DuckRabbit
Well-Known Member
Is Harry styles really representing gender diversity or just someone with sky-high social-status (looks, health, wealth, approved career, belonging, social desirability) who can afford to play around with gender boundaries and societal norms?
Harry Styles mocking masculine norms for 5 minutes
499,032 views Apr 13, 2019
Said to be worth around $60 million, Harry Styles has one of the most masculine voices and faces (with the jawline) and appears to be straight-down-the-line heterosexual*, but commendably he tries his best to break norms for himself and for people all over the world. By playing around with gender boundaries and being strikingly individualistic, he's showing the world what being a real man truly means i.e., true to oneself. * = Notwithstanding his self-confessed crush on one of his male band members. Many were touched by his special bond with a fellow band member, and the freedom both felt to express it; it was/is widely regarded as quite beautiful. He seems to be capable of beautiful friendships with both males and females, across the spectrum.
But I would say: don't assume that the trajectory goes only one way, from oppressive societal norm to airily individualistic. Many people on the autistic spectrum are born with a lack of concept of masculine, feminine and other societally-reinforced gender boundaries. Their well-being hinges instead on trying to learn to draw societally-approved boundaries, rather than breaking away from them (depending on the socio-cultural context they're living in). That can be just as ground-breaking and radical for ASC individuals, as what Harry Styles is trying to do for societal norms (he's trying to break them down so as to free everyone up to be themselves as he is being).
e.g., Many ASC girls are considered 'too masculine' by guys (albeit they may be heterosexual) and many ASC boys aren't considered 'manly' enough by girls (albeit they may be heterosexual).
It is one thing to be a rock-solid neurotypical who learns to do the Asperger things of being overly truthful, unfiltered, vulnerable and embracing or accentuating differentness. They will be admired. It is quite another thing to be all those things already (ASC) and go on being those things, unreflexively. Society usually recoils at such differentness and lack of consciousness.
Similarly, if one is already a raging heterosexual, it can be admirable to blur gender boundaries and play around with that. But if one is at the core gender atypical, then going even further in an atypical direction often meet with ridicule or disapproval (depending on socio-cultural context).
Not that Harry has to represent everyone under the sun (just himself really), but I do wonder if he has considered this additional nuance and additional complexity? - that 'breaking away from norms' isn't the only trajectory. For some (on the autistic spectrum), they spend their lives trying to discern what the norms are so as to try to fit into them. If they don't, they get excluded from job opportunities, relationships, social life etc. Only a raging neurotypical could whole-heartedly encourage someone to 'be themselves'. For many on the spectrum, 'being themselves' can be catastrophic - a one-way ticket to social exclusion and unemployability.
In short, could someone without his looks and popularity flaunt their diversity unfettered, the way Harry Styles is doing?
499,032 views Apr 13, 2019
Said to be worth around $60 million, Harry Styles has one of the most masculine voices and faces (with the jawline) and appears to be straight-down-the-line heterosexual*, but commendably he tries his best to break norms for himself and for people all over the world. By playing around with gender boundaries and being strikingly individualistic, he's showing the world what being a real man truly means i.e., true to oneself. * = Notwithstanding his self-confessed crush on one of his male band members. Many were touched by his special bond with a fellow band member, and the freedom both felt to express it; it was/is widely regarded as quite beautiful. He seems to be capable of beautiful friendships with both males and females, across the spectrum.
But I would say: don't assume that the trajectory goes only one way, from oppressive societal norm to airily individualistic. Many people on the autistic spectrum are born with a lack of concept of masculine, feminine and other societally-reinforced gender boundaries. Their well-being hinges instead on trying to learn to draw societally-approved boundaries, rather than breaking away from them (depending on the socio-cultural context they're living in). That can be just as ground-breaking and radical for ASC individuals, as what Harry Styles is trying to do for societal norms (he's trying to break them down so as to free everyone up to be themselves as he is being).
e.g., Many ASC girls are considered 'too masculine' by guys (albeit they may be heterosexual) and many ASC boys aren't considered 'manly' enough by girls (albeit they may be heterosexual).
It is one thing to be a rock-solid neurotypical who learns to do the Asperger things of being overly truthful, unfiltered, vulnerable and embracing or accentuating differentness. They will be admired. It is quite another thing to be all those things already (ASC) and go on being those things, unreflexively. Society usually recoils at such differentness and lack of consciousness.
Similarly, if one is already a raging heterosexual, it can be admirable to blur gender boundaries and play around with that. But if one is at the core gender atypical, then going even further in an atypical direction often meet with ridicule or disapproval (depending on socio-cultural context).
Not that Harry has to represent everyone under the sun (just himself really), but I do wonder if he has considered this additional nuance and additional complexity? - that 'breaking away from norms' isn't the only trajectory. For some (on the autistic spectrum), they spend their lives trying to discern what the norms are so as to try to fit into them. If they don't, they get excluded from job opportunities, relationships, social life etc. Only a raging neurotypical could whole-heartedly encourage someone to 'be themselves'. For many on the spectrum, 'being themselves' can be catastrophic - a one-way ticket to social exclusion and unemployability.
In short, could someone without his looks and popularity flaunt their diversity unfettered, the way Harry Styles is doing?
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