For the time being, let's ignore the fact that I haven't posted on here for over a year due to keeping a small person alive (this is a very time-consuming activity; in case you hadn't heard), and instead, let's talk about what everyone else is talking about.
For this post I'm not aiming for originality - I realise that everyone and his dog is writing about this woman - but it's just been the first topic I've been compelled to write about since birthing the boy.
The inspiration came from watching a short film entitled 'Break Free', that the woman of the hour made herself; it shows her transformation from a very stereotypical version of a female model to a truer, some might say more 'masculine', version of herself, and the one that more closely resembles her character in hit show 'Orange is the New Black'. This transformation perfectly encapsulates why she is attractive to so many different people. She is undeniably attractive; even if you weren't attracted to her, you could not say that she was ugly. She has a very symmetrical face, large eyes, full lips and a slender and healthy-looking physique. But that's not it. That's not what has prompted tweets, Facebook statuses and even articles that men and women who consider themselves to be straight or gay have written saying 'I would'. (Lucky her! What an honour that many random strangers would do you given half the chance...)
Being married to a man, in a definitively monogamous relationship, means that I 'wouldn't' (shag her, just in case you hadn't caught on). But after watching her performance in OITNB I definitely feel myself being attracted to her in a way that I am not usually to women. Obviously there are many women who I consider to look attractive but that's not the same. As with most people, I'm not just attracted to someone because of what their mumma and daddy gave them. Genes can only get you so far. It's a combination of so many things including sense of humour, attitude to life, values, the way someone moves, speaks and how they present themselves. The way that Ruby Rose presents herself is very much appealing to many people. She is the perfect storm: beautiful but edgy; tattooed and stylish; short hair, but not devoid of hair (on her head, I mean...there is a scene of her naked in the show but I wasn't really focused on the state of her body hair). She does not conform to the pressures that many beautiful women feel to have long hair, fake tits, wear loads of make-up and wear dresses and high heels - be 'feminine'.She is the perfect combination of things that both people who are attracted to men and women find attractive. Plus she just comes across (as her character and in real life) as mysterious and interesting and what's not sexy about that? It's brilliant because it's making people realise how little the labels imposed on us matter. Female/male. Gay/straight. Masculine/feminine. Even though none of these are inherently offensive words (unlike some other labels people like to throw at gender-fluid people) they can be incredibly limiting in society today. The body you have under your clothes doesn't matter. It's who you are and how you present yourself that matters and it's clear that Ruby Rose is damn cool and very alluring. I don't think nearly as many people would think she was so stunning without her tattoos and with the long blonde hair that she sports in wig-form at the beginning of her short film. It's how she presents her personality via the way she looks that makes her more beautiful and interesting.
It is sad that it took this long for some people to realise that gender-fluidity is beautiful, interesting and acceptable and it's a shame that it took someone who is quite so beautiful to be the poster child for it (us humans are the most shallow animals), but we just need it to happen, however that may be. Hopefully it is a step towards gender-fluidity being more accepted or even celebrated; men wearing dresses or make-up and not being treated like freaks, women having short hair and never wearing heels or make-up and still being deemed attractive and respected within society - or even just not being asked if they're ill...come on, people.
I'm sure it feels like a massive amount of pressure on someone who has only just come into the limelight in such a big way; she is bound to be a role model for many young people struggling with gender identity and identity in general, but so far, she seems to be handling it with panache.
Have you experienced gender-fluidity yourself? What do you think of Ruby Rose? What do you think of the new season of OITNB? (No spoilers!!)
Tell me below or here @myfeministlife or here myfeministlife@gmail.com
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