Queering the cishet

Clippings from news sources involving fashion freedom and other gender equality issues.
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Rokje
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Queering the cishet

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Translated from a Dutch website:

Queering the cishet
May 6, 2020 Editorial Staff 0 Comments Opinion
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A kilt is still there, but a cishet * man wearing a skirt? You hardly see that. Where nowadays women are allowed to wear both skirts and pants, after a fierce and years of (and not yet fought) struggle by the feminists, the man is left behind. Time to share the skirt!
Cishet man least gender free

The cishet has a lot to learn from queers. And men have a lot to learn from women. With regard to gender freedom, the cishet man is at the bottom. Cishet men are very trapped in an internalized image of what a cishet man should be, do, find, and that is very difficult to let go. Especially since it is constantly repeated among themselves, and the world is only too happy to confirm some of these characteristics as typically cishet male.
Advantage of gender freedom

Where the adult woman has much more gender freedom than, for example, the 60s, this is not the case for the adult man. There has been some shift in recent years. A "manpurse" (handbag) is more and more accepted, for example. But the cishet (man) is still very much locked in gender-specific rules: anger is the only emotion allowed, the pressure to bear a family financially alone is still there, and a 'real man' would never put on a skirt.
Time to share the skirt

What is a skirt? It is a piece of cloth that you put on. In many cultures it is only normal for a cishet man to wear a skirt: the Islamic culture, for example, knows the kandora for the man, the sarong can be worn by both men and women, and of course there is the well-known kilt.

Yet you will not easily see a (cishet) man in a skirt in the Netherlands. Or someone who comes across as a man to the environment, because I have worn skirts myself before, but I don't wear them anymore, even though I really enjoy wearing skirts. But it just doesn't feel right now.
Skirt is more than a piece of clothing

Why is it so complicated to wrap a skirt for someone who is not into femininity? Because the skirt represents more than the piece of fabric it is. As the kandora is not for "women", a skirt is not for "men". When we see or think of a skirt in the Netherlands, we think of femininity. A version of sexy that is only for "women".

Because this is so in our culture, we have internalized all of this: we have mastered it so deeply that it has been burned into our brain, as it were. And that is very difficult to get out again! We sincerely believe, to the very core, that a skirt has something to do with femininity.
Queering the cishet

Rationally it may seem easy: if you want to wear a skirt, don't you? But you have to be ready for it yourself: letting go of those internalized ideas really takes a lot of training. And, after that you have to be able to deal with society that has not had that training. Often people, especially Cishet people, do not see the benefit of that training.

This while a cishet also has a great advantage in "queering" himself. Making the thoughts and patterns a little more gender-free. Gender is allowed, and everyone can find their own choice and way, even if it is unwise gender-specific. Because what we call gender-specific is just one of the many flavors out there.
Cishet men (gender) freely through life

However, the Cishet people, and especially the men, still have a long way to go before they can also live a more gender-free life. Less restrictions, fewer prescribed emotions, and pressure to do what you think you should do, but do what suits you, as a cishet man. Everyone can help with that. In other words, it's time to share the skirt!
Be proud to wear a skirt or dress, they are just clothes. Yes , they are for men too
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Learning Norwegian: Jeg er Marica.

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Big and Bashful
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Re: Queering the cishet

Post by Big and Bashful »

I like the look of that skirt, looks comfortable, practical and other things ending in "cle", even when they don't! I would like one of those.
Started reading the text, I now switch off with all this talk of genders and freedoms, I guess I have seen the same things said too many times. The article is actually pretty good, I was distracted by the word "cishet" but when I read it again it makes sense, I think I am just feeling a bit jaded after months of home working! I have just realised, I have not worn trousers or jeans since the start of lockdown in March, just a pair of shorts when I had to go places where skirts aren't suitable or where I would feel out of place skirted.
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Re: Queering the cishet

Post by Spirou003 »

I agree that the skirt should be wonderful to wear and additionally it can be nicely integrated in masculine look!
Only missing things are pockets, as usual.
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Rokje
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Re: Queering the cishet

Post by Rokje »

Spirou003 wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2020 2:51 pm I agree that the skirt should be wonderful to wear and additionally it can be nicely integrated in masculine look!
Only missing things are pockets, as usual.
Or they look as pockets, but they are not usable.
Be proud to wear a skirt or dress, they are just clothes. Yes , they are for men too
I'm Marica, I'm a 59 year old girl.
Learning Norwegian: Jeg er Marica.

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new2skirts
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Re: Queering the cishet

Post by new2skirts »

Big and Bashful wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2020 10:50 am I like the look of that skirt, looks comfortable, practical and other things ending in "cle", even when they don't! I would like one of those.
Started reading the text, I now switch off with all this talk of genders and freedoms, I guess I have seen the same things said too many times. The article is actually pretty good, I was distracted by the word "cishet" but when I read it again it makes sense, I think I am just feeling a bit jaded after months of home working! I have just realised, I have not worn trousers or jeans since the start of lockdown in March, just a pair of shorts when I had to go places where skirts aren't suitable or where I would feel out of place skirted.
I have heard that "cishet" word before, but it is used more as a perjorative against Feminine Men. "Chi-chi man" is the vernacular amongst the youth today in the UK. :blue: I think the more straight jeans style skirts may gain traction before more graceful A-lines. Pockets would be good but would affect the way the garment hangs. Seeing the way men are virtually wearing "Jeggings" (denim style leggings) in the ultra slim fit jeans that are popular, perhaps skirts will be seen as an alternative. No headlines in the UK this year about males wearing skirts to work or school (but perhaps due to most stuff being closed due to Coronavirus)...

Dan Levy (Schitts Creek) seemed to pull off the look, though I am sure most thought it was a back to front kilt :roll:
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Re: Queering the cishet

Post by Dust »

I read it as "cis-het" as in "cisgender heterosexual."
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Re: Queering the cishet

Post by Uncle Al »

I hope this helps to clear up some confusion on terminology, it did for me :)
Cisgender is a term for people whose gender identity matches their sex assigned at birth. For example, someone who identifies as a woman and was assigned female at birth is a cisgender woman. The term cisgender is the opposite of the word transgender. Related terms include cissexism and cisnormativity. source - Wikipedia
cishet or cis-het, cis het
[ sis-het ]

Informal: Usually Disparaging and Offensive.
adjective
1. noting, or relating to, a person who is cisgender and heterosexual.
noun
2. a person who is cishet.
source - Dictionary.com
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Re: Queering the cishet

Post by SkirtsDad »

Uncle Al wrote: Sun Sep 27, 2020 7:28 pm I hope this helps to clear up some confusion on terminology, it did for me :)

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Surely context is everything? What if cishet is used by an academic (and it does already appear in academic articles as does cisheteronormative')? It is also worth baring in mind that it is a relatively new term, as is cisgender which was only added to Oxford dictionaries in 2015, so its usage is not yet that widespread so I wonder if its connotation may alter as it gains popularity, assuming it does.

Personally, whilst a few people sadly may use it in a derogatory way, I think that the term cishet can be a powerful and clear desciptor, as in the following article: https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/fea ... upt-it2019

Reading the word for the first time might be easier for people if it were written hyphenated. Does anyone agree?
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Re: Queering the cishet

Post by crfriend »

SkirtsDad wrote: Sun Sep 27, 2020 10:31 pmReading the word for the first time might be easier for people if it were written hyphenated. Does anyone agree?
I'll agree on the hyphenation to enhance readability, but I find it tragic that being a normative male has become disparaging -- and precisely what the radical feminists have been pushing at for years.

I avoid the term completely, simply because of the negative connotations. I was offended by it the first time I encountered it, and that alone says something as I am not all that easily offended.
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Re: Queering the cishet

Post by SkirtsDad »

crfriend wrote: Mon Sep 28, 2020 12:10 am I avoid the term completely, simply because of the negative connotations. I was offended by it the first time I encountered it, and that alone says something as I am not all that easily offended.
I probably felt not dissimilar when I first came across the term cis, however, if used appropriately, it does make language more inclusive.... As it was regardiing gender, someone would be either a male, or a trans male (f2m). Irrespective of you philosophy on the matter, this automatically put the trans-male as other... i.e. not male/not normal. If you now have cis-male, trans-male and male, male becomes an umbrella term for all males regardless of whether they are cis or trans. Cis therefore, regardless of the word perhaps not sounding that great, simply denotes that the person's gender matches the sex (and generally pressumed gender) assigned according to a doctor's observations at the time of birth.
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Re: Queering the cishet

Post by pelmut »

The negative connotation isn't brought about by the word 'cishet' but by the word 'a' in front of it.

He is cishet (descriptive)
He is a cishet (judgemental),
There is no such thing as a normal person, only someone you don't know very well yet.
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