#12 Andrej Pejic - Androgynous Model - heralding a post-gender future?

Hank Pellissier
Ethical Technology
Posted: Dec 20, 2012

http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/6910

Gazing at the ravishing photos of Andrej Pejic, I'm stirred with envious confusion. Why does this tall skinny XY like me get to be so much prettier? Does his effeminate success - inflaming catwalks in both men and women's high fashion - predict a fusion of two polarized genders, or a third construct? What does the androgynous Bosnian represent in post-genderism?

The following piece was first published here on Jun 1, 2012 and is the #12 most viewed of the year.

It's vertiginous to see Andrej portrayed as a beautiful woman wearing beautiful women's clothes. A mere 20-year-old - self-described as "atheist," "materialist," "promiscuous" - Andrej's photos have been plastered in French Vogue, Italian Vogue, Arena Homme+, Japanese Vogue Hommes, i-D, Numero, W, and the covers of Dossier, Fashion, and New York (the latter praised him as "The Prettiest Boy in the World" and Viva! Moda dubbed him, "Mr. Unisex.")

I wonder, what if every man was an "Andrej"? With arched eyebrows, nipple-length hair, pouty lips, a feminine wardrobe, and poses of complex sensitivities? Would humanity resemble the residents of "Terra" in Ursela K. LeGuin's The Left Hand of Darkness - one-gendered, genetically-engineered for hermaphroditism? Or is Andre just one option type in Martine Rothblatt's anticipated future of "Billions of Sexes" - where gender, redefined, is as infinitely variable as individuality?

What do post-genderists want, and what does Andrej's presence indicate?

Another possibility is that Andrej is as clear an example of an MTF-in-waiting as you could ever hope to see, but who cannot currently transition because there is so much money riding on the fact that she's still biologically male. (It's at least possible that a lot of her quotes in which she claims to be indifferent to gender-constructions can be ascribed to the same commercial caution: like gay music or movie stars who say they're too busy to have a girlfriend, aren't really interested in sex or are just waiting for the right girl).

That said, you only have to follow the Tumblrs and Twitter-feeds that follow Andrej to see that she lives in full-time girl mode. Those dresses aren't just for the catwalk and she's made a subtle shift over the past couple of years from dressing in an effeminate/androgynous style to wearing women's clothes pretty much all the time.

If I were advising Andrej, I'd say she should go as far as she wants down the transition road and not worry too much about the short-term cash. As a 'gender-bender' gimmick she will soon become boring to the fashion world and might be better off disappearing for a while and then coming back in 18-24 months as a post-op MTF.

But I'm not advising Andrej. And what Andrej does is in the end no one but Andrej's business.

Carlita, you've expressed an example of something I've found pretty common around Susan's: what I've come to call the transsexual conservatism. Just as most people try think of everyone as fitting into one of two gender states, a lot of TS folks seem to want to believe that every varied gender person is merely at a different stage of becoming a man or a woman. This is not the case at all. Over decades of studying varied gender people, I can safely say there of many, many
people of flexible gender and most of them are not unfulfilled transsexuals. I've caught a few interviews with Andrej Pejic and he doesn't strike me as a transitioning TS, but that's up to him (he's indifferent to pronouns, BTW).

In understanding myself, as well as observing others, over several decades I discovered that there is a great range of gender identity states, of with transsexuality is only one. They are definitely not all stages leading to that end, though it's easy to understand why some might see it that way. Our society has found a way to, a degree, embrace transsexuality. It has not yet found a way to respect those individuals who wish to spend their entire lives spanning gender roles or desiring features of both genders.

I think Andrej's personal situation is much less important than what his presence in the public eye is accomplishing. This is the first time in modern history that anyone with a male-female crossover identity has not only gained a great deal of public attention, but been admired (as well as scorned) for doing so. Andrej is the first celebrity to ever really make crossdressing "cool", to an extent. This is going to have a positive trickle down effect that will reach transgendered people everywhere and, if we're lucky, is the beginning of a trend. I've always thought that the biggest obstacle to TG acceptance has been the tendency of the media to shape public opinion by ridiculing us. Now that's changing. We have a cool kid.

~ Lyric ~

Lyric is right, there is the  forum here at Susan's for androgynous types which I identify with completely. More than likely that is where Andrej would no doubt also be most comfortable. Perhaps in time there will be no gender distinctions among humankind.

Well, I take the point about androgyny - though I think that's a much easier act to pull off when you're young. As you get older your body makes it harder and harder and society adds more pressure to make ones mind up, one way or the other - that was my experience, anyway. Obviously other people may have different ones. As for Andrej, I guess we're all just speculating ... but one thing I would like to clear up is my issue of pronouns.

In my original reply I put s/he because I know that Andrej is indifferent and uses both. But it just looked and seemed so clumsy, so I changed it to 'she' because there are more people here who get upset by being misgendered as 'he' when they feel like 'she' and I didn't want to get into that argument!

Quote from: Lyric on December 21, 2012, 10:35:15 AM
Carlita, you've expressed an example of something I've found pretty common around Susan's: what I've come to call the transsexual conservatism. Just as most people try think of everyone as fitting into one of two gender states, a lot of TS folks seem to want to believe that every varied gender person is merely at a different stage of becoming a man or a woman. This is not the case at all. Over decades of studying varied gender people, I can safely say there of many, many
people of flexible gender and most of them are not unfulfilled transsexuals. I've caught a few interviews with Andrej Pejic and he doesn't strike me as a transitioning TS, but that's up to him (he's indifferent to pronouns, BTW).

In understanding myself, as well as observing others, over several decades I discovered that there is a great range of gender identity states, of with transsexuality is only one. They are definitely not all stages leading to that end, though it's easy to understand why some might see it that way. Our society has found a way to, a degree, embrace transsexuality. It has not yet found a way to respect those individuals who wish to spend their entire lives spanning gender roles or desiring features of both genders.

I think Andrej's personal situation is much less important than what his presence in the public eye is accomplishing. This is the first time in modern history that anyone with a male-female crossover identity has not only gained a great deal of public attention, but been admired (as well as scorned) for doing so. Andrej is the first celebrity to ever really make crossdressing "cool", to an extent. This is going to have a positive trickle down effect that will reach transgendered people everywhere and, if we're lucky, is the beginning of a trend. I've always thought that the biggest obstacle to TG acceptance has been the tendency of the media to shape public opinion by ridiculing us. Now that's changing. We have a cool kid.

~ Lyric ~

+1!