Gender bender
[3] Some individuals may choose to engage in gender bending as a form of self-expression or to challenge societal norms; in his 1974 article, Genderfuck and Its Delights,[4] Christopher Lonc explained his motivation for performing genderfuck: "I want to criticize and poke fun at the roles of women and of men too.
Sheidlower cites the definition of the term gender fuck in L Humphreys' 1972 work Out of the Closets: Sociology of Homosexual Liberation as "a form of extended guerilla theatre".
Also quoted is the August 1972 issue of Rolling Stone magazine, in reference to the glam rock style: "The new 'macho' transvestism, called vulgarly 'gender-fuck', a curious satire of female impersonation – dresses, pumps, full make-up and beards – is represented by, among others, three men in WAC uniforms and big moustaches".
In many cultures, it is only acceptable for an individual to embody one of these two gender roles, which often mimic the social expectations of the sexual categories of "male" and "female".
[17] Other cultures may see people as being capable of embodying more than one gender role at different times,[16] or of being "in the middle", "embracing both male and female spirit".
These genders include what would traditionally be seen as cisgender man and woman, as well as transgender men and women, and the androgynous Bissu shamans.
[20] For example, a person who engages in gender bending may purposefully exaggerate conventional notions of femininity, or masculinity.
[citation needed] The origin of the word "androgynous" is from the Greek androgynos: "male and female in one; womanish man; common to men and women".
Over the centuries some readers have posited that Shakespeare's sonnets are autobiographical, and point to them as evidence of his love for a young man.
[25] The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston hosted an exhibit called Gender Bending Fashion.
Often "feminine" or "masculine" gender stereotypes of the person's culture are exaggerated for comic or satirical effect.
The basis of the literary genre of genderfuck is that it is unimportant whether someone is a man or a woman during the sex act, an idea which challenges for example the Catholic theology of sexuality.
[32] Further, in 1995 Tamsin Wilton argued that: Gender-fuck is not intrinsically radical – otherwise gender-benders such as Boy George, Prince, Annie Lennox, David Bowie etc.
In their article Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory, Butler explains that if gender is something that sexed bodies assimilate to in order to follow the societal codes of what is appropriate behavior, then those actions can be conceptualized in different ways to allow more flexibility for individuals.
In the same article, they assert that in American culture, there is a gender binary along with strict social repercussions against those that act against the "normal" script.
This idea excludes the masculine women or feminine men from being acceptable parental figures for their children because it may lead to a child growing up and conceptualizing the world differently.
[32] According to Susan Witt's 1997 study, children generally come to their first conclusions about being male or female from their parents since typically they are the first people the child relates to and the nature of the relationship is intense.
Witt's study showed that children that grow up with more androgynous gendered parents are more focused on achievements and typically have a better sense of self.
[35] According to Roberts et al. in Pediatrics, people who do not conform to the gender binary are often subject to abuse from society, from within the family and within their community.
[38][39] In 1972 Bowie co-produced Lou Reed's album Transformer, which includes several gender bending songs, notably the classic, "Walk on the Wild Side".
[6] Dr. Frank-N-Furter from the 1973 musical, The Rocky Horror Show, and later the cult film / midnight movie, Rocky Horror Picture Show, is a male bodied person but wears lingerie, clothing, and accessories considered feminine in the English and American culture of the era.
[40] A charismatic entertainer and prolific songwriter, his songs with bisexual content have also been recorded by artists such as Cyndi Lauper, who in "When You Were Mine", sang about sharing a lover with another man, who was in bed with them, "sleeping in between the two of us".
[43] Singer-songwriter and political activist Annie Lennox began her career as lead singer with The Tourists in the late 1970s.
The charity, protest and street performance organization Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence was formed by gay men in 1979, originally using nuns' attire and high camp to draw attention to social conflicts in the Castro, San Francisco.
[44] Boy George of the 1980s band Culture Club, has cultivated an androgynous style, and was part of the English New Romantic movement which emerged in the early 1980s.
[citation needed] At least one writer says Marilyn Manson's gender-bending rock act "shows trans identities can resonate with the public in a way that cannot be ghettoised".
[49] Lady Gaga is very specific in what she wears and even states that, "But in a sense, I portray myself in a very androgynous way, and I love androgyny.
