2010s

American Apparel has created unisex clothing in solid colors and some prints that make dressing for gender more challenging for the shopper. Many women and men shop at this store and it has become the style behind "hipster" and "scene" fashion trends that make sexuality and gender more ambiguous. Both genders are sex objects in the store ads and online, often showing see-through tops that show a woman's breasts and nipples, and tight underwear that outlines a man's penis. This store still creates clothing that will show off certain attributes of female and male figures, but they have made a strong aim at unisex clothing which often results in a man and woman wearing the same outfit, leaving the rest of their appearance up to them to decide how they want to gender themselves and display their sexuality.

2010s

Jonas Brothers
Boy Band
Straight

The Jonas Brothers have become major sexual objects in order to get teenage girls to buy their albums and memorabilia. Lots of controversy surrounds their purity rings and how they symbolize waiting for sex until marriage, a religious tradition. Because of those rings, their behaviors can be more sexual because the excuse is that they are thinking of God and not of girls, which most people would realize is a basic sham. Television show Family Guy parodied the Jonas Brothers and portrayed them as clueless to the sexual objects that Disney has made them become and so their apparent innocence continues to help their popularity grow.

2010s

Indie music duo, sister's Tegan & Sara, gained a lot of popularity for being gay. They maintain short haircuts and tend to dress with a more masculine-identified style rather than feminine. Their "butch" looks make it easy for somebody to quickly identify their sexuality or think twice about it before assuming that they are straight, as we have been trained to do in our world.

2010s

Christina Aguilera is having her outfit mocked by character Bruno who is a flamboyantly gay European man somewhat clueless to social norms. What I find intriguing is how easily this outfit can be accepted on Christina, yet if Bruno were to wear it first, it is still odd in society's eyes and forces them to assume that he is gay because he is dressing like a woman. Animal prints have become associated with feminine dress and leotards are almost always seen on women as a trend stemming from the 1980's.

2010s

Lindsay Lohan & Sam Ronson
Actress/Singer


Lindsay Lohan is a former child star who grew up in the public eye and is the classic tale of innocent, adorable child turned drug abuser, alcoholic, and sex symbol. What shocked the world was when she recently began dating girlfriend Sam Ronson. Fans had come to identify Lindsay as heterosexual because she had only dated men prior to Sam. What is interesting again is how Lindsay takes on the feminine styles of dress and Sam prefers to make her appearance more aligned with that of masculine traits that we have come to associate with male styles.

2010s

Queer Eye for the Straight Guy is a television series that became popular in the early 2000's that is aimed at making straight men look more professional and geared to helping them establish a lifestyle that is more masculine. The irony behind the show is that queer men are stereotyped to not be masculine and the idea is that society will be shocked at how much they know about how a man should act in order to be considered to have class. A straight guy taking advice from a gay guy on how to improve his life is what sells the show, as well as the extremely flamboyant characters of the five stars.

2010s

Abercrombie & Fitch has become famous for their extreme gender bias with their clothes. The irony is that if a customer were to go into the store, they would see a lot of massive homoerotic images, such as the one to left, plastered all over the walls.






The store's competition, American Eagle, openly displays how they encourage heterosexuality and tend to have equal female to male ratio with their models in their ad campaigns. We see straight relationships within the photo and can tell that only men are wearing oxfords and polos whereas women are dressed in more feminine clothes and jewelry. The men all have short, cropped hair and the women have long, flowing hair which further places them in their genders of dress.

1990s

Kurt Cobain
Musician
Straight



The front man of the former band Nirvana, the late Kurt Cobain was the icon for 90's grunge. Always looking disheveled and as if he had just rolled out of bed, he created a wave of fashion for mostly men to look unkempt and yet cool at the same time. People love to identify with their favorite musician because it has the appeal of guaranteeing approval and popularity with others. Kurt's choice of dress refers to a pretty basic standard of dress which involves a loose tee shirt of a basic color such as white, black, gray, or brown, baggy jeans, heavy coat of a dark color, and sneakers that we cannot see here. He also popularized cut-off gloves which can often be a reference to homeless styles of dress because of how they endure the cold. This style of dress is still seen most frequently in adolescent boys and girls who may identify as "tomboys."

1990s

Cynthia Nixon & Christine Marinoni
Actress
Gay


Cynthia Nixon plays one of the extremely popular four women from the HBO series and movies, Sex and the City. During the six-season run of the television show, she met partner Christine and was a bit surprised with her affection towards a woman, as were fans of the show. What is interesting about their relationship is that Cynthia's fashion takes on the feminine characteristics and Christine's takes on the masculine, as shown in this photo of the couple at the Emmy's. It is a common thought that in lesbian relationships, one partner is going to be more feminine and the other more masculine, and this pop culture example shows exactly those gender roles within this relationship.





As with Ellen DeGeneres and Portia De Rossi, the media has become familiar with the gender roles in this pairing. Ellen is always found in a pantsuit while Portia typically opts for a dress or other "girly" style and maintains her long hair, unlike Ellen who keeps it above her chin channeling a more masculine appearance. In the photo on the right, we see that they have both chosen the pantsuit look, however Portia's is more revealing in the chest with a feminine drape on her blazer, three-quarter length sleeves, and high heels that are typical attributes of how females dress in our society.

1990s

Sir Ian McKellen
Actor
Gay

Extremely talented and popular actor McKellen is known for many of his starring roles in some of the biggest films ever made. What can often surprise people is his sexual orientation. He plays fairly masculine roles and always holds himself with a masculine appearance and is not seen as a flamboyant character. His style challenges the assumptions placed on gay men and the traits that they have, which ultimately levels the playing field and widens the gray area for gendered arenas.

1990s

Clueless (1995)


This movie surrounds the life of a teenage girl going through the woes of high school drama with friends, boys, sex, clothes, popularity and new girls at school. The fashion trends worn by the main characters display that they come from wealthy families and have an eye for good taste. They're characters are straight and the instance in which the movie addresses homosexuality is with a boy that the main character, Cher, crushes on named Christian. After watching movies alone with Cher one night and not making a move, Cher thinks there is something wrong with her until her best friend's boyfriend tells her that Christian is gay. Cher responds with, "He does dress well" and resolves to be thrilled in the fact that she now has a new shopping buddy. Christian's style of dress is very put-together and coordinated, compared to the assumed straight boys at Cher's high school who are examples of the 90's grunge look made popular by Kurt Cobain.

1980s

Culture Club
Pop Group
Gay/Straight


This group's fashion sense was all over the place and portrayed styles from many different genres. It is said that Boy George and Jon Moss were romantically involved with one another which ultimately took a toll on the group. As someone who has not grown up with knowledge of this group, but is more so familiar with their music, it is not simple to pick out who is gay and who is straight, and so the sexually defined fashion line is skewed and distorted.

1980s

Wham!
Pop Duo

While George Michael is openly gay, many questions still surround the sexuality of the other member of Wham!, Andrew Ridgeley. This group represents positivity and sexuality in the way that they display their chests and arms, and use lots of product to make their appearance stand out. The "pretty boy" look is interlaced within Wham!'s looks and seems to be used to represent innocence which is often the intention with boy bands.

1980s

Prince
Musician
Straight


As one of the most popular icons for flamboyant fashion trends, it is interesting to know that Prince has been married to several women and fathered children. Stereotypes might link him to being gay and the way he dressed himself and established his appearance pushes the social norms of how one dresses for their gender. A fan of make-up, jewelry, and sparkling accessories, Prince often represents an ambiguous way of dressing and is a role model to many for his refusal to assume a dress code based on his gender or sexuality.

1980s

Milli Vanilli
Pop Duo


Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus are the front men of this infamous musical pair and their style shows a hyper-masculine portrayal by displaying their abdominal and arm muscles adorned with religious symbols on necklaces. Their tight pants also appear to aim to draw attention to their penises and use their fashion as a tool to draw others in who are attracted to men. The long hair and taste for jewelry gives them a more feminine look. Their orientation is unknown and several rumors fly that one or both of them are gay.

1980s

Madonna
Singer/Actress
Straight

As a major fashion icon of the 80's, Madonna became famous for her wild, ever-changing looks and constant reinvention. She created a space for personal expression and led a revolution that made her fans more confident about displaying their individual style.

1980s

Freddie Mercury
Singer
Gay

Pop culture places a very heavy influence over fashion trends and how our society dresses. Often, people who identify with a certain sexuality will look to celebrities that they identify with as a result of that sexuality. They look for ways to express themselves by means of dress and by mimicking the dress of a certain celebrity who loudly displays their sexuality, that individual automatically can use the dress style to tell everyone about their sexuality as well.

1980s

Annie Lennox
Singer/AIDS Activist
Straight
Gay Icon




The 1980's is home to a wide variety of fashion trends that are eye-catching and stand out amongst any crowd.
The crazier the outfit, hairstyle, make-up, and accessories, the better. Annie Lennox is seen as a more sexually ambiguous character that people cannot usually place their finger on when it comes to identifying a label in terms of gender and sexuality. It is known that she is a woman and that she straight, however her dress and appearance proclaim that she is not trying to immerse herself into any culture that restricts her expression as a human. Items that represent this era: converse sneakers, leg warmers, teased hair, blue eyeshadow, crushed velvet, tulle skirts, side-ponytails, white-washed jeans, and track jackets.