyday. It’s a completely valid business to be in and I don’t think that people who are outside of the fashion business see it is that.
Is feminism a subject you think about? Have you ever read a book or seen a documentary about feminist issues?
Feminism is a subject that I think about a lot. I really like reading articles about it but I haven’t really sought out a book or a movie which is something that I should do.
Why do you identify as a feminist and how/when did you learn about it? What were you taught about women growing up?
I think most of the reason that I’m a feminist has to do with the fact that I’m gay. Growing up, I was aware of different stereotypes between the two genders so I was aware of misogyny at a very early age. My mom always tells me that when we would go through the McDonald’s Drive-Thru and they’d ask if I wanted a girl-toy or a boy-toy, I would always want the Polly Pocket and my mom would yell at them and say: “That is so sexist and discriminatory. Why should they be labeled either way? You should just say the name of the toy and not if it’s for a boy or a girl.” Seeing that obviously put into my mind that there are destructive stereotypes around both genders so I think I was aware of it from a very early age. Obviously I’ve become more aware of different issues over the times which has further made me want to identify as a feminist. I grew up with it at home but I think not being a straight white man helped. Being gay, I see the different stereotypes of heteronormativity everywhere I look because I’m more aware of it. I think if I was straight I wouldn’t be as aware of it. Because I’m gay, when I look through the Netflix shows I see that it’s all straight white couples and I see the destructive relationships between them and how women are portrayed so I think it’s something that I’m just more aware of because of my identity as a gay man.
Is feminism empowering for men? If so, how? How does feminism differ for you?
I don’t think so. I don’t know any straight white men who call themselves feminists outright (other than the gay men I know). They might be in support of equal wages or something like that but they wouldn’t say that they’re a feminist because to them, it’s taking away from their fragile masculinity. I don’t see it as being empowering for men because most men don’t revel in femininity. It’s not something that they really appreciate aside from a sex standpoint. They’ll appreciate it because it turns them on or gets them off but it’s not something that they want to appreciate aside from that I think. And if they do, then they are probably an anomaly. I personally feel empowered by feminism but men in general I don’t think are.
Why do you think the word “feminist” is associated with a negative stigma? What do you think it connotes? How do you think it could change?
I think there is now, which is fucked up. I think the stereotype of feminism now is literally white Tumblr girls yelling at men for being misogynist, and because of that the stereotype is that they’re catty or that they get mad over nothing, which is totally wrong in my opinion. It goes back to other negative stereotypes of women; that they’re catty or that they’re unintelligent, so I think the stereotypes about feminism are just magnified stereotypes about women in general which is really fucked up. Can I add on to the last thing too? Because being a feminist is also kind of a marketing scheme now. Dior just made this t-shirt that says: “We should all be feminists”, and it was on this skinny white model. In their fashion show there were two or three women of color and everyone was seven feet tall and anorexic. So from that perspective I can be almost cynical about some feminists because to some feminists it only means supporting other skinny white women. I can see why people might be cynical or see a bad stereotype because in some places there are destructive norms; that isn’t authentic feminism but I think that’s where the stereotype comes from as well. It’s that some people who are feminists aren’t authentically feminist because they don’t support all women, they support white cisgendered skinny women. I don’t see the negative stigma changing for a long time, especially because it is such a marketing scheme now that people become cynical of it, especially men. Even if for example the Dior t-shirt came from a genuine place because the new creative director is a female. Even though it might come from an authentic place for her, I think a lot of people see it as inauthentic. And as it becomes a bigger marketing scheme, especially on social media, for certain companies being a feminist is completely a marketing point. Same with some brands that support LGBT people and as that grows and expands to more companies, I think I can see it being viewed as less and less authentic because it’s coming from such a large group of people, which I don’t think necessarily should be a sign that it is inauthentic because I think everyone should be a feminist.
What issues/reservations do you have with feminism today? What do you personally think needs change?
What I just said, which is really sad. The world of fashion is such a white cisgendered straight world, which is really upsetting to me. I think even past the idea of casting for runways (which is always completely white with a few exceptions), in the fashion industry itself it’s kind of daunting for me going in because as an Asian person, the systems of white superiority are very prevalent in the world of fashion. There are not very many people of color which is scary to me, but I would say my reservations concerning feminism have to do with some feminists disregarding the importance of supporting women of color and supporting women with different body shapes coming from different backgrounds. Again, for certain brands it has become a marketing ploy which is really sad. I think representation for people of color and women of different body types is extremely important, especially in the fashion industry because the cover of Vogue and the pages inside Vogue are where little girls look to see the definition of beauty. So I think especially in the fashion industry, the lack of women of color and women of different body types is something that really needs to be changed and very fast. I think there are changes – with Vogue there are a lots more women of color on the covers, like Serena Williams or Lupita Nyong’o who were just on covers, and that’s really great but still on the inside pages, in the advertisements for different fashion brands, it’s an “Aryan Airlines commercial” – it’s all white women.
Is there anything else you’d like to add? Are there any other questions you think I should be asking?
I’ll just add that I think misogyny goes outside the realm of cisgendered women because in the gay community I think there is so much misogyny against feminine-acting men and I think it’s important to support femininity, not just in women but also in gay men. I think that’s a big reason why I’m a feminist too: to support my friends that I know are very feminine-acting and identify as gay men.
—
—
Photo credit: Deryne Keretic
It makes me a little sad to hear all feminist apparel called a “marketing scheme” in a blanket statement. I’ve been making feminist tshirts since way before Dior launched its Tshirt and feminism became cool. Here’s the thing. I print TShirts for a living. In my garage. I could print “I’m with stupid” and shirts with cat faces on them. But instead, I choose to print something meaningful to me. And from the stories I hear from my audience–they wear their shirts when they want to kick some ass or feel braver and use their voices–I can tell you it’s… Read more »
hi great to see your blog post it’s very attractive and informative too thanks