GENDER FLUIDITY

What does it mean to be a man? What does it mean to be a woman? The lines between genders are blurring in society as we throw out the traditional notions of masculine and feminine – and fashion, cosmetics and perfume brands are following suit.

The formerly dual nature of gender is undergoing massive changes as we throw out the traditional notions of masculine and feminine.

Whoever you are, however you identify in our world … you are beautiful.” That is the tag line of The Phluid Project – a store in Manhattan that sells gender-neutral clothing, fragrances and make-up.

Its offerings are proving popular not only with the gender- diverse, but also with passers-by wanting to express themselves as individuals, rather than simply according to traditional gender norms. Unisex mannequins showcase everything from skirts and overalls to sportswear and jackets, and the wares are arranged by type – perfumes here, clothing there, shoes to the side.

The Phluid Project, which opened in 2018, may be “the first gender-free store in the world”, but it isn’t the only brand embracing gender fluidity. In the past three years, Gucci’s creative director Alessandro Michele has redefined the brand to be less about gender, and more about individual style. Male and female models strut down the catwalks wearing designs from the same line. “If you want to be beautiful, you can be beautiful any way you want,” Michele says.

Calvin Klein was one of the first to venture into gender-neutral territory back in 1994, when CK One became the first- ever unisex fragrance to gain widespread appeal. Sales of this scent are still strong, and the brand has also added to its repertoire with CK All.

At UK department store Liberty London, unisex fragrance sales have soared, with a bevy of brands jumping on the new gender-neutral bandwagon. Meanwhile, Giorgio Armani’s Him/ Her Lipcare Lip Balm is a departure from its gender- defined past, and numerous fashion labels have recently launched gender-neutral collections – including Abercrombie & Fitch, whose unisex Everybody Collection is aimed at kids.

Some brands are even going a step further, celebrating gender diversity in campaigns and collaborations. In 2017, cosmetics giant MAC collaborated with Caitlyn Jenner on a make-up collection “suited for those who embrace life, in whatever form they choose”. And both Maybelline and CoverGirl have featured male beauty vloggers in their advertising campaigns – make-up artist and Instagram star James Charles was CoverGirl’s very first cover boy.

James Charles has also collaborated with Morphe on an eyeshadow and brush set titled The Sister Collection. And Nikita Dragun’s 3.2 million Instagram followers were no doubt pleased when the transgender woman became the face of Morphe’s new Red Lipstick collection – in line with the brand’s ‘rule-bending’ ethos.

Make-up brand Fluide embraces all gender expressions and identities. Sporting stubble and a bold lip, gender-nonconforming activist Jacob Tobia is the face of the brand’s Uncuffed line. “Fluide celebrates the beauty of nonbinary and gender-nonconforming people not in spite of our trans identity, but because of it,” Tobia says. “Being the face of Fluide’s campaign makes me feel like the beauty world is beginning to recognise our contributions.”

Tobia, a ‘gender-fabulous’ author and influencer, was assigned male at birth but identifies as a transfeminine non-binary person. When Vogue put Zayn Malik in an Alexander McQueen peacock-print suit and Gigi Hadid in a Dries Van Noten jacket on its cover with the cover-line “shop each other’s closets”, Tobia was quick to point out where the magazine got it wrong and why there was a social media backlash.

While they may be “part of a new generation embracing gender fluidity”, Tobia says Malik and Hadid certainly aren’t at the forefront of that change. “Rather, they are the beneficiaries of activism that transgender and gender-nonconforming people have been leading for generations,” Tobia writes on their blog. “When ‘gender-bending’ culture comes into the mainstream – to the cover of Vogue for example … it should be gender-nonconforming people, not cisgender people presented as gender-nonconforming people, who get to put it there.”

A perfect example of this is the December 2018 issue of Playboy, which featured queer-identifying actor Ezra Miller on the cover. He’s dressed as a gender-fluid Bunny – complete with ears, fishnets and heels – and it’s seen as a milestone for representation.

“Just because I was born male didn’t mean it was accurate anymore … it no longer fit.”

But Tobia says the reality of being gender-nonconforming is rarely as fun as the magazine covers would suggest.

Indeed, a study by The National LGBTI Health Alliance found that a disproportionate number of genderdiverse people have an elevated risk of mental ill-health and suicide attempts compared to the rest of the population, and that psychological distress often results from experiences of prejudice, discrimination, abuse and exclusion.

Psychotherapist Tracie O’Keefe says the biggest challenges sex- and/ or gender- diverse people encounter are abusive and dismissive behaviour and prejudicial attitudes. O’Keefe, a trans and intersex woman and the cofounder of Sex and Gender Education (SAGE) Australia, says that the genderdiverse get ‘othered’, “so we are seen as abnormal and pathologised when in fact we are just a diversity of nature, like green eyes or red hair”.

Aged 63, O’Keefe has seen gender diversity become far more accepted in recent years. “Sex- and/or genderdiverse groups of people are more known to the public now,” O’Keefe says. “Models who come from sexand gender- diverse groups of people are now being actively sought out for paid work, and trans actors are finally getting a break in films and television. This is long overdue and I’m happy to see it in my lifetime.”

Queen’s Young Leader and human rights advocate Jacob Thomas says that we’re in the midst of a “gender revolution”. “People don’t have to prescribe themselves to traditional notions of what men do and what women do – we’re saying, ‘Enough is enough and we’re done with this’.”

The revolution isn’t just about blurring the lines between genders, however. Thomas says that it’s about seeing women get into positions of power, the #MeToo movement, and mental health campaigns aimed at reducing suicide rates among men. In other words, it’s a movement that empowers all people to be recognised and respected as individuals, beyond the old, reductive norms of gender.

“None of us is the same and no single person is going to experience the world in the same way,” Thomas says. “We just need to embrace people for who they are.” Thomas, 28, was assigned male at birth but identifies as gender queer. They grew up in regional Victoria and began to think they might be gay at the age of about 10. Already bullied for being effeminate, Thomas didn’t feel comfortable coming out until they moved to Melbourne for university. Then three years later they came out as gender queer. “Just because I was born male didn’t mean it was accurate anymore; it was like a shirt that no longer fit.”

Thomas lost a close friend to suicide in 2010. “I had a subsequent mental breakdown and thought, ‘If he can do it maybe I can do it’ – I didn’t feel connected and I didn’t feel loved and I didn’t feel important,” they said.

Fortunately, Thomas got the help they needed and has since become an advocate for all humans to be treated with dignity, kindness and respect.

When it comes to filling out forms, for example, instead of just having a ‘male’ or ‘female’ box to tick, having a third option (or even a fill-in-the-blank section) for people who don’t fit into traditional notions of gender is a small act of kindness, Thomas explains.

Thomas also says it’s “brilliant” to see people who identify as gender diverse appearing in ad campaigns, saying such visibility is fundamentally important for people to be able to see themselves reflected in the world.

Dr Sophia Frentz, who works as a consultant for Deloitte, is encouraged by the growing acceptance of gender diversity, seeing it reflected in marriage equality and the relative ease with which transgender people can change their gender on passports and driver’s licences. But the concept of having a third, neutral gender option is still not widely understood.

“I constantly have to explain it to people and I’m constantly coming out,” they say. “People are willing to learn, in my experience – so to that extent it has become more accepted – but it’s still a lot of work for people who are gender diverse.”

With a PhD in clinical genetics, Frentz loves that they can now use the gender-neutral title ‘Dr’. Assigned female at birth, Frentz identified as bisexual until the age of 21, when they realised they were non-binary. “The first person I came out to at 15 was my Catholic best friend. In hindsight that was not a great choice,” Frentz says. “She told me I was going to hell and didn’t want me talking to her or any of our friends, and socially isolated me. I was pretty depressed in high school.”

Although they have a supportive workplace, and Frentz is comfortable being ‘out’ at Deloitte, every time they have to come out to somebody new, there’s still a risk. “I’m afraid of being rejected by people I look up to, that I care about, and that I think well of. I really like the people I work with and value their opinion of me.”

Frentz recently started including the pronouns they felt comfortable being referred to by (they, she and he) in their email signature, and says this too was daunting. “That was kind of a scary thing to do – I’m outing myself to everyone I ever email as a non-binary person – but I want to normalise it.”

Though there have been incidents where people have said something offensive without thinking, for the most part people are willing to learn.

Thomas agrees. “It’s okay to not know the right language to use, we’re all still learning. But take the time to understand us – and if you make a mistake, whether intentional or otherwise, just say sorry. We’re all imperfect – you don’t have to get everything right all the time.”

Meanwhile, further evidence that the lines between genders are dissolving is coming to the fore in the fashion world, with gender-free design being recognised in the world’s most esteemed fashion awards. French designer Ludovic de Saint Sernin, who was previously a member of the design team at Balmain before launching his own label in 2017, is being recognised for his gender-neutral design aesthetic, including a recent win at the Andam Fashion Awards in Paris.

“The only time the question of girl or boy comes into conversation in terms of design is when I do underwear,” says de Saint Sernin.