Agent of Desire Transforming perceptions of female sexuality

Is Dressing Up Such a Bad Thing? It would be a bit harsh to say that when a woman puts on a bit of lippy and a nice frock it perpetuates this capitalist feeding frenzy of female flesh and the oppression of women. But it is worth exploring. Grayson Perry, the transvestite Turner-prize winning potter did a fascinating documentary on the history of transvestism, and he was able to trace its beginnings to the Victorian era, where there was a marked split in the costume between men and women. Suddenly men had to wear austere frock-coats whereas female costume became increasingly elaborate by contrast. Male exhibitionism was given a severe swipe, so they had to turn to cross-dressing to enjoy feeling beautiful and worth looking at. Men had been able previously to wear make-up, wigs, jewelery, trimmings and embellishments to their outfits, truly peacock-like. The desire to draw attention to one's appearance and be admired, is obviously therefore a profound human instinct; especially when you think of the danger a man could put himself in by cross-dressing, now as much as in the past. Although every now and again popular culture allows men to do this without coming across as homosexual such as glam rock, and the new romantic movements, they tend to be limited to youth movements, then the gender split occurs again when people get serious and have to enter the job market. Although now the idea of metrosexual males has risen, with men in certain industries getting their teeth whitened, wearing fake tan and having expensive hairstyles, there is an element of it crossing into 'bling-bling'. David Beckham having a huge diamond stud in his ear is parading his wealth and status. Still the only way men can playfully experiment with make-up and styling in a purely aesthetic way is to join a particular sub-group, such as goths or punks. If a man decided to wear his business suit to work with make-up and a lovely chiffon scarf around his neck, his colleagues would feel very uncomfortable, unless he was openly gay and played the fool to put them at their ease. So dressing up is not such a bad thing. It is completely natural for both women and men to do it to a greater or lesser extent according to their personality and mood. The oppression comes from the male-female split and the pressure to conform to it. To comment on this article, please click here.

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