Fashion And Gender Misappropriation -The Estranged New Norm

Khalidu A. Afolabi

Today presents us with fresh anomalies. Or rather, we present today with fresh predicaments. Humanity, more than ever before, has slipped into utter confusion. The ideals we have developed and the social institutions we have built are now under threat, not from outsiders but from our very selves. Man has become so smart that he now questions the norms of yesterday. It is not only that a man can marry a fellow man or a woman can marry a fellow woman; it is becoming absurd to find such a marriage absurd. In recognition of diverse identities, we must all accept queer individuals and make them as naturally comfortable as they could be. Even at the expense of the sanity of non-queers. We must be welcoming to marriages of gays, lesbians and transsexuals. We should respect asexuals for their supposed lack of sexual attraction and we should embrace a sologamist that decides to marry himself. We should also allow adults to identify as babies (transbabies) if they so choose and permit people without disabilities to identify as people with disabilities (transabled) if it gives them fulfilment. Today, humanity continues to tread an endless path of identity crises and renegotiations. And yet, it is almost unthinkable to have a contrasting stance. We intimidate ourselves to accept the supposed new norm. This new order has not spared any realm, not even the socio-religious sphere.

Fashion as Part of Casualty

Owing to the strong penetration of queer ideologies today, many fashion industries are buying into gender fluidity in their fashion enterprises. Most especially through the transgender unit, the fashion industry has been a very influential window in positioning queer identities for more acceptance. For instance, Ariel Nicholson became the first transgender Cover Model on US Vogue - a monthly fashion and lifestyle magazine that covers news around haute couture fashion, beauty, culture and runway – in 2021. This was after she had made her modelling debut for Calvin Klein in 2018. Similarly, the first youngest model to walk down the runway at New York Fashion Week was the transgender fashion star, who allegedly knew her Trans status before she was three years old, Noella McMaher. She walked down the runway when she was 10. As a matter of fact, Fashion modelling by transgender people has become so desirable that it was reported that Noella McMaher was fully booked from September 16, 2022, to November 2022. This is why 34% of respondents in a survey about transgender models in the fashion industry said it is easy for transgender models to succeed in the fashion industry. Today, there are reputable fashion brands that now find preference in using transgender models, casting them in runway shows and advertisement campaigns.

Finding the Islamic Compass in Today’s Mess

Rereading the end-time prophecies would easily reveal that humanity would continue to tread this precarious path. The Prophet Muhammad (saw) had said some of the signs that would accompany the last hour are the disappearance of knowledge and the appearance of ignorance; the prevalence of adultery and alcoholism; the decrease in men and the increase in women; the spread of mischief and corruption; a converse order of the world amongst others. It is thus no wonder that confusion continues to engulf the world without sparing even the ummah. Today, in popular fashion stores, such as Etsy, RedBubble, Amazon and others, it is very easy to look for fashion items for homosexual Muslims. In fact, for the sake of empiricism, a search for ‘Queer Muslim’ fashion on the website of Etsy put forth over 700 relevant results.

By and large, while homosexual Muslim fashion is crystal clear in many contemporary brands, some other fashion trends have silently penetrated the Muslim ummah. The use of trousers by Muslim women has become commonplace. Starting from baggy trousers and loose gowns, today’s Muslim women now wear tight-fitted trousers and shirts as Muslim fashion styles. The hijab also continues to evolve and has largely lost its quintessence, as can be seen from its different fashion styles. Today, even a mere cap or hoodie passes for hijab for many liberal Muslims.

But then, Islam distinguishes itself not only as a religion but as a way of life. It institutes multivariate windows to manage the spiritual and mundane affairs of man. It establishes strong social institutions that are built on diverse ethical frameworks. On the aspect of aesthetics, in particular, Muslims are forbidden from cross-dressing. The Prophet (saw) clearly stated that men who imitate women and women who imitate men are under the curse of Allah. It, therefore, becomes unsettling that the contemporary Muslim ummah continues to lose the grasp of Islamic ethical frameworks, even at the expense of categorical injunctions.

The Muslim ummah must realise fashion is an excellent variable for projecting identities. Just as queer ideologies have penetrated various windows, they have penetrated the fashion industry. A Muslim who understands that gender has binary formations and that the formations have always been designed by Allah should be weary of their fashion choices.