by Ellen Anthoni and Lina Juvens - visual ©Blanco

Since February 2014 Facebook has, aside from the conventional male/female options, developed over 50 different gender types for users to choose from. As such, the social media network offers users the possibility to give an alternative expression to their identity.

Gender benders and gender ninja’s don’t necessarily view themselves as being either a man, a woman or a transgender. Primarily, they like to switch between different genders. A gender ninja can choose to be prince charming for the day, to shift to a femme fatale the next day. 

Gender-bending super models  

The lines between male and female are also starting to blur in the world of fashion. Andrej Pejc is a gender bender model and was awarded as many assignments for his male looks as he was for his female looks. He repeatedly appeared on the catwalk at fashion shows for Jean-Paul Gaultier and also featured in commercials advertising bras for Hema. It is impossible to tell whether Andrej Pejc is a man or a woman. He has been a gender ninja for a long time but recently decided to permanently transform into Andreja Pejc. Erika Linder appeared in the 'come as you are/whatever you are' campaign by Crocker as a model for the men's as well as the women's collection. Casey Legler, a former Olympic swimming star, is the first female model to be registered with the male division of Ford models. Legler says she finds it easier to model as a man than she does as a woman. 

Andreja Pejc

Erika Linder - Casey Legler

Gender-bending musicians 

Gender bending is becoming increasingly common in popular culture. Mykki Blanco, the female alter ego of the rapper Michael Quattlebaum Jr. looks more like Kurt Cobain in a dress than a drag queen. And even though Mykki Blanco is female, she does not always appear as a girl. Mykki can also be a gothic tomboy who sports black lipstick and combat boots. Quattlebaum Jr. doesn't consider himself to be a transgender, but he does believe that gender is highly ambiguous. Stromae is inspired by Mykki Blanco and revealed both his male and female sides in his video clip 'Tous Les Mêmes'. The artist Sakimi Chen made gender ninjas of popular Disney characters. Even Kanye West appeared wearing a t-shirt from Céline's women's collection during Coachella. Jo Calderone is Lady Gaga's male alter ego and she collected her award for best female performer during the VMAs dressed as a man. 

This is an extract of the #MixMatch trend featured in our 2015 Trendreport. If you'd like to read on or discover what Trendwolves can do for you, get in touch. We're wolves, but we don't bite.