Here’s why some queer people think gender-neutral clothing needs a makeover
a recent essay for The Walrus, writer Mel Woods observes that most big-name brands’ gender-neutral clothing lines can be reduced to what Woods calls the “dysphoria hoodie,” i.e. “an impenetrable mass devoid of emotion, shape, or gender … something that hides your body and gender expression from wandering—and potentially misunderstanding—eyes.”Woods continues:Subscribe to our newsletter for a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.As a non-binary person, I find it unfortunate to see the only clothes marketed to me come from the haute couture dysphoria hoodie line.
Maybe I, an ostensibly gender-neutral person, want to wear hard pants or shirts or dresses or literally anything besides androgynous, shapeless hoodies.
Just because something isn’t explicitly for “men” or “women” doesn’t mean it has to be boring as sin. I’m definitely in the “dismantle the gender binary” camp, and a good place to start would be imagining more clothing sections than what we’ve got now: “men,” “women,” and “hoodies.”And Woods proposed a better solution: “doing away with categories altogether by designing clothes that fit a variety of bodies rather than imposing a third ‘gender-neutral’ categorization on consumers.”When someone posted that article the r/lgbt subreddit, Redditors had a lot to say—and along similar lines.
For example:“It’s like a meme I saw recently. Most clothing lines’ ‘gender-neutral’ section look like dystopian rags; meanwhile, a lot of people who dress neutrally tend to look more like Gonzo.
