Sexual gravity. We are fascinated by the Rolling Stones because they defy it. In
Shine a Light, Martin Scorsese’s documentary filmed in 2006, we see that it is possible to be old
and sexy. Yet this is a rare example of inclusive commodification. The commercial zeitgeist edicts that we can be wrinkly or beautiful but not both. Is binary conformity escapable? In
Nobody Passes: Rejecting the Rules of Gender and Conformity
, Matt Bernstein Sycamore’s theme is the defiance of social stereotypes. Yet those with gender identity issues are still considered within the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as being mentally ill. Stephen Whittle of
Press for Change suggests that those who are categorised with Gender Identity Dysphoria are not mentally ill but simply confused. Is ‘gender confused’ more socially acceptable? In a world where sexual attraction is iconic and gay is fashionable we must be either male or female in order to remain benign to family and friends, (or better still stick with the gender we were born into). It’s only rock n’ roll when Jagger sings ‘You got the silver
and the gold’. Binary societal conformism does not permit a gender appearance which is a fusion of both. That means forfeiting one gender identity for a transother rather than a defiance of the stereotype. The term ‘queer’, (
In a Queer Time and Place: Transgender Bodies, Subcultural Lives
) much as ‘feminist’ once was, has become a political rallying cry for something more than mere tolerance or a legitimised looksism.
Genderality. May we shine a light.
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