Fashion and the Performance of Femininity - How to preform Femininity without the male gaze; A THREAD

To start this thread we need to establish that 'Typical/Traditional Preformed Femininity is Heterosexual and usually done to appeal to the male gaze, this is the ceterus parabus of the whole thread

The general rule of thumb is that if the performance is popular/mainstream it appeals to the male gaze, there is no mainstream performance of femininity that doesn't appeal to the male gaze, now that that's established let's continue

Because of this there is obviously going to women that don't wish to appeal to men at all -These could be lesbians, younger women, older women, feminists, or just anyone that doesn't want male attention

This can shown off aesthetically in many ways, the first being the most common which is choosing to preform androgyny or masculinity; Butches, Studs or just Masculine presenting women

alternatively it can also be done by preforming femininity in a way that isn't considered mainstream or attractive - This is where we get into Alt (Real alt not tik tok alt) fashion territory

I will be using Alt Japanese fashion to explain this, my two examples will be Gyaru and Lolita

Gyarus (meaning girl/gal) emerged in Shibuya, Tokyo in the 90s as a rebellion against traditional Japanese beauty standards and expectations for women, their skin was dark, their makeup was exaggerated and their famous tagline is "Be wild and be sexy"

This style went against all the typical beauty and presentation norms for women and allowed said Gyaru Gals to claim how the dressed for themselves and other members of the gyaru community

Lolita Fashion emerged in the 70s and was used by women as act of rebellion against Japanese conservative society, women found empowerment in dressing in these intricate styles and formed communities with other Lolitas

The History of Lolita is pretty vast here is a link to some Essays about it!
http://www.lolitahistory.com/essays/ 

Another community that comes to mind is vintage dressers, I always hear the term "Vintage style not vintage values" thrown around which is pretty neat and they look cute mwah

These are examples of preforming femininity in ways that is not geared to the male gaze and meant to be appealing to men, these fashion empower the wearer in the own ways whether that be rejection the the patriarchal gaze/ beauty standards or just to attract other women instead

Side note: This is why I think cottagecore became so popular with lesbians(in the west) It was a style of presentation that was like the polar opposite of what was considered mainstream for young women and used to appeal more to other women instead pretty cool if you ask me

But there is a downside, once more people choose to adapt to these 'alternative' style the more mainstream they became and then they become watered down to fit back into the patriarchy, a continuous cycle

TDLR;
Preformed Femininity can be done in a way to not appeal to the male gaze, it's most prevalent in Alt communities and it's pretty darn cool although after a while it gets watered down and the cycle begins again

Photo Credits In Order:
@/kyliejenner
Pinterest
@/candy_ramune, @/princesspeachieangel, Pinterest , @/hard_decora
Pinterest
Pinterest
@/sutiblr on Flickr
@/mahoudolly
Next 3 post are Pinterest
@/feminist_fatale @/bernadettebanner
Tumblr
Cheapieclassic on tumblr

Cottagfaeries Tumblr
Tumblr
Next 5 Pinterest
and
Mashar on Depop

I hope you enjoyed the thread!

I would like to add this is why it's important to research the history of alternatives fashion styles and subcultures you want to get into, most of them were created to make statements so stop bastardising them