What I Wore: Navigating the Heteronormative Patriarchy, Pt. 9

By

Welcome to What I Wore, a series where I explore fashion as shelter in traditionally heteronormative and patriarchal spaces.

Trump’s America: Day 1 (Inauguration)

A kind of memorial service was being thrown that night for friends to mourn. What we were memorializing was hard to pinpoint, but I did know that dressing up for whatever it was felt too reverent. I disregarded the all black dress code and went with jeans and a t-shirt that I’d drawn on with a sharpie the day before for an appropriate amount of time just circling and circling over and over on the same black lines, like if I did it enough times eventually it would get so worn that the bottom would drop out and it would take me with it. Jeans and a t-shirt, literally the least amount of effort I could exert beyond just staying in my pajamas. Next time!

Catching both faces on my person in reflections throughout the night was a sobering experience and I found it was a little too matchy-matchy for my taste.

Success rate: 2/5

Trump’s America: Day 2 (Women’s March)

Remember that Disney Channel movie Gotta Kick It Up!  about a middle school dance team who in order to thrive had to kick it up re: dance? No? That 2002 movie is very specific and the only reason I even remember it is because I’ve carried this in-joke (with myself) for 15 years? Well, Day 2 in Trump and Pence’s America meant that in order to thrive I had to kick it up re: the gay.

I went with a Coogi sweater gifted to me by a fellow gay and a rainbow scarf Riese’s mom made as a visual cleanse from the previous day’s events. Carrying a giant sign that said MAKE AMERICA GAY AGAIN helped as well.

Success Rate: 5/5

End of Trump’s America’s First Week (Airport Run)

Color coded alert levels are back, and this year’s color scheme is a consistent baseline of orange (high). Running errands? Threat level orange. Taking someone to the airport? Threat level orange. Unloading the dishwasher? Threat level orange. No one can turn their brain off for the next four years.

In order to draw attention to the message, I paired the outfit’s focal point with neutral tones. The turtleneck and hat made it so that even with a long jacket the orange was still able to say, “Hi there! Don’t forget!”

Success rate: 5/5

Autostraddle cannot exist without the generous support of our readers. We're running the fundraiser through March 29th! We're out of immediate danger...but we had to ask...what if we could survive for longer? Will you help?

Go to our Fundraiser!
Related:

Erin

Los Angeles based writer. Let's keep it clean out there!

Erin has written 208 articles for us.

26 Comments

  1. Powerful stuff.

    I love the orange hat, and the orange alert warnings. My dad is going to Palm Springs today and he said, “you think I’ll be safe”, and I said, “I dunno, does the muslim ban include banning aged 70+ people in cadillacs from driving erratically in dessert paradises?” and he was like, “it’s not a ban.”

    So, orange alert.

    Reply to This Comment

  2. I have never left a comment on this website before, probably never will again, and am only doing so now to state that OF COURSE I remember Gotta Kick It Up! – it was America Ferrera’s first movie (it aired the summer before Real Women Have Curves came out) and seeing her on television was a very very big deal to me as a pre-teen gordita obsessed with the Disney channel. ¡Sí se puede!

    Reply to This Comment

  5. I’m really blown away by the circle on sadface?!?! Like it’s impossibly smooth and even. All should be terrified of you.

    Also A+ on the Gotta Kick It Up! Reference, the gay, and the resilience. Perfect post, perfect warrior.

    Reply to This Comment

Contribute to the conversation...

Yay! You've decided to leave a comment. That's fantastic. Please keep in mind that comments are moderated by the guidelines laid out in our comment policy. Let's have a personal and meaningful conversation and thanks for stopping by!