I was asked to give a lecture this week at the Centre for Fashion Studies (my sponsor for this grant) for a class on fashion and film. My topic was men’s formalwear, using Fred Astaire and James Bond as examples.
Thanks to Arianna for the photo!
Here’s an excerpt – looking at the use of white dinner jackets in Bond movies:
The Smithsonian is getting people ready for spring – and Stockholm is one of their top cherry-blossom-spotting sites in the world! Downside? We have to wait until mid to late April. Winter, will you never end???
See the full article here: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/where-see-best-cherry-blossoms-around-world-180949961/?utm_source=facebook.com&no-ist
The New York Times Magazine Spring Men’s Fashion Issue looks at what they’re saying is the “changing face of masculinity,” from Benedict Cumberbatch to Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Do we think they mean that masculinity is specifically going through a change, right now, or that it’s an acknowledgement that this is a kind of definition that is constantly evolving?
A great New York Times Opinion Piece by Charles M. Blow about gender norms:
“And it’s no better for little boys, who are constantly admonished to suck it up, toughen up, don’t cry, be a man, and don’t run, hit or kick like a girl. We plant seeds of misogyny, often without being aware of it, while our boys are still sprouts. And then we wonder why so many men are emotionally suppressed and stunted. It’s because we’ve been telling them all their lives that emotions were effeminate and femininity was a curse.
We build zombie men and lament the dearth of “real” ones.
Yet some still bemoan our current atmosphere as “feminized” — a rhetorical construction that in and of itself is misogynistic because it establishes femininity as a lesser, undesirable expression — rather than understanding that femininity and masculinity aren’t strictly gendered and their expressions not rigidly conveyed.
Our current turn toward tolerance for sexual identities and gender expressions isn’t about more people being less of a man or woman, but about more people feeling safe to be more wholly human. And it’s about freedom — freedom of expression, freedom of self-determination and freedom of fluidity.”
Check out the whole article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/13/opinion/blow-bossy-pants.html?action=click&contentCollection=Opinion®ion=Footer&module=MoreInSection&pgtype=article
A semla, for those of you who don’t know, is a wheat bun filled with almond paste and absurd amounts of whipped cream. Historically they were eaten only on Shrove Tuesday (today,) the first day of Lent, but are now available in Sweden from around Christmas until Easter as a sort of national snack. But today is The Official Semla Day.
Read more about them here: http://sweden.se/culture/the-semla-more-than-just-a-bun/
Or find a Swedish Bakery in your neighborhood and give one a try!
In an emotional and wonderfully thoughtful speech yesterday, actress Ellen Page came out as gay during a speech for the Time to Thrive conference:
I thought it was interesting how the first personal thing she mentioned was about her choice of clothing, and how the media defined her choice of “comfortable” clothing as “masculine.” She had some interesting things to say about what it is like to work in an industry that has such narrow ideas about how one should look and act and dress like, and how much of that is gender-based.
The gay rights movement and the rise of awareness in the trans community (illustrated here with facebook’s recent decision to change its gender options from 2 to 50) have certainly brought attention to gender identity in the media. But I think we too often link questioning definitions of gender with questioning sexuality, and while the issues may be linked, I think people often think they are mutually inclusive issues….but are they?
Men who deviate from any conventional description of “masculinity” – whether they don’t play sports, or they are sensitive and romantic, or they dress in a more flamboyant style – often have their sexuality questioned right along with their manliness. But all of those things: rough physical activity, poetic sensibilities, and extravagant dressing – all of those things were perfectly keeping in the height of masculine style in the 18th century. Which means they can’t be inherently a part of the definition of masculinity, which means that very idea is a contemporary construct made up of inherited and ever-evolving ideas.
If being a man, if being masculine does not have to mean that you are straight, physically aggressive, and conform to modern ideas of appropriate dress codes….than what DOES it mean? I think many people are afraid to ask this question. But I think asking these questions is vital to our self-identity, and so many questions about both sexuality and gender are hidden behind and wrapped up in our relationship with visual identity, in other words, our clothes.
Plus:
One Week Left!!! For my kickstarter campaign to raise funds to pay collaborators on the project. Please share with people you think might be interested in joining my team of backers: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1940698496/uniform-of-man
There’s an exhibition on Folk Art at the Nordiska Museet that I thought my craft-y friends would particularly appreciate. Many people are struggling to figure out how “crafts” participate in contemporary culture, and I think the mission statements here will be inspiring to those who are on a quest to incorporate more handiwork into daily life. Of course, this – like many – is a gendered issue, as many of these crafts (especially in urban culture) involve textiles (knitting, crochet, weaving, embroidery) and are therefore seen as “girlie”. Part of my interest in the study of men’s clothing is to show how vital clothing (and other textiles) was to both genders for most of human history, and it is only recently that this work has been dismissed as less important. Another wonderful thing about Swedish culture is that textile arts seem to be taken as seriously as any other form of technology or engineering, at least in the museums I’ve seen so far. (Bonus of some 19th century knitted / embroidered mittens at the end!)
The Nordiska Museet is devoted to the cultural history of Sweden from the 16th century to the present. A few observations about this museum that already makes me feel like I’m not in America anymore:
1. They aren’t afraid of using recreations to make their point. There is fake food in the section on table settings, there’s replication clothing in some of the exhibits – and in no way does this make me feel cheated. In fact, it allows me to imagine more what life was like.
This, for instance, is one room in a re-created post-war apartment, with bathroom, kitchen, kid’s room, entry way, etc. There are no barriers (except you can’t go in the bathroom.) You are ENCOURAGED to walk around the rooms, to see them from all angles. There is one small sign that says “please be gentle with the objects on display.” This says to me that they fully embrace the participation of both kids AND adults who benefit from a more immersive experience. It’s so wonderful.
2. Have I mentioned that kids are an important audience? Yes, there is a kid’s section, but it really doesn’t look that different from the rest of the museum, and it isn’t some horrible watered-down version of the “real thing.”
3. They aren’t afraid to take time, and not everybody looks like a super model. They have these WONDERFUL videos of people getting dressed in 18th century clothes – and you see all. of. it. Every item, every lace through the corset – no fast forwarding, no cutting to the good part. It takes time to get dressed. They honor that. (I think this video is worth a post on its own, but I’ll get back to that later.)
4. They have a sense of humor. Here’s a display of dala horses, and they’ve included a My Little Pony. I mean, c’mon, that’s funny.
5. They prefer thematic exhibitions and displays. I love this! Not only with special exhibitions, but also with the permanent collections, objects tend to be displayed with a thematic collection instead of just chronologically. Ok, so some of the objects in the “Stripes” exhibition were a bit of a stretch (grooves on pottery, back spindles on chairs, a zebra?, etc.), but in general I really felt like I was being taken on a cultural history tour, whether it was looking at Jewelry, Table Settings, or practices for marriage or death.
I’ll be interested to see how other museums deal with these issues, but this first one is a big winner in my book!
Ok, I’m behind on my posting, so today I’m going to catch up with with a number of All Things Swedish.
Up first, this video of Swedish marines doing a rendition of “Grease Lightning” is making international news:
With commentary from sources as varied as The Telegraph, People Magazine, Business Insider, and Broadway World.
The dancing is mostly hilarious atrocious, but the choreography is pretty fantastic. Plus, here’s a great example of how slight changes to the rule of “uniform” really makes a guy stand out.
