Read on Twitter
“Know your queer history”, a thread:
I’m an old queer from an homophobic country where it wasn’t safe for me to be out.
I have been consuming east asian media for the past 4 years with pleasure, because I loved the widely used genderfuck aestethic.
I’m an old queer from an homophobic country where it wasn’t safe for me to be out.
I have been consuming east asian media for the past 4 years with pleasure, because I loved the widely used genderfuck aestethic.
But I’ve also been consuming it with awareness.
I know which artists are just riding the wave and letting stylists use them as dolls. I know which one have made the extra step of openly support lgbtq+ rights. I know which ones have expressed personal interests in queer history.
I know which artists are just riding the wave and letting stylists use them as dolls. I know which one have made the extra step of openly support lgbtq+ rights. I know which ones have expressed personal interests in queer history.
And since I’m old, I know the story of trends and styles. I see the complicated double connection between idols concepts being inspired by ziggy stardust and glam rock when david bowie took inspiration for ziggy from japanese fashion and collaborated with japanese artists for it
It’s not a linear line and nobody is a groundbreaking innovator. Nobody is paving the way. Queer culture has been behind fashion and style forever. And it pains me to see it simplyfied or hyped when it’s just a job for some of them.
So I’m asking, as a personal favour: please, be careful with your language about these things, especially if you are straight and cis. Take a moment to educate yourself about the inspiration behind the content you are consuming.
Because for some of us having the freedom to express ourselves and our queerness is not a given, and it comes with the risk of violence.
Queer fashion is not just a trend to be used for marketing.
Queer fashion is not just a trend to be used for marketing.
I’m linking below some articles about this, please feel free to add more resources in the replies.
And a disclaimer: this is not against any artist in particular, but a general consideration of a common behaviour. I don’t know people’s private lives. I can only listen to what they say and do. I take things face value. Because we have no other access to it. That’s all.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender artists warn against the appropriation of queer imagery by straight artists https://www.google.it/amp/www.theartnewspaper.com/amp/archive/can-we-all-be-queer-now
Do your research. Become an ethical, conscious consumer of culture, aware of how stealing what marginalized people created can hurt them—since they are the ones walking around this world with less opportunity than those in power. https://www.oprahmag.com/life/a23601818/queer-cultural-appropriation-definition/
And all of this is an ongoing discourse. This article is from 2014 http://posturemag.com/online/is-kpop-as-queer-as-it-appears-to-be-androgynous-fashion-fan-service-and-boy-love-in-korean-pop-culture/
This paper, which explores the use of queer aestethic in relationship with traditional asian culture and not through a western lens, is from 2017. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313790846_Unmasking_Queerness_Blurring_and_Solidifying_Queer_Lines_through_K-Pop_Cross-Dressing
There’s many more papers and articles out there.
What matters to me is that we all become more aware of the weight of our words when praising people performing queerness in contexts where they will face no consequences for it.
When queer people get violence for doing it in rl.
What matters to me is that we all become more aware of the weight of our words when praising people performing queerness in contexts where they will face no consequences for it.
When queer people get violence for doing it in rl.
Another important note:
“Despite queerness being used as a marketing tool routinely in K-pop (from choreography to fan-service games, where same-sex idols pass thin sheets of paper mouth-to-mouth), LGBTQ+ performers are shunned in actuality.” https://anneofcarversville.com/style-photos/2019/10/8/holland-leslie-zhang-dazed-magazine
“Despite queerness being used as a marketing tool routinely in K-pop (from choreography to fan-service games, where same-sex idols pass thin sheets of paper mouth-to-mouth), LGBTQ+ performers are shunned in actuality.” https://anneofcarversville.com/style-photos/2019/10/8/holland-leslie-zhang-dazed-magazine
And because I don’t want this thread to only be depressing, let’s also celebrate queer asian creatives putting themselves out there. https://www.google.it/amp/s/chinatemper.com/china-fashion-finds/china-lgbt-culture-fashion/amp
Experts and activists say LGBTQ people in China still face persistent discrimination and prejudices from both the government and public. https://www.google.it/amp/s/www.cnn.com/style/amp/china-lgbtq-artists/index.html
What a skirt (or a handbag, or a Chanel jacket) implies on a chap in Paris is still very different from what it signifies in Shanghai. https://artreview.com/how-chinese-designers-are-redrawing-gender-lines-in-fashion/
