Having thought about it a bit more, I actually think that clothing may be a reasonable indicator of someone's gender - in the world outside BiCon! In the wider world, recognising that the majority of "normal" people only recognise two genders, people are more likely to dress in a more feminine or masculine way in an attempt to "pass" as one of them. Is it a good thing that people feel they need to pass? No, not really, but it's better than being beaten up physically or verbally.
At BiCon, using clothing to guess gender is absolutely useless. How many men wearing make up are there in the bi community? It's safe, we're accepting - feel free to wear nail varnish and eyeliner if that's the kind of guy you are! And I saw at least three men with strong male identities wearing dresses on Saturday night. A person could argue that drag is a transgender act, but to me it depends on whether the guy concerned is wearing the dress to explore being a woman/his feminine side or whether it's to emphasise his masculinity.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2008-09-04 05:51 pm (UTC)At BiCon, using clothing to guess gender is absolutely useless. How many men wearing make up are there in the bi community? It's safe, we're accepting - feel free to wear nail varnish and eyeliner if that's the kind of guy you are! And I saw at least three men with strong male identities wearing dresses on Saturday night. A person could argue that drag is a transgender act, but to me it depends on whether the guy concerned is wearing the dress to explore being a woman/his feminine side or whether it's to emphasise his masculinity.