Bursting Societal Bonds
© Katja Scheibler
Mie, 28, Aarhus
“I kind of hate style things. I guess, you cannot get around categories, but I feel like a lot of times people read too much into what you do. They always try to put you into a box.”
Mie is everything but shy. Not only her clothes convey a strong personality at first sight, but talking to her, we get to know her as an outgoing feminist who does not mince matters.
Something that we quickly understand is: Mie hates boxes, both imaginative but also some real ones. When we meet her, she has just walked by a Zalando commercial: “It shows a man holding a box that reads ‘It´s a man box’. It´s a freaking box. It´s cardboard. It can be whatever box you want. but it´s not particularly masculine or feminine. It´s just a box. They´re trying to market it so that it won´t hurt a man´s ego to get clothes from a shop at which mostly women buy theirs.”
To Mie, this commercial demonstrates how people are confined by society, how they limit themselves in terms of what they can and cannot like in order to fit socially constructed identities that are perceived as ‘standard’. “I find it sad that, for instance, some guys are afraid to wear clothes that might not be perceived as masculine enough, or put on mascara, just because then their whole sexuality might get questioned. What is that all about? I mean, if it only takes you some mascara to make you gay, it´s rather likely you have been gay all along”, she explains.
Resulting from her deep interest in the development and expression of gender identities, Mie has joined a Ph.D. research program about young adults´ party practices, focusing on how they convey their gender and sexuality when they are drunk.
Talking to her about her style, she admits: “I kind of hate style things. I guess, you cannot get around categories, but I feel like a lot of times people read too much into what you do. They always try to put you into a box.” From Mie´s point of view, it seems as if society has created straight guidelines that one either fits or not. Growing up, she has realized that she rather belongs to the latter. Instead of trying hard, though, Mie decided to not care about this status but to find out what she really likes and be the person she wants to be. Instead of being categorized, she wants to be perceived as an individual.
This has, in some cases, provoked reactions that only confirmed her perception of society: “Let´s just take my nose ring as an example. People often ask me ‘So, why did you get it’, ‘Is it because it was fashionable’ or ‘Did you get it before it became cool’. Who cares? It´s a piercing and I like it. That´s it.” Based on her experiences, Mie believes that it is actually hard to not challenge society: “No matter what you do, you´ll end up making a statement.”
Even though she does not have a favorite color, she likes to express herself through them. Today, for example, she is in a "flashy" mood which has resulted in her wearing bright yellow boots and skirt, combined with a dark green top and a dark blue coat. Mie buys her clothes at thrift shops, where she feels to find a more diverse collection of unique pieces: “In the mainstream stores, they have the same collections every year. Around New Year´s Eve, they will have a lot of silver and gold, glitter and sparkles. For Spring, they will have bright green, so it´s the same thing over and over again. In thrift stores, though, they just have a varied selection of clothes throughout the whole year.”
In addition to that, Mie likes the fact that she does not have think too much when extending her wardrobe: “I only shop at the really cheap secondhand stores where, for instance, I can get a shirt for 40 Kr. If I then end up not liking it, it´s still okay.” The craziest outfit she got in one of those stores is a purple sequin dress that goes down to the floor. It is one of these “ridiculous dresses” that she would not wear on a regular occasion, but that made up for her Halloween costume.
Considering that she calls herself a weekly shopper, one would assume a big closet. Surprisingly, Mie states that this is not the case at all. Instead, she likes to share: “I actually give most of my clothes away. If something suits a friend better and I think that she should have it, I just give it to her. I don´t like to be too materialistic.”
© Katja Scheibler