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TODAY: Pro-Choice Fashion Show

Jill

UPDATE: Show was tonight, and it was amazing. New pictures are up here! And even more by fantastic photographer Gary He here.

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If you’re in NYC, you must come. Body as Billboard Fashion Show, Monday Nov. 21st, 9pm, NYU’s Kimmel Center E&L Auditorium (4th floor). Kimmel is located on Washington Square South. Tickets are $7 for NYU students, $30 non-NYU. You can buy them at Ticket Central, downstairs in Kimmel.

The show features designs by Periel Aschenbrand, creator of the “The Only Bush I Trust Is My Own” shirt. All proceeds benefit Keep a Child Alive, which provides HIV/AIDS relief to children and families.

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Plus, TYSON BECKFORD will be walking the runway. And let’s be honest, it doesn’t get any hotter than that.

I went to the dress rehearsal tonight, and was blown away. You definitely don’t want to miss this one. More pictures below the fold, and even more here (intermixed with others, my apologies; scroll to the bottom).

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41 thoughts on TODAY: Pro-Choice Fashion Show

  1. Way to appeal to those red-state voters, pro-choice Dems! “Drug Dealer” – how deliciously transgressive. And gay guys on the catwalk – I can feel the patriarchy being undermined by your radical reconstruction of gender roles!

  2. On the back of the “Drug Dealer” tank, it reads, “A buck a day buys the drugs that keep a child alive.” All the proceeds of the tank go to Keep a Child Alive. So whine away that it doesn’t appeal to Joe Republican, but honestly, no one gives a shit.

    I don’t think Periel is trying to appeal to red-state voters (or even Democrats, necessarily). Her line is directed at young, urban liberals (not that others can’t wear the stuff, but that’s who she is, and who her “average consumer” would be). Not everything that liberals do is intended to get converts. This would be one of those things.

    Who said the guys on the catwalk are gay? Can you really tell sexual orientation simply through a picture? Because that’s a pretty great skill. Or do you just assume that anyone who would model a shirt in support of same-sex marriage has to be gay himself?

    And Tyson Beckford had better not be gay, or all my dreams will be shattered.

  3. So whine away that it doesn’t appeal to Joe Republican, but honestly, no one gives a shit.

    Oh, don’t mind Robert: He just couldn’t think of a way to make his comment a slam against Amanda.

  4. Hey, I’m not complaining. The more you guys commit cultural suicide on your own initiative, the better off my team is. Please, have one of these fashion shows in every county seat in America. I’ll do the fieldwork for you here in Colorado Springs.

    Not everything that liberals do is intended to get converts.

    Yeah, we’ve noticed that.

    Quite right, however, about assuming the flouncy young man wearing a wedding dress and a t-shirt reading “Marriage is so gay” is, himself, gay. This is fashion; he could just be getting paid to present that image. (Maybe the pro-choice models are actually pro-life Westchester soccer moms doing a moonlighting gig. Strange world, innit?)

    Chris, I resent your insinuation. I am capable of making any comment a slam against Amanda.

  5. Who is “you guys”? This fashion show isn’t an arm of the democratic party. And as great as this fashion show will be, I doubt it’ll have the kind of cultural impact that will sway anyone away from voting for Dems in the future.

    I would wear the “marriage is so gay” shirt, by the way. I’m not sure how wearing a shirt with a pro-marriage-equality slogan automatically makes the wearer gay (even if he is “flouncy” and wearing a wedding dress). And if he is gay (I actually don’t know him) — what does that have to do with undermining the patriarchy? Again, my dear Robert, I’m afraid you miss the point.

    And guess what? There are even Republicans modeling in the show. Doesn’t it just blow your mind?

  6. You know, “you guys”. Them. “Those people.” YOU know!

    I doubt it’ll have the kind of cultural impact that will sway anyone away from voting for Dems in the future.

    Oh, probably not. Once you’ve burned all the boats in the harbor, you don’t really have to worry all that much about your maritime policy anymore.

    There are even Republicans modeling in the show.

    New York Republicans. If they don’t work at National Review, it doesn’t count.

    Doesn’t it just blow your mind?

    Like, totally.

  7. I don’t understand the big deal you are making about the fashion show because, to me, it seems to not be affiliated with any party whatsoever and it merely striving to put forth a message. That message, in my opinion, seems to be towards awareness of the HIV/AIDS problem in poor urban/rural areas and especially over in Africa.

    So could you please focus on that (which is more important seeing as it does kill people) please instead of whether or not us “liberals,” “Democrats,” or whatever you want to call us are yet again committing cultural suicide? And please, do remember what your own party has been caught doing to itself lately, before you start in on us *guys*, k?

    Thanks.

  9. So whine away that it doesn’t appeal to Joe Republican, but honestly, no one gives a shit.

    Heh.

    Who is “you guys”? This fashion show isn’t an arm of the democratic party. And as great as this fashion show will be, I doubt it’ll have the kind of cultural impact that will sway anyone away from voting for Dems in the future.

    I would wear the “marriage is so gay” shirt, by the way. I’m not sure how wearing a shirt with a pro-marriage-equality slogan automatically makes the wearer gay (even if he is “flouncy” and wearing a wedding dress). And if he is gay (I actually don’t know him) — what does that have to do with undermining the patriarchy? Again, my dear Robert, I’m afraid you miss the point.

    Hate to say it Robert, but game, set and match to Jill.

  11. And frankly, I think many people involved with this project would rather have this kind of cultural in their street-level day to day life than a jive-ass Democrat in the White House. A Republican Lite ™ White House and Congress with a slightly more liberal Supreme Court and may less overt contempt for the environment is not worth sacrificing this kind of activism.

    And I try to be a gentleman on here, but “Knockout” is a very apt description.

  13. I would wear the “marriage is so gay” shirt, by the way. I’m not sure how wearing a shirt with a pro-marriage-equality slogan automatically makes the wearer gay (even if he is “flouncy” and wearing a wedding dress).

    Is that a “pro-marriage-equality” slogan, or an anti-marriage slogan? It seems to me it’s literally a slam against marriage, but stated ironically in support of same-sex marriage.

  14. Is that a “pro-marriage-equality” slogan, or an anti-marriage slogan? It seems to me it’s literally a slam against marriage, but stated ironically in support of same-sex marriage.

    It’s only a slam if you buy a pejorative reading of the word “gay,” which (I’m assuming) it’s not. So it’s pro gay marriage and reclaiming “gay” as a positive adjective while mocking both the big, institutionalized homophobia of hetrosexist marriage and the smaller, semantic homophobia of your pejorative “gay.” Ironcy is much less funny when spelled out..

    What’s “flouncy” about that guy (aside from the costume) anyhow? Standing straight up with his weight distributed on both feet… wrists straight… blank stare. Without the context I don’t see anything flouncing.

  15. Jaunty, at most. His costume is, without question, flouncy. Crinolines are pretty much the embodiment of flounciness. He, himself, is not flouncy.

  16. Robert, Robert.

    Anything done in Manhattan just doesn’t count as cultural suicide. Everybody knows Manhattan’s just a nest of liberal commie pinkos.

  18. Jaunty, at most. His costume is, without question, flouncy. Crinolines are pretty much the embodiment of flounciness. He, himself, is not flouncy.

    I saw him walk. He is surprisingly un-flouncy and un-jaunty.

  22. Liberal, commie, gay, Jewish pinkos. Let’s be accurate here.

    Liberal, commie, gay, Jewish, atheist, pornography-loving pinkos. Who hate puppies.

    How can one be pinko and commie?

  25. It’s only a slam if you buy a pejorative reading of the word “gay,” which (I’m assuming) it’s not. So it’s pro gay marriage and reclaiming “gay” as a positive adjective while mocking both the big, institutionalized homophobia of hetrosexist marriage and the smaller, semantic homophobia of your pejorative “gay.” Ironcy is much less funny when spelled out..

    I don’t actually misunderstand the irony at work here, but rather I’m trying to analyze it at a level above the one we’re supposed to stop. Does reclaiming the word “gay” have to come at the expense of sideswiping marriage? And why call it my pejorative? Isn’t that both presumptive and ignorant? Are we to assume “gay” is being used in its anachronistic definition? Marriage as a concept cannot be “straight” or “gay”–marriage itself doesn’t have the ability to be sexually-attracted–nor can it itself be homophobic, since it’s not capable of thought, let alone bigoted or fearful thought; the idea that my obviously rancid homophobic mind is grasping at straws, is insulting both emotionally and intellectually. So can we be aware of the idea that multiple and easily-comprehended wordplays are at work here, and that the author/designer knows full-well the use of the term as a pejorative—and indeed is using that to bring significance to your “reclaiming” of the term? To get back to my question, it seems to me it’s easily (and probably accurately) interpreted as a slogan in support only of gay marriage, while also a slam at marriage overall as an institution, and I’m questioning the lack of interest in addressing this.

  26. He had that look..I tell you, he’s teh gay!

    If you think that’s teh gay, then I implore you not to ever step on the island of manhattan. You’d be overwhelmed by teh gay. This guy appears straight by our standards.

  28. Jill, that’s the first “your mom” joke I’ve found amusing for years.

    More to the point, how could one be a commie and not a pinko, and vice versa? That’s like saying “how can someone be homosexual and gay?”

  30. I was under the impression that being “pinko” means one is a fellow traveler with communists, but not actually one. How, exactly, can one be a fellow traveler to one’s own movement?

  31. Isn’t a pinko someone with left political beliefs who is also a homosexual? Calling someone a pinko is an anti-gay slur against a leftist.

    Whereas “commie” is just being a Marxoid retread.

  32. Whoops, apparently not. Wikipedia says that a pinko is a supporter of the Soviet Union.

    (As opposed to just being a commie, I suppose, who could be opposed to the Soviet Union for one reason or another.)

  33. Communists are “reds.” A “pink” is a watered-down red. Calling someone a pinko is saying that they’re so far to the left that you think they’re a bad person, but you can’t actually prove that they’ve ever been a member of the CP.

    I’m sure it has all sorts of gendered associations, but I think it was originally a play on the concept of “red” Communists.

  34. I think Robert’s just heard people called “Pinko Faggots” too many times. Hyperbolic attack against war protesters, who were supposedly lacked both the patriotism and manliness to go to war.

  35. I’ve always found mom jokes one of the lowest forms of humor besides fart jokes. Of course I’m watching Porky’s right now (God did my GF give me shit for that rental!) so you can safely assume that my sense of humor is of the lowest sort;-).

  38. “I was under the impression that being “pinko” means one is a fellow traveler with communists, but not actually one. How, exactly, can one be a fellow traveler to one’s own movement?”

    A lot of people who get called “commie” aren’t actually communists. In fact, actuall Communists were usually clearly demarcated as “card-carrying members of the Communist Party”. “Commie” and “pinko” are roughly equivalent anti-left slurs, though “pinko” has since acquired homophobic connotations.

    “To get back to my question, it seems to me it’s easily (and probably accurately) interpreted as a slogan in support only of gay marriage, while also a slam at marriage overall as an institution, and I’m questioning the lack of interest in addressing this.”

    When analyzing the intended meaning and probably interpretation of slogans like that, it’s fairly informative to examine the intended audience. I think it’s safe to assume that the young liberal New Yorkers at whom this event is targeted will understand it to mean “marriage is now also for gay people”. Is it easily misunderstood? Certainly. But it’s not being used as a nation-wide slogan in favour of legalizing gay marriage, and it’s fairly clear to its intended audience what it means. Now, I wouldn’t put it on a t-shirt, exactly because it’s so easy to misinterpret, but I posit that the audience to which it’s targeted knows pretty clearly what it means.

  39. KnifeGhost, unless you’re aware of some recent legislative developments on gay marriage in New York, I think that you’re not quite hitting the nail on that slogan. Like I said, it takes away all the funny (and by now, interesting) to spell things like this out, but I think it’s more likely the t-shirt was supposed to mean “gay people should be able to get married” or maybe just “gay marriage is in the news a lot.”

    Anyhow. multiple interpretations are kind of the point of pomo wit. It’s easy to interpret the phrase in different ways, but I think it would be difficult to misinterpret it entirely.

  40. When I say “is now also for gay people”, I meant that as a statement of ideals, rather than fact. Besides, I live in the socialist paradise that is Canada. I forgot how things are in other places…. 😉

  41. coming late to the party, don’t care.

    See if I invite you to MY next fashion show, Bill.

    Robert, you’re a straight, white, conservative male.

    They don’t have fasion shows for khakis.

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