{"id":181,"date":"2017-04-09T11:34:10","date_gmt":"2017-04-09T15:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/l2gwater4\/?p=181"},"modified":"2017-04-09T11:34:10","modified_gmt":"2017-04-09T15:34:10","slug":"why-i-chose-to-wear-a-dress-to-pigroast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/l2gwater4\/2017\/04\/09\/why-i-chose-to-wear-a-dress-to-pigroast\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I Chose to Wear a Dress to Pigroast"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just in case it wasn\u2019t clear: Yes, I am a cis<\/a>-man and yes, I wore a dress to Pig Roast<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Despite the \u201csuggested fashion guides\u201d<\/a> given throughout the years<\/a>, I decided to go against the status quo. Since this is, in a way, a publicity stunt, I\u2019d like to take some time to provide some points as to why I chose this endeavor:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. To highlight that gender roles are societal constructs (Thanks, Freud<\/a> and Hitler<\/a>)<\/li>\n
  2. To show the progressive (or intolerant) nature of our student body<\/li>\n
  3. I wanted to<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Pig Roast to me has always been a strange event. The idea of being plastered and drinking the day away is about as close to gluttony as it can get. This self-serving attitude is why I have a lot of frustrations with our drinking culture<\/a> as a whole but I figured instead of being a judgmental bystander, I\u2019d give it the good old college try before forming a distinct opinion.<\/p>\n

    What an enlightening experience it was.<\/p>\n

    Greek life has continually<\/a> been a hotbed<\/a> for controversy<\/a> surrounding race<\/a>, gender<\/a>, classism<\/a>, ableism<\/a>, and sexuality<\/a> since the beginning of its conception<\/a>. It is because of these issues that I have been apprehensive to be involved within Greek life at all during my time at Richmond.<\/p>\n

    Now that I\u2019ve established that background, I hope it is clear that by me simply existing in a space that was designed to cater to a specific type of person (as indicated by the articles above), people can understand my predilection (or lack thereof) for Greek life.<\/p>\n

    Now on to my reasons.<\/p>\n

    If you understand the principles of WGSS or the Feminist movement as a whole, you would understand why I say gender is a myth. If not, please watch this video<\/a>. If you\u2019re not even willing to entertain a proper discussion<\/a> about gender, don\u2019t even bother finishing this article.<\/p>\n

    The first piece isn\u2019t easy to grasp if you\u2019ve been indoctrinated to believe that we should fit into these tropes that society fits us in to. This is precisely why I received so much pushback from the moment I came into the public view.<\/p>\n

    I was different. I was \u201ccontroversial\u201d. I was an easy target.<\/p>\n

    So I chose to be different because I wanted to be able to express myself while also hoping to instill the same courage for those who have to lurk in the shadows because they are ashamed of themselves. I chose to attend because I wanted to advocate for change. I chose to go because I wanted to have fun with the hopes of being embraced by a culture that is finally<\/em> admitting that gay is actually <\/em>ok.<\/p>\n

    Did I maybe create a scene? Sure. Did I \u201coffend\u201d anyone? Probably. Did it actually harm them? No; and that is the exact point I wanted to prove. Just like how I do not agree with your choice of tacky pastel colors or Vineyard Vines\u00ae\/Lily Pulitzer\u00ae attire, you can disagree with my choice of attire for the event. That doesn\u2019t mean you get to detract from my experience as a human being.<\/p>\n

    I am incredibly thankful and elated that many of my peers were supportive or appropriately nonchalant about my choice of clothing; the overall goal is for it to not matter at all. However, I was still subject to various disapproving looks, sneers, and chatter concerning how different I was. That is precisely why I chose to do it and expand upon the notion of what is acceptable.<\/p>\n

    I would also like to highlight that my self-expression of wearing a dress is a privilege in and of itself. That trans* people are essentially forced (and yes, peer pressure and even certain laws<\/a> mandate that for these individuals to be themselves, they are supposed to be ridiculed, outcasts, and shunned from society) to exist a non-authentic life. My act of \u201ccourage\u201d for a day pales in comparison to those individuals who have to suffer with living a false life because of fear of how it would be if they were to be their true selves.<\/p>\n

    Pig Roast is meant to be a whimsical event, so why not allow for the day to be perfectly gay in every sense of the word?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Just in case it wasn\u2019t clear: Yes, I am a cis-man and yes, I wore a dress to Pig Roast. Despite the \u201csuggested fashion guides\u201d given throughout the years, I decided to go against the status quo. Since this is, … Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2373,"featured_media":183,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14350,765,479],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-personal","category-reflections","category-richmond"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/l2gwater4\/files\/2017\/04\/why-i-chose-to-wear-a-dress-to-p.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/l2gwater4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/l2gwater4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/l2gwater4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/l2gwater4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2373"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/l2gwater4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/l2gwater4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/l2gwater4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/l2gwater4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/l2gwater4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/l2gwater4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}