Change Happening In Front Of Us

    I have written many times about the growth of the number of people who don't wish to be identified by gender.  And certainly, in our current culture no person embodies that idea more completely that Tom Newwirth, more easily known as Conchita Wurst.  What Conchita Wurst does, with the visual image presented, is straddle the fence of gender roles, and allow us to see more broadly. 

    How does this affect the Attire language?  Well, sometimes its not larger social changes that force the conversation to move onward;  sometimes its a single human person, who strikes a note that people can suddenly hear. Though this concept of living outside of gender identification is nothing new, it is taking people like Conchita Wurst and others with the courage to create themselves entirely as their own human person to get people to see, and listen.  With a combination of a phenomenal talent as a singer, undeniable beauty, and a wisdom far beyond the 24 years of Neuwirth's age, the subject of what is and is not appropriate for males and females to dress in, and how they are to behave, has gotten a profound shake. 

   

    Though Wurst chooses to dress in apparel that is traditionally female as a performer, the ever present full beard, continually reminds us that we are seeing something unique, something special.  That is one of the profound motivators for a good deal of the Attire language, and for us as individuals; that desire to be seen as special, and wonderful, is ever present.  So, what Wurst is doing is telling everyone that our specialness is our own gift, and that if we hide that gift, we not only diminish ourselves, but the people around us, as well.

  

     How far this will go, and how long a process it will be is unknown.  For myself, I look forward to this moving along, and allowing more and more people to understand, and express themselves with personal conviction, and clarity.