Unisex, Genderless: Let the Debate Ensue

Fashion communication has adopted a decidedly political language of late. This is particularly evident in the ongoing debate about gender and clothing. While clothes, per se, have no definite gender connotations, on a symbolic level clothes do actually hold specific gender connotations. In the curre...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Angelo Flaccavento
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Bologna 2022-07-01
Series:ZoneModa Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://zmj.unibo.it/article/view/14902
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author Angelo Flaccavento
author_facet Angelo Flaccavento
author_sort Angelo Flaccavento
collection DOAJ
description Fashion communication has adopted a decidedly political language of late. This is particularly evident in the ongoing debate about gender and clothing. While clothes, per se, have no definite gender connotations, on a symbolic level clothes do actually hold specific gender connotations. In the current climate of ongoing deconstruction of old norms, the notion of genderless has become central to the global aesthetic and cultural debate, to much media fervor. The essay analyzes the very idea of genderless in comparison to the notion of unisex which surfaced during the 1970s, another moment of intense cultural deconstruction. By dissecting the two terms and related fashion imagery, the essay highlights the changes in the way fashion both communicates and acts, leaving the ending deliberately open.
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spelling doaj.art-0e0c9be426564ea289b5b11de471a7032022-12-22T03:01:49ZengUniversity of BolognaZoneModa Journal2611-05632022-07-01121232810.6092/issn.2611-0563/1490213234Unisex, Genderless: Let the Debate EnsueAngelo Flaccavento0Independent Fashion WriterFashion communication has adopted a decidedly political language of late. This is particularly evident in the ongoing debate about gender and clothing. While clothes, per se, have no definite gender connotations, on a symbolic level clothes do actually hold specific gender connotations. In the current climate of ongoing deconstruction of old norms, the notion of genderless has become central to the global aesthetic and cultural debate, to much media fervor. The essay analyzes the very idea of genderless in comparison to the notion of unisex which surfaced during the 1970s, another moment of intense cultural deconstruction. By dissecting the two terms and related fashion imagery, the essay highlights the changes in the way fashion both communicates and acts, leaving the ending deliberately open.https://zmj.unibo.it/article/view/14902unisexgenderlesscommunicationsymbologytheatricalization
spellingShingle Angelo Flaccavento
Unisex, Genderless: Let the Debate Ensue
ZoneModa Journal
unisex
genderless
communication
symbology
theatricalization
title Unisex, Genderless: Let the Debate Ensue
title_full Unisex, Genderless: Let the Debate Ensue
title_fullStr Unisex, Genderless: Let the Debate Ensue
title_full_unstemmed Unisex, Genderless: Let the Debate Ensue
title_short Unisex, Genderless: Let the Debate Ensue
title_sort unisex genderless let the debate ensue
topic unisex
genderless
communication
symbology
theatricalization
url https://zmj.unibo.it/article/view/14902
work_keys_str_mv AT angeloflaccavento unisexgenderlessletthedebateensue