The gender line has never been as blurred as it is today, the androgyny phenomenon, strongly experienced in the 70’s and 80’s is getting stronger in 2011, and in Nigeria, you will agree with me when I say it has become a way of life for many fashion savvy individuals. If you think this is a bad thing, then have you ever rocked a pair of skinny jeans and bright colours as a guy? Or have you ever had a pair of male looking pants, blazers and shirts as a lady? These add subtle androgynous appeal to your look whether you know it or not, it may be that you feel comfortable in these outfits, but the quality of having a blend of both strong masculine and strong feminine characteristics, is the definition of androgyny.
We have seen over the years the emergence of Nigerian artists and celebrities deliberately trying to blur the gender line in their appearance;
My first example is weird mc, the Nigerian female rap artist, who has never been feminine in her dress sense, she is a perfect description of an androgynous woman, and this has been her identity for more than a decade now, we are fascinated by her and want to gawk at how masculine she looks, with traces of her femininity she cant completely conceal, she becomes interesting to watch as she wins the hearts and curiosity of people with out trying too hard.
The evidence of our fascination with sexual ambiguity is everywhere; the ideology of sexual ambiguity pervades the American pop media also. The fashion industry correctly predicted current trends over thirty years ago with the Unisex style, and continued to capitalize on the popularity of androgynous dress, copying the styles of Boy George, Michael Jackson, David Bowie, Grace Jones and the Punk scene.
"Androgyny is in, and it's about time! Because American culture is more comfortable at handling sex and playing with gender roles”
But what about Nigerian culture? There are people who will scream “abomination” at anyone who looks remotely androgynous in this country, but the larger population seems to ignore the rise of this phenomenon and doesn’t seem to see it as the mixture of strong male and female gender characteristics, androgyny is the trend right now and a lot of people are also taking it as a way of expressing their gender and sexual identity, look at Derele Edun, who has successfully created a template for other androgynous celebrities in Nigeria. His style is a blend of male, female and a dark Gothic look, popular in Europe and America, he constantly recreates his look in different ways and he takes it seriously. We have gotten so used to him looking that way that if he shaves his hair, takes off his 12 inches platform boots and rock star outfit, we won’t recognize him or be interested in looking at him, he’ll be “normal”.
In this century we have seen androgyny all over the fashion world, Adebayo Jones, a UK based Nigerian designer, creates outfits that have a blend of both genders and are comfortable to wear. The celebrities are on it also, and we have spotted several of them in outfits that look androgynous.
The fashion industry has evolved into an era of androgyny and this was a gradual process with Calvin klien and Ralph Lauren leading the way, designers have sent out Models in androgynous styles at fashion shows and enticing the conservative dresser into an adventure of gender experimentation, this is a consequence of being part of a youthful generation, where there are no limits, and the only thing that matters is comfort.
We all have male and female qualities, why not be able to show both? ...People are being looked at for what's in their eyes these days, their inner sexuality and not what they wear, if you are still stuck in uncomfortable clothes, I think its time to try something else, explore the male and female characteristics you have and dress accordingly. Why? Because I said so, Ciao!!!
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