I honestly thought that the Yesterdays article would be all I had to say about the NUS Womens conference – it’s certainly more than I really wanted to write. I’d actually stopped following the #NUSWomen15 tag, when as is the manner of these things this gem ambled across my gaze:
Which rather puzzled me as I had seen the motion in question yesterday and had mentioned it in my previous post, it was this one:
The motion was that ‘cross-dressing” for fancy dress was to be condemned and that unions should ban events that “permit or encourage” cisgender people to use cross-dressing as a mode of fancy dress. Really, I can quite see how @emilyhilton could get confused as to how “cis-men” might possibly see a motion banning them from cross dressing as being in any way about them. Puzzling isn’t it that people that would be affected by a ban would have the audacity to think it has anything to do with them – @emilyhilton obviously has a bright future ahead of her in public health. Now just to avoid any confusion, I am in fact what could be described as a cisman, in fact I’m a white cisman who identifies as none-of-your-damn-business-sexual, I also look damn good in a dress and own quite a few. To almost certainly misquote Eddie Izzard, “these aren’t women’s clothes, they’re my clothes – I bought them.”
I’m sure the caring, sensitive delegates at NUSWomen15 would be horrified if men suggested that they should have any say in what women should wear at fancy dress or elsewhere, but in their enlightenment they know to dictate to others what they can and can’t wear and when. However @emilyhilton did clarify that despite what the motion actually says it was really about “‘banter’ nights” (whatever they are) “where dressing as an alternative gender is a point of hilarity & ridicule”
As other people pointed out as part of this thread, fancy dress events can be a great way to break down “gender norms” and can be “most empowering & enlightening event for both gay and straight Cis men and women”. I did ask @emilyhilton to clarify if she meant another motion and I’d got it wrong but answer came there none – so I’m assuming I got the correct thing. So it seems that the NUS Women are against breaking down gender stereotypes, and letting people discover even a little of what it’s like for the other sex (trust me, the first time you try to use the gents in a dress it’s a revelation). Also I’d go further and say that the NUS Women and @emilyhilton are being harmful to their own cause and to people who might not identify with traditional gender stereotypes (which is a shame as they claim to support them elsewhere). For a man wearing a dress out in public (at least at first) takes a lot of nerve, doing so in the context of fancy dress makes this a lot easier. Fortunately @emilyhilton and the NUS Women have super cis-vision that allows them to identify cisgender people and their motives for wearing particular clothes. They can tell who’s taking a tentative step to being more comfortable about themselves, who’s going to learn from the experience of getting to an event dressed as the other sex all of these things are laid bare to their all-knowing gaze.
What @emilyhilton and Nus Women are achieving so admirably is enforcing the stereotypes and attitudes that mean we have “boys” and “girls” toys and clothes, and gets people beaten up for “looking queer” – way to go sisters! People should be free to wear whatever they like and look however they feel comfortable (insert usual caveats about realms of decency) without having to worry about what other people think. Now instead of just worrying about random ignorant thugs, people not adhering strictly to gender stereotypes have also got to worry about the approbation of the likes of NUS Women. Thanks @emilyhilton for giving the thugs another excuse to beat up on people and tell people how they should live. I can’t help but suspect that they are the sort of people that will share uplifting pictures of a man wearing a dress to support their young child on social media and then the moment one of their male friends does the same thing will mutter “pass the mind bleach” – not caring who might overhear that comment or the impact it has.
So once more, well down @emilyhilton and #NusWomen15 you’re doing a great job of holding back equality and enforcing gender limits all round – I would give you a big round of applause but apparently that might cause you anxiety and we wouldn’t want that would we?
