Fashion and Female Empowerment: The Effects of Genderless Clothes,
Attractiveness, and Hypergender Orientation on Diminishing Stereotypical
Notions about Women.
Maria-Louiza Kalogerakou Student ID:11786337 Supervisor: Jochen Peter
Master’s Thesis
Master’s programme Communication Science (Entertainment Communication) Graduate School of Communication
University of Amsterdam 30-01-2020
Abstract
The aim of the present article is to provide a better understanding of how genderless clothes can diminish stereotypical notions about women. Moreover, the effect of attractiveness and hyper-gender orientation on the main relationship is examined. Social cognitive theory was used to explain the socially imposed role of gender in the social life and the moderating value of the attractiveness of the model on the main relationship. The main assumptions of the study were that genderless clothes have a stronger effect on diminishing stereotypical notions about women than gendered clothes and that this effect is stronger when the model is attractive. Finally, people who do not identify with hyper-gender orientation will be more susceptible to the diminishing role of genderless clothes on stereotypical notions about women. The hypotheses were tested in a 2x2 between-subjects experimental design (N=172). According to the results, there was no significant effect of genderless clothes on diminishing stereotypical notions about women. Furthermore, no difference was found between an attractive model (vs. unattractive model) and people who scored low on hyper-gender orientation (vs. people who scored high on hyper-gender orientation). The results of the present study contribute to the limited literature on genderless clothes and provide further insights into the existing theory regarding the influential role of the attractiveness of a model and the hyper-gender orientation of the viewer. Finally, the current study could be valuable for marketers and advertisers because of the interesting insights it provides which are applicable to the contemporary and future course of society and the fashion industry.
Introduction
Fashion is strongly linked to a certain cultural or social group that introduces different types of clothes, colours, accessories, and textiles to be worn by representatives of all genders (Lennon & Johnson, 2018). Genderless clothes do not refer to any gender orientation and can be worn by both male and female (Oetojo, 2016). Therefore, genderless fashion is inspired by androgynous style as it adapts more masculine textiles and lines provided in various sizes in order to accommodate both genders (Reis, Pereira, Azevedo, Jerónimo and Miguel, 2018). The first appearance of gender-neutral clothes was with the “Gender Nonconformity” movement before the 19th century when transgender, queer and bisexual people were using fashion to express with clothes what was then socially unacceptable to express with words (Steele, 2013). Genderless clothes encompass a trend that represents the social reality of the modern generation, as 81% of adolescents from all over the world declared that “gender doesn’t define a person as much as it used to” (Atasoy and Çaplı, 2016, p. 15). In this line, 60% of people with an age range from 14 to 34 admitted that gender is a blurry concept (Atasoy and Çaplı, 2016).
Stereotypical notions are common cultural, social and religious values and beliefs uncritically attributed to all people (Lloyd and Duveen, 1993). Stereotypes also concern gender roles about male and female and impose certain physical and behavioural attributes to them (Lloyd and Duveen, 1993). The manner of dressing for each gender is a socially construed concept and an essential part of one’s social identity (Akdemir, 2018; Lloyd and Duveen, 1993). The separation of gender in fashion was more apparent in the past since it signified the difference in social and power standards between men and women (Akdemir, 2018).
Since society is continuously evolving, fashion needs to adjust quickly to the current social reality. According to Oetojo (2016), big fast-fashion brands with global customer reach such as Zara and H&M have introduced genderless clothing lines. This initiative promotes gender
equality and signals the social need of people to not be gender-identified through their clothes. Contrarily to those who support that differences in the social structure should be reflected between men and women (Dökmen, 2016), gender division does not find in the modern world the support that it used to. Thus, stereotypical notions should be re-evaluated based on the current social reality (AKDEMİR, 2018). However, little research on the effect of genderless fashion on stereotypical notions about women has been carried out.
As it has already been discussed, genderless clothes are very closely related to social norms and society. Concretely, this research will focus on their influence as a means to diminish stereotypical notions about women. Because of its contemporary character, it is a topic that has not yet been researched extensively. Consequently, this piece of research may be of great interest due to its potential ability to broaden the existing knowledge on the effects of media depictions of gender, especially in fashion, on gender-stereotypical notions. The social contribution of this study falls on providing a deeper understanding of how fashion, and specifically gender-neutral clothes, contribute to gender equality. The effect of genderless clothing on stereotypes may not be universal. An interesting approach to this study may fall on the dichotomy between model and viewer, namely the features that actively affect the image a model projects, in combination with the set of personal characteristics that defines the viewer´s reaction towards it.
From the model´s perspective, a credible characteristic that has been successfully documented to affect judgments and notions is attractiveness (Bandura, 2009). Due to its subjective character, attractiveness is a concept difficult to be narrowly defined. For the purpose of this study, we will define attractiveness using ideals that are being promoted through media (Polivy and Herman, 2004), movies and the fashion industry (Plous and Neptune 1997) in western civilizations. Therefore, the present study will examine whether the attractiveness
of a model may influence the strength of the effect of genderless clothing on stereotypes about women.
From the viewer’s side, it may be that gender-personality characteristics such as a person’s hyper-gender orientation may affect the relationship between genderless clothes and stereotypes about women. The importance of this element is justified given its effect in related research regarding the effects of sexual content on people’s gender-related attitudes (van Oosten, 2016). Hypergender orientation refers to the adoption of heightened stereotypical characteristics, ideas, and behaviours of one’s gender (van Oosten, Vandenbosch and Peter, 2017). Thus, our research question goes as follows:
RQ: ¨Do genderless clothes have a stronger effect on diminishing stereotypical notions about women than gendered clothes?”
In addition, the possible influence of both the model’s attractiveness and the level of the viewer’s hyper-gender orientation will be analysed.
Theoretical Background
Social Cognitive Theory of Gender Development and Differentiation
According to Social Cognitive Theory of Gender Development and Differentiation (Bussey and Bandura, 1999), despite the biological aspect of sex differences, most of the stereotypical characteristics of males and females are associated with cultural social patterns (Bandura, 1986; Beall and Steinberg, 1993; Epstein, 1997). Social Cognitive Theory does not choose an effective, social, motivational or cognitive procedure to attribute gender differentiation. On the contrary, it supports that definition of one’s sex is a lifelong journey depending on different stimuli of social life (Bandura, 1986; Beall and Steinberg, 1993; Epstein, 1997).
Consequently, Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1986; Bandura, 1999) supports that all different aspects, contexts, and conditions of social life are interrelated and work together into sculpting one’s gender. One of the main aspects directly reflecting one´s gender is their physical appearance and, more concretely, their clothes. Research conducted by Ishii, Numazaki and Tado’Oka (2019) supports that wearing pink clothing is still associated with a feminine self-cognition, whereas wearing blue is connected with masculine self-cognition. This conceptualisation of what is typically associated with a specific gender is an aspect directly linkable to the core concepts of the present study: hyper-gender orientation, genderless clothes and attractiveness which will be depicted along with the relevant theory within this section.
Thus, in this study, we will investigate whether genderless clothes inspired by an alternative perspective of the female gender will have an effect on diminishing stereotypical notions about women and if a closer connection to the attractiveness of the model and what is traditionally linked to their gender (hyper-gender orientation) will affect the above-mentioned relationship.
Genderless clothes
In previous times, women were socially obliged to dress according to their gender and the social obligations that follow (AKDEMİR, 2018). However, as fashion becomes equal for men and women, female clothing is turning into a style more based on comfort, efficiency, and confidence (Oetojo, 2016). This tendency arises along with new fashion waves that have their roots in socio structural and gender-related concepts. One of the most rapidly spread trends is the genderless style (Oetojo, 2016). The marketing and advertising industries are starting to match the sociological discussions such as the elimination of gender roles thorugh the use of genderless clothes (Rocha-Rodrigues, 2016). Nevertheless, scientists Luna and Barros (2019) investigated how genderless clothes were interpreted by media and fashion business in Brazil,
revealing that genderless fashion still represents each gender individually and because of that social and gender stereotypes are sustained and diffused.
The way personal style is subjectively defined through fashion is an indicator of social status, gender, wealth and even educational level (Oetojo, 2016). Genderless clothes give the opportunity to the person who wears them to not socially conform to what is appropriate, to send a message to people that share the same beliefs and to take a stand without using words, and to not be necessarily defined by their biological sex (Britt, 2019). Based upon this, our first hypothesis goes as follows:
H1: Genderless clothes will have a stronger effect on diminishing stereotypical notions towards women than gendered clothes.
Attractiveness
Cultural and social preferences define what is considered beautiful and what is not, it is a combination of hair, skin tone, body type and facial characteristics that are chosen to represent the ideal beauty type (Millard, 2009). A possible explanation for this bountiful need to follow certain beauty standards is that in Western societies people who are considered beautiful are more valued, accepted, respected and successful, thus creating the idea that the western world “rewards” beauty (Calogero, Boroughs and Thompson, 2007). Hollywood and the fashion industry play a significant role in setting and advertising beauty standards globally. Beauty has become a symbol of power, wealth and social status (Plous and Neptune 1997). Nowadays, these social constructs of beauty are even stronger because of how easily they can reach society through social media (Polivy and Herman, 2004).
Traditionally, women have been objectified more than men and they are expected to embody certain ideals of beauty and style (Lennon and Johnson, 2018). Research by Maddux
and Rogers (1980) proved the persuasive effect of a certain communicator when this one is attractive. However, when the presence of a certain individual –a model in this case- does not imply any communicative action, the effects of their attractiveness might trigger a more immediate mental reaction. According to Bandura (2009) people “selectively” detect the events –such as the presence of a model, in our case- that they want to place their attention on. In order for people to be affected by an event they first need to notice it. In “Social Cognitive Theory of Mass Communication” Bandura (2009) indicates that the attractiveness of the model is a factor that enhances the cognitive capability of a person to be influenced by it and efficiently recall it (Bandura, 2009). In this line, findings of research conducted by Sui and Hong Lu (2009) show that the level of attention received by an individual is way higher if this one is attractive, and goes in line with the power of human beauty to influence, promote and establish certain ideas in our current society (Polivy and Herman, 2004).
This leads us to conclude that the strength of the effect of clothing on stereotypes may depend on the attractiveness of the model, affect both types of clothing more than the nonattractive version of the model, making them more engaging and persuasive for the viewer. Thus, our second hypothesis goes as follows:
H2: Genderless clothes will have a stronger effect on diminishing stereotypical notions about women if the model is attractive.
Hyper Gender Orientation
Young boys and girls relate extensively with stereotypical ideas of their gender which could lead to “hyper-masculine” and” hyper-feminine” orientation(van Oosten, Vandenbosch and Peter, 2017). Hypergender orientation is divided into hypermasculinity and hyperfeminity. Hypermasculinity entails boys behaving in an exaggerated masculine way in order to boost the characteristics of their gender (Mosher and Sirkin, 1984). Hyper-femininity is the same process
but for girls who are engaging in stereotypical girly behaviors in order to also relate and act according to their gender (Murnen and Byrne, 1991).
Feminity is closely linked to seductiveness, physical attractiveness, and appeal (Tolman 2002). Girls consider hyper-feminine characteristics and notions as a successful mean to attract more men ( Zurbriggen et al., 2010). On the other side, hypermasculinity is an excessive version of the idea of the leading, powerful and adventurous male which is confident and independent; masculinity is not focused that much on the looks rather than the personality attributions of men (Ringrose and Eriksson Barajas, 2011).
Due to previous research, this adherence to attributions of one’s gender starts from a very early age and is strongly connected to social influences (Martinez, Arauna and Tortajada, 2013) and mimicking behaviors of others belonging to one’s assigned gender(Halim and Ruble, 2010). Previous studies have successfully predicted that hypergender orientation predicts exposure to on-line pornography(Vandenbosch and Peter, 2016; Beyens,Vandenbosch and Eggermont, 2015) and sexy exposure of oneself on social media (van Oosten, Vandenbosch and Peter, 2017).
The present study will investigate another aspect of this concept and use it as a moderator to the relationship between genderless clothes and diminishing stereotypical notions about women. We expect that people who do not identify with hypergender notions will be more susceptible to the diminishing effect of genderless clothing on stereotypical notions about women. Furthermore, we expect that genderless clothes will not affect on people who identify with hypergender notions regarding the diminishing of stereotypical notions about women. However, we expect the effect of gendered clothes to be stronger for the group that identifies with hypergender notions. People who identify with hypergender notions will be indifferent to the effect of genderless clothes as they will not relate with the concept. On the contrary, the concept of gendered clothes will agree more with their stereotypical beliefs. Therefore, it will
be a more convincing method for them. The people who do not identify with hyper-gender notions have a mindset that matches better with genderless clothing since it is a concept that disagrees with the stereotypical approach of gender. Thus, it is more likely that this group will be more strongly affected.
As limited research has been done on the matter, studying the moderating role of hyper-gender orientation on the diminishing of stereotypical notions about women will broaden the relevant scientific landscape and social perspective.
H3: The diminishing effect of genderless clothes on diminishing stereotypical notions about women will be stronger for people who score low in hypergender orientation than for people who score high in hypergender orientation
Methods
Sample and Design
The experimental design to follow is a post-test 2x2 factorial between-subjects design, with the factors type of clothing (2 levels: genderless clothes and gendered clothes) and level of attractiveness (2 levels, namely: attractive and non-attractive).
The sampling frame of this experiment was broad as any English-speaking person above 18 years old was allowed to fill out the survey. 202 participants started with the study, of whom 30 did not complete it. The final sample thus consisted of N=172 participants. Each participant was randomly assigned to one of the four conditions (attractive-genderless clothes, nonattractive-genderless clothes, attractive-gendered clothes, nonattractive-gendered clothes). The randomization process was useful in order to maintain the unsystematic variation as low as possible (Bryman, 2012). The participants were divided into four groups and there were no missing values. From the total number of participants, 59% were female and 41% were male, also 96,5% of the participants were between 18 to 33 years old and a small percentage of 3.5%
were above 33 years old. Lastly, most of the participants had a master’s degree 45,93% and a respected number of them stated they acquire a bachelor’s degree of 41.28%.
Stimulus material
For the study, we opted for a high level of ecological validity. Therefore, the stimulus was designed to be as realistic and plausible to an actual fashion campaign as possible. Moreover, the stimuli were designed such that nothing was different between the four pictures except for the manipulated variables (level of attractiveness and type of clothing). The content of the pictures was created for the purpose of the study. The model used for the making of the picture was informed about the topic of this study and the cause of the experiment, she was above 18 years old and she gave her written consent in order to take part in the process. The fictitious character of the stimuli enhanced the control over the content and manipulation of the participants so that the results would be unbiased (Appendix A).
The stimuli included four fictitious pictures: for the first condition the model was photographed with genderless clothes wearing no make-up (genderless/nonattractive), in the second condition the model appeared wearing genderless clothes with make-up (genderless/attractive), in the third condition the model posed with gendered clothes and no make-up (gendered/ nonattractive) and in the last condition the model appeared wearing gendered clothes with make-up on (gendered/attractive).
Procedure
An online survey embedded experiment was created with the survey website Qualtrics and it was advertised on various social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn) in order to gather as many participants as possible. Only individuals older than 18 years of age were allowed to participate. Firstly, the questionnaire started with enclosed
information on the study and information about participants’ rights. Participants had to provide informed consent to continue with the experiment. Next, in order to gather demographic information, the participants filled out their age and educational level. Finally, participants were randomly assigned to the experimental conditions and later exposed to different stimulus material.
The condition genderless/nonattractive consisted of (n= 43) participants, the condition gendered/attractive (n= 42), the condition gendered/nonattractive (n= 41) and the condition genderless/attractive (n= 48). In order to explain this disproportionate group size, it needs to be stated that, at first, the sample consisted of 202 participants; some of them did not complete the questionnaire, therefore, their responses were removed.
First, the respondents stated their sex based on which they were assigned to the equivalent condition (hyperfeminine/ hypermasculine). Then participants were asked to observe a picture and respond to a set of items related to stereotypical notions about a woman’s appearance. After that the dependent variable was measured. Next, to ensure the quality of the stimuli they filled out questions related to the quality and aesthetics of the picture. Finally, at the end of the questionnaire, a debriefing was provided consisting of information about the purpose of the study and the fictitious nature of the stimuli.
Measures
Sex, Educational level, Age
In order to perform the randomization checks the variables of sex, educational level and age were recoded so that we could use them in an analysis of variance. Thus, sex was recoded in 1 (male) and 2 (female). Educational level was recoded in 1 (Primary school); 2 (Secondary school); 3 (High school diploma); 4 (Bachelor’s Degree); 5 (Master’s Degree) and 6 (PhD Degree). Finally, age was recoded into 1 (18-33 years old) and 2 (over 33 years old).We then
performed a two-way analysis of variance for each of the above-mentioned variables as dependent variables and the type of clothing and attractiveness as independent variables.
Hypergender orientation
The operationalization of hypergender orientation as was done in previous studies (van Oosten, 2016 and van Oosten, Vandenbosch and Peter 2017), will be based on the Hyper Femininity Scale of Murnen and Byrne (1991) and the Hyper Masculinity Index of Mosher and Sirkin (1984). Then we combined the concepts of hyperfeminity and hypermasculinity into one variable (for references to original scales used to measure the various concepts, item selection, and potential modifications, see Murnen and Byrne 1997 & Mosher and Sirkin, 1984). Hyperfeminity was measured using seven items but slightly reworded for the use among adults. The response scales for both concepts ranged from 1(=strongly disagree) to 5(=strongly agree). Both the hyperfeminity and hypermasculinity scale were initially subjected to a principal component analysis to check the component structure. Varimax was chosen as a rotation method because the criterion of implementing the Direct Oblimin Method was not met.
The principal component analyses showed that, for hyperfeminity, two items that referred to dominant behavior of men toward women loaded on a separate second factor and were thus removed. The final scale consisted of five items. An example of an item was “If a woman behaves sexy, she gets what she wants from a man” (Murnen and Byrne 1991). The items loaded on one factor (Eigenvalue = 2.34, explained variance 47%). The reliability of the scale was good, Cronbach's alpha =.72 (M= 12.37 and SD=4.14).
Hypermasculinity was measured using six items. The principal component analysis indicated that two items that referred to dominant attitudes of men loaded on a separate second factor therefore they were also removed. The final scale included four items. An example of an item as “I fight in order to win “(Mosher and Sirkin, 1984). The items loaded on one factor
(Eigenvalue = 1.52, explained variance, 37.88%). The Cronbach’s alpha=.44 (M=12.97 and SD=2.89) was low but since the items were previously used in another study, they provide enough reliability to proceed with the analysis.
Finally, we combined the scores of hypermasculinity (for men) and hyperfeminity (for women) into a new variable, hypergender orientation (M = 2.78, SD = .87). Given its use as a moderator variable in an analysis of variance, a median split was used to create two groups, participants who scored high (1) or low (0) in hypergender orientation.
Stereotypical notions about women
The operationalization of “Stereotypical notions about women” was inspired by the study of Reed, (2018), the items were adjusted to the purpose of this study (to find the original scales adopted to measure this concept, item selection, and possible modifications, see Reed, 2018). This variable was the dependent variable and originally was measured using nine items with a scale range from 1(=strongly disagree) to 5(=strongly agree). We performed a principal component analysis to check the component structure. Varimax was chosen as a rotation method for this variable since the criterion for using the Direct Oblimin Method was not met.
According to the principal component analysis, two items that referred to negative attitudes towards women’s appearance loaded on a second factor and were excluded. The final scale consisted of seven items. An example of an item was “Women who are not feminine make me feel uncomfortable” (Reed, 2018). The items loaded on one factor (Eigenvalue = 3.24, explained variance 46.25%). The reliability of the scale was good, Cronbach's alpha =.79 (M= 12.63 and SD= 4.98). Finally, a new variable was computed “stereoapp” (M= 2.11 and SD= .83).
Treatment check
The question for the type of clothing was operationalized as follows: The picture could be gendered/attractive, gendered/nonattractive, genderless/attractive and genderless/unattractive. “Type of clothing” variable was recoded to 1=genderless and 2=gendered, then a new variable “typeofclothing” ( was formed based on the answers of the participants on the question “ Did the woman wear gendered or genderless clothes” and it was, again, recoded as 0=gendered and 1=genderless. The Chi-Square was used to verify that the participants exposed to the genderless or gendered conditions and the attractive and non-attractive conditions perceived the manipulations as it was intended.
For the question “Was the woman on the picture attractive?”, a 5-points Likert scale was used; then the option “neutral” was pushed towards the negative rates 1 and 2 (nonattractive) so that the final outcome would be homogeneous. The recoding 1=attractive (consists of prices 4 and 5) and the rate 0=not attractive (consist of prices 1,2 and 3). The Chi-Square was used to verify that the participants exposed to the attractiveness were successfully manipulated.
Results Randomization and treatment checks
Randomization checks for type of clothing and biological sex, F (1, 184) = 1.76, p = .186, and for attractiveness, F (1,184) =.09, p=.759. For educational level and the type of clothing, F (1,184) = .04, p = .835 and for attractiveness, F (1,184) =.29, p=.585. Finally, for the age and type of clothing, F (1,184) = .68, p = .410 and for attractiveness, F (1,184) = .65, p = .420. In conclusion, the randomization checks were successful. For none of the three variables, any difference between the experimental groups emerged.
To check whether the treatment worked, two chi-square tests were performed: for the type of clothing (χ2 (1, n = 172) = 99.98, p < .05) and for the attractiveness of the model (χ2 (1, n = 172) = 4.08 p < .05).The results showed that the participants were manipulated successfully in both conditions.
Hypothesis testing
In order to check all the possible effects of our hypothesis, a two-way analysis of variance was conducted to examine if the H1 “type of clothing” (gendered/genderless) and H2 “attractiveness” (attractive/nonattractive) diminish stereotypical notions towards women. Finally, we conducted a three-way ANOVA to test H3: whether the effect of genderless clothes is stronger for people who scored low in hypergender orientation.
H1 stated that genderless clothes would have a stronger effect on diminishing stereotypical notions about women than gendered clothes. The analysis of variance showed a nonsignificant effect of type of clothing on stereotypical notions towards women F (1,181) = 1.51, p=.221.Thus, participants exposed to the genderless version of the model (M=2.02, SD=.75) did not score significantly higher than participants exposed to the gendered version of the model (M=2.17, SD=.88). Thus, H1 was rejected, genderless clothes did not have a stronger effect on diminishing stereotypical notions towards women than gendered clothes.
H2 stated that genderless clothes would have a stronger effect on diminishing stereotypical notions about women if the model was attractive. A two-way analysis of variance showed a nonsignificant interaction effect, F (1,181) =1.11, p=.298. The attractiveness of the model did not moderate the effect of type of clothing on stereotypical notions towards women. Thus, H2 was rejected.
In H3 it was expected that the difference between the effect of gendered and genderless clothing on stereotypes about women was expected to be bigger for those who scored low in
hypergender orientation compared to those who scored high. The interaction effect was not significant, F (1,171) =.38, p=.536. Therefore, we reject the H3.
Discussion
The intention of the present study was to attempt a better understanding of whether clothing type has an effect on diminishing stereotypical notions towards women and whether that effect can be moderated by different factors such as attractiveness and identification with hyper-gendered ideas or not. Bussey & Bandura’s (1999) social cognitive theory of gender development and differentiation were introduced. Based on this theoretical background, gender is defined from a very young age, but it can be fluid and influenced by various factors such as social stereotypes and social media. As Britt (2019) mentioned in his study, genderless clothes is an opportunity for people to express themselves without being narrowly identified by their gender. Therefore, this study used genderless clothes to examine if indeed they were able to diminish stereotypical opinions about women.
This theoretical inference was investigated in an experimental study in which respondents were randomly assigned to one of four groups and were randomly exposed to one of four different photos: model wearing genderless clothes presented attractive, model wearing genderless clothes presented unattractive, model wearing gendered clothes presented attractive and model wearing gendered clothes presented unattractive. Contrary to what was expected, participants who were exposed to the model with genderless clothes did not differ from participants that were exposed to the model wearing gendered clothes. According to the treatment check, participants grasped the difference between the type of clothing, but it might be that the statement of genderless clothes was not clear enough to raise a shift in perception about women’s stereotypes. Furthermore, genderless clothes have gained a lot of attention on social media recently, thus they might no longer represent a strong statement and to a certain
extent, they might have been normalized (El Jazouli, 2018). If genderless clothes have already been absorbed as unisex pieces of clothing or less feminine, then, again, the statement that we intended to create was not enough alarming to alter stereotypes about women.
In the second hypothesis, we examined whether different levels of the attractiveness of the model would affect the relationship between genderless clothes and stereotypical notions about women. Contrary to what was anticipated the respondents exposed to the attractive model did not differ from the respondents presented with a less attractive version of the model in both clothing conditions. A possible explanation for these results could be that people are more accustomed to professional models in campaigns (Wissinger, 2009). Since the model in the present study was not a professional, our participants were not influenced as much as they could have been by a professional fashion campaign. Moreover, it was challenging to create realistic unattractive shots of the model while keeping all other factors of the stimulus the same. Therefore, even though the participants realized the difference between attractive and not-attractive (treatment-check), the level of not-attractiveness and unnot-attractiveness may not have been strong enough.
Concerning the third hypothesis, the concept of hyper-gender orientation was introduced. We expected that the effect of genderless clothing on diminishing stereotypical notions about women would be stronger for people who scored low on hyper-gender orientation. However, we did not find support for the third hypothesis. A possible explanation for this outcome could be that the stimuli were not strong enough to activate a moderating impact for hyper-gender orientation on the relationship between genderless/gendered clothing and stereotypical notions about women. A moderating influence has been found for material that presents very clear gender roles (e.g. pornography) (van Oosten, 2016) and the hyper-gender orientation may be more relevant in that context. For future research, it would be interesting to investigate the moderating effect of different personality attributes such us
conservatism, “extraversion” and “openness to new experiences” (McCrae and Costa, 2008, p. 159) regarding stereotypes and genderless clothes.
Limitations and Future Research
The first limitation of this study derives from the demographics of our participants. As mentioned in the Social Cognitive Theory of Gender Development and Differentiation (Bussey and Bandura, 1999), education influences the creation of gender stereotypes. Therefore, the more an individual is educated and socially embedded in an environment where gender equality is established, the more immune they will be to a hyper-gender way of thinking. It might be useful for future research to create a more diverse sample of people from various educational and social backgrounds.
Another limitation of the study is the stimulus material. Even though a significant amount of effort was put in terms of quality, aesthetics and unbiased results, the material was not professional. Therefore, concepts such as “attractiveness” were hard to be manipulated in the best possible way. In order to avoid threatening the internal validity of our experiment, we wanted everything besides the attractiveness of the model, to be identical between the conditions. However, without professional photo editing or makeup, it is nearly impossible to present the same model as both attractive and unattractive. Consequently, the differences in the attractiveness of the model that we attempted to create, were strong enough for the participants to notice, but not enough to affect the main relationship.
Another limitation could be that the participants were presented with only one image of the model. The presentation of more images would likely have given them a more complete perspective of the concept. In addition, the pictures were embedded in an online survey. Perhaps the participants would have perceived the images differently in a more natural setting (e.g. in a fashion magazine). Finally, the effects would have been stronger in a long-term study,
in which the stimuli of the genderless clothing would be presented repeatedly and within the participant’s environment. From a theoretical perspective, since genderless clothing is a newly introduced concept socially and in the fashion industry, more qualitative research on the subject is needed in order to identify what people really associate it with and to get a deeper insight.
In this research, the moderating roles of attractiveness and hyper-genderism were used in order to explain how type of clothing could diminish stereotypical notions towards women. Although no main effect of clothing style on stereotypical notions of women was found, it may be worth for future research to also focus on the mediating role of sexual objectification. The way people dress is an essential part of objectification theory (Fredrickson and Roberts, 1997) and, specifically, sexual objectification. The more exposed the parts of one’s body are, the easier it is to find proof of sexual objectification (Lennon and Johnson, 2018). Studies have shown that women dressed more provocatively, and body-revealing are related to sexual and immoral behaviour and perceived as less genuine and trustworthy than women dressed in more modest manners (Moor, 2010; Fredrickson and Roberts, 1997). This concept can be used to investigate how different types of clothing could be used to reinforce or diminish stereotypical notions about women.
Practical Implications
Theoretically, the current study contributes to the limited existing literature on genderless clothing and how it can contribute to female empowerment and in decreasing the gender gap in society. It provides scholars with a deeper understanding of the relation between gender and genderless clothing. In addition, this research paper is one of the first to associate and examine the relationship between genderless clothing, model’s attractiveness and
hyper-gender orientation. This alternative perspective could give scholars a broader overview of the effects that these three factors have on stereotypical notions about women.
Finally, the results of this study could be beneficial for advertisers and marketers as they can better approach the emerging audience, which does not want to be identified by their gender. Furthermore, this study provides insights for people who work within the fashion industry about the increasing influence of genderless clothing in socio-structural norms and how fashion can adapt efficiently to this upcoming trend. From a social aspect, regarding the decrease of stereotypical notions about women, this study suggests a new way to approach female empowerment and how certain gender gaps and stereotypical notions can be settled. In fact, practitioners should continue promoting genderless clothing through fashion lines, campaigns, social media and advertisements as the present and future generations relate more to such concepts (Atasoy and Çaplı, 2016).
Conclusion
According to the current study, genderless clothes do not affect the diminishing of stereotypical notions towards women in modern society. In order to reach this conclusion, we took into consideration different factors such as attractiveness and hyper-gender orientation that would potentially influence our initial hypotheses. Even though our conclusions did match our expectations, it does not mean that the appearance of genderless clothing could not have a social impact. Genderless clothing is a very contemporary, prominent concept and unexplored field of study. Thus, with the construction of new hypotheses and the use of different factors this topic could be further examined more thoroughly.
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Appendices Appendix A: Stimulus material
Picture 1. Gendered and attractive Picture 2. Gendered and nonattractive
Appendix B: Online questionnaire Stereotypical notions about women
Below is a series of statements about the issue. Please indicate your level of agreement on each of the following statements.
1. A woman who does not dress feminine is weird
2. It is unflattering for a woman to present herself in a masculine way in public 3. Women who are not feminine make me feel uncomfortable
4. Children should be encouraged to explore their masculinity and femininity 5. Women who do not shave their legs are weird
6. My friends and I have often joked about women who do not dress feminine 7. People should wear clothes appropriate for their sex.
8. I can’t understand why a woman would dress in a genderless way.
9. I have behaved in a negative way towards a woman because she was dressed too masculine
