queermelady:

Photos by Sophia Wallace

I am fascinated by the overwhelming dandyism in the queer women’s community in the bay. Particularly with folks of color who find ways of navigating non-normative gender through this style. I believe it is particularly appealing for its possible “androgyny” or genderqueerness and, well, because people look freaking hot. I’m not a huge fan of the bow tie, but I adore the play in style and the liberation of constricted gender norms and the possibility of redefining beauty aesthetics. 

“The dandy—conventionally defined as a strikingly attractive man whose dress is immaculate and manor is dignified—has been around since the late 18^th century. Often misunderstood as superficial, the dandy is rather a space of creative possibility where men and women can perform a persona in ways that reach far beyond the narrow binary constructs of masculine and feminine. Indeed artists like Oscar Wilde, Charles Baudelaire, H.H Monro and less recognized women such as the American painter Romaine Brookes and her cohorts found Dandyism to be a liberatory space not only for appearance but more importantly, for a life of independence that did not necessarily adhere to a deterministic heterosexual model of marriage and children. Examples of modern dandies include Andy Warhol, Quentin Crisp, Grace Jones. My many years focusing on gender, race and constructions of beauty led me to dandyism as a radical position for art making and social critique. Indeed, dandyism’s subversive aesthetic of beauty disrupts normative gender in fascinating ways. Beauty is defined in almost all contexts as the domain of femininity which is commonly understood as frivolous, weak and passive. The dandy is neither traditionally feminine or masculine. Rather, the dandy is an aestheticized androgyny available to men, women and transgender individuals. Herein lies it’s power and it’s danger.”

http://www.sophiawallace.com/#modern

Posted 1 year ago with 528 Notes