Final Paper Abstract and Bibliography

What we wear has a multifaceted effect on our identity: on the one hand, what we wear can be expressive of our identity, and tells society about our gender, class, preferences, etc.; on the other hand, while what we wear can always be readby others, that means it is subject for misinterpretation. Many fashion theories indicate that our clothes can partially reveal our identity. This can be intrinsic to our appearance, and yet, it can be easily function to disguisesidentity (intentionally or not). This tension become more evident, especially in the current time in the Middle East, where clothes are being imported from other countries along with foreigner traditions, additionally, young people may find themselvesdressing in a shallow imitation of iconic non-Eastern celebrities without knowing the real meaning behind such selections.

A major component of identity is gender boundaries (even uni-sex clothes can display a principal obsession with sexual differences). Appearance is always a great indication about the wearer’s gender. Society expects men to look like men, and women to look like women. This practice/tradition is brought up to our attention since we were babies, even when there is little visible difference among infants. Such practices are culturally specific, for instance, pink for girls, and blue for boys. Therefore, dressing practice the dress over the body calls attention to the gender differences, which might be obscured by cross-dressing.

In this paper, I will first discuss the general importance of the dress to the human body in shaping its identity, then address dress in terms of its use as a gender marker. I will then relate such practices to the Middle Eastern cultures, and explore how the dress codes are important in this region. Finally, I will examine the cultural differences of clothes in shaping identity and gender of the wearer by analyzing works of three artists, who employed clothes to indicate identity or the gender to their models. For this examination, I chose Ramin Haerizadeh (male Iranianwho looks at men’s clothing), Shadi Ghadirian (Female Iranianwho addresses women’s clothing), and Kader Attia (Male French-Algerianwho also deals with women’s clothing). While Haerizadeh questions the cross-dressing, both Ghadirian and Attia question women’s veiling and domesticity.

Bibliography

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Baumgartner, Jennifer. You Are What You Wear: What Your Clothes Reveal About You. Boston: Da Capo Press, 2012.

Eigner, Saeb. Art of the Middle East: Modern and Contemporary Art of the Arab World and Iran. Ed. Zaha Hadid. London: Merrell, 2010.

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MIT Press Edition. Veil: Veiling, Representation and Contemporary Art. Ed. David Bailey and Gilane Tawadros. MIT Press Edition. Cambridge : MIT Press, 2003.

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