This Body Is Not Gendered

Abstract

What if societal constructions of gender were not thrust upon our bodies? This Body Is Not Gendered is an exploration in oil pastels, aiming to undress and ungender the body. Settler societies tend to view biology and anatomy as gendered, and gender as fixed and binary. These views are wielded to categorize and control bodies, stemming from the ocularcentric and heteropatriarchal norms ingrained within the overarching colonial project. Although I am a cis-woman and prefer she/her pronouns, I sometimes feel as if I do not fit within the parameters of normative femininity; sometimes, I feel ungendered. My pansexuality also defies these boxes that are placed around gender. Therefore, through my work, I want to challenge colonial conceptions of gender. Using oil pastels allowed me to capture the visceral, bodily process of art-making and allowed me to unleash my emotions through movement. This gave the work an illusion of motion, which touches on the fluidity of the body and gender. The rich colours were also used to show how a body is so much more than gender.