While Ranveer Singh stands at the forefront of the cause, there are many and many more who are gradually becoming a part of the androgynous pop culture in India.
Androgyny was brought into the pop culture by the many likes of David Bowie, Prince, Grace Jones, Ruby Rose, Lady Gaga and more. Breaking a lot of gender stereotypes with their style and fashion, these celebrities have made ‘gender-bending’ a relevant term in the recent times.
Recently spotted at the Umang Police Show was Ranveer Singh, wearing kajal. When you live in a world where gender stereotypes are embedded in you from childhood, seeing a mainstream male actor rock something that “belongs” to the fairer sex is a rare sight. But it is not about the kajal. Ranveer Singh is usually seen sporting skirts, anarkali kurtas and nose rings and his bold statements are very subtly and slowly incorporating gender-fluid fashion in India.
And it is not just Ranveer Singh – Bollywood actor Arjun Kapoor wore red pumps for his movie Ki and Ka, and even though the movie failed to make an impression, it had good intentions to break the gender stereotypes. Make-up artist Elton J Fernandez, model Harnaam Kaur , are also key in shattering these labels – their statements say that guys can wear make-up and girls can have beards. And most importantly, that it is okay.
Pop culture in India is gradually becoming aware of the need to address the issues of gender stereotypes. Stereotypes are constantly being broken with the internet – web-series like Man’s World, for example, has been extremely instrumental in bringing the issue to the youth.
Gender fluidity is now becoming a part of street wear in India as well. The process is slow and careful, but it is happening. Men are now experimenting with make-up, jewellery, “girly” colours and women are donning tuxedos and buzz cuts. The definitions of femininity and masculinity are changing – men and women are leading parallel lives, and their fashion statements are also becoming evident of that.
Image Credits: buzzfeed.com
Anagha Rakta
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