V. Clothes Maketh the Queer? Dress, Appearance and the Construction of Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Identities

Abstract

In this short report of an exploratory qualitative study, we consider whether a small group of younger British lesbians, gay men and bisexuals felt under pressure to conform to lesbian/gay appearance norms and used their clothing and appearance to actively construct and manage a visual identity as lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB). One of the exercises the first author regularly uses when teaching about the sociocultural construction of LGB identities involves students brainstorming their associations for the words ‘lesbian’, ‘gay man’ and ‘bisexual’. For many students, the word ‘lesbian’ conjures up associations like ‘ugly’, ‘butch’, ‘masculine’, ‘short hair’, ‘dungarees’ and ‘comfortable shoes’ (see Peel, 2005). Whereas gay men are allied to style, fashion, grooming and effeminacy (witness all the ‘makeover’ television shows featuring gay men – Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, How Not to Decorate). In short, many students have a clear image of the (stereo)typical lesbian and gay man. By contrast, students typically identify (a smaller number of) associations for the word ‘bisexual’ (such as ‘confused’ and ‘greedy’), but have no clear image of the typical bisexual. The centrality of the visual to lesbian and gay identity is readily apparent in popular cultural sources, such as Queer (Gage et al., 2002), that document the ways in which lesbians and gay men have used dress, hairstyling, jewellery, tattoos, piercings and other adornments to signify their sexual identity (or preferences). Although appearance norms have changed throughout history (Edwards, 1997; Faderman, 1991), it has been argued that dress and appearance constitute a primary way of asserting and displaying a lesbian and gay identity (Holliday, 2001). Lesbians and gay men use clothing and adornment to create a sense of group identity (separate from the dominant culture), to resist and challenge normative (gendered) expectations, and to signal their sexual identity to the wider world or just to those ‘in the know’ (Rothblum, 1994; Traub, 2003). At the same time, strategies of passing have made use of the semiotic codes woven into clothing (Skidmore, 1999). Giving the centrality of visual identity to lesbian and gay culture and communities, and the role of dress and appearance as key signifiers