by Baylie Clevenger The opinions and views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinion of Byte or Byte’s editorial board. A man in a tutu can change the world. Believe me. And if not me, believe Morgan Leckie. Leckie is a professor of both English and Women’s and Gender Studies here at Ball State University. She is well-versed in all things gender after having studied it for most of her academic career. Now back to that man in a tutu—that man is Harry Styles. Styles performed on Saturday Night Live in late 2019, and since then the internet has been buzzing with talk of how he presents his gender. In particular, people seemed to be displeased with his choice to wear an elaborate, pink ballet costume in some of the promotional photos, calling Styles' performative and claiming he used femininity for popularity and money.
this performative femininity s*** has to stop, and what’s worse is how y’all eat it up. https://t.co/Q2FEoFEz3L
— brad (@posebitch) November 17, 2019
If you are black, if you are white, if you are gay, if you are straight, if you are transgender — whoever you are, whoever you want to be, I support you. I love every single one of you.” -Rolling Stonethe same Rolling Stone article
“'It’s not about me trying to champion the cause, because I’m not the person to do that,' he says. 'It’s just about not ignoring it, I guess. I was a little nervous to do that because the last thing I wanted was for it to feel like I was saying, ‘Look at me! I’m the good guy!’ I didn’t want anyone who was really involved in the movement to think, ‘What the fuck do you know?’ But then when I did it, I realized people got it. Everyone in that room is on the same page and everyone knows what I stand for. I’m not saying I understand how it feels. I’m just trying to say, ‘I see you.’”
1) y’all will complain about anything, even genuinely unproblematic things, if it will get you attention
2) Harry Styles has never shied away from femininity 3) “performative femininity”? you either want to erase gender norms or you don’t. get off the fence coward. https://t.co/8qsCNniRxR — easton (@prollyeaston) November 18, 2019
