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Black belt, Iowa State University’s Textiles and Clothing Museum. Owner – Kai, gay, woman, 43, lives in Iowa. personal interview with Kai, October 17, 2017 Those don’t appeal to me, but the men’s are too big for my wrist, so that’s a huge thing. If you find them for women, they’ll be bedazzled or ornate or you know just make them girly in some way. You don’t typically find those for women in a kind of fashion I like. Like leather brand bracelets kind of thing. “One of my pet-peeves is that it’s really difficult to find accessories for women who look like me, so for example, I really like cufflinks not cufflinks, like suit cuff links, but cuffs. White Button Down, Blue Tie, Blue Dress Cargo Pant White sports bra, Iowa State University’s Textiles and Clothing Museum. Swim trunks: Owner – Kai, gay, woman, 43, lives in Iowa. What do you do with swimsuits when you’re a gay woman and you are just uncomfortable in feminine things, so my answer to that was to just get a one-piece swimsuit, and then I wear men’s swim trunks on top of it.” -personal interview with Kai, October 17, 2017 “There’s another place that’s really tough for gay women, which I didn’t really ever think about until I had kids: the swimming pool. Owner – Cyndi, lesbian, woman, 42, lives in Iowa. “I wear this, but then I wear swim trunks because I felt too exposed, not wearing swim trunks with it, yeah…’aquatard’.” -personal interview with Cyndi, November 21, 2017 Photo courtesy of Lyadonna, personal collection. Photograph: Lyadonna as a teenager wearing a more feminine swim suit, highlighting the fluidity of her style. Owner – Lyadonna, bi-sexual, woman, 32, lives in Iowa. It was part utility, but it was also you know this is, I bought this in the “lesbian section.” -personal interview with Lyadonna, October 5, 2017 Whenever I would go swimming there I would wear men’s swimming trunks and a sports bra instead of a bathing suit, so and also because it was you know, gross, and it would have gotten like dingy on a swimsuit. “We had this disgusting creek in Joplin but everyone still went and it was just like don’t go with open sores or anything. Owner – Jennifer, lesbian, genderqueer, 50, lives in Iowa. I tried on all these different personalities, and finally in the end, I said “fuck it” I’m just gonna be myself, and we had an encounter where we made eye-contact and I’m now one of his favorite people, so I worked really hard.” -personal interview with Jennifer, November 21, 2017 “Cyndi’s dad gave it to me, um, and when Cyndi and I first started dating, he talked to me for about nine months and then he learned I was going to seminary and then he stopped talking to me for three years and so, during those three years, I had to, I had tried all these different ways to get him to like me. I’m coming out all of the time because of the way I look whether I want to or not.” -personal interview with Kai, October 17th, 2017 That’s probably one of the more difficult aspects I think. There are days where, I don’t want to have to say I’m gay or I’m married to a woman, or there’s days where I’m just tired and I just want to be able to easily move through this interaction and move on and I can’t because of the way I look. “Because its an automatic assumption, and because I look the way that I do I don’t always get to make that choice, and there are days when I don’t want to carry the sword. “Anything cargo I’m all in, I just think they’re great, how could you ever have too many pockets?” “I prefer men’s you know, I’m attracted to most things that are men’s styles.” If that makes sense.” Green Sweater, Orange T-Shirt, Tan Cargo Shorts
Kai (gay, 43, Iowa) who said she is “uncomfortable in feminine things” stated, “I feel like the way I dress is very authentic to me and so I would dress this way regardless who I was attached to. While not all lesbians dress in the masculine-of-center or butch style, some women in the LGBTQIA+ community do feel most comfortable and confident when expressing a masculine aesthetic. Today, cargo shorts, loose-fitting jeans, and Birkenstocks are seen as essential garments of the masculine-of-center wardrobe. The stereotype of the “butch,” masculine, lesbian is probably the most common stereotype associated with queer women. Women in the LGBTQIA+ community have been challenging gender-norms through dress for centuries.