[Lifestyle] Ayushmann Khurrana schooled for calling his look ‘gender fluid’; know what it actually means

[#Hassan.]

 

"People need to understand that gender fluidity is not about costume play," Patruni Sastry said

 

Ayushmann Khurrana, recently, took to social media where he shared a magazine cover featuring him with kohled eyes and black nail paint. However, the post soon came under scrutiny for its caption, that has left netizens fuming. ALSO READ |Woven with waste: Ayushmann Khurrana makes a case for upcycled luxury fashion with this look Sharing the cover, the Vicky Donor actor wrote, “Gender fluid” with a black heart. Check out the post below.

The post instantly went viral, with the LGBTQ+ community calling it an “appropriation of queer identities” and schooling the actor about ‘gender fluidity’. Upon receiving backlash, the actor took down his Twitter post while his Instagram post is still visible on his account. “You’re a cis het male, not gender fluid. Wearing a black nail paint and starring in a movie based on gay men, isn’t gender fluid. Do better,” a user wrote.

As per WebMD, a gender fluid person is someone whose gender identity is not fixed. “It can change over time or from day-to-day. Fluid is a form of gender identity or gender expression, rather than sexual orientation.” “A person who is gender fluid may identify as a male one day, female the next, both male and female, or neither.” ALSO READ |LGBTQ health: What should doctors keep in mind while treating lesbian and bisexual patients? Artist Patruni Sastry, who identifies as gender-fluid, explained, “A gender fluid person is someone who constantly has the idea of gender changing, from one time to the other. They don’t fit into only one particular section of it. Being a gender fluid person, you might be triggered with gender dysphoria on a timely basis, even while having sexual activity. They go through multiple gender experiences and do not fit into one particular box of it.” Calling the actor’s post “a huge problem”, Sastry added, “People need to understand that gender fluidity is not about costume play. Wearing a ghaghra or putting a nail paint from a cis-het privilege doesn’t make someone gender fluid. Such things are quite insulting and disqualifying to the actual lives of people who are gender fluid. It leads to a lot of trauma and disqualification of a person’s existence.” Agreed Indrajeet Ghorpade, founder of Yes, We Exist, a digital LGBTQIA+ advocacy initiative, who said that unless it is the actor’s “coming out post”, the caption denotes that he is “confused between gender expression and gender identity”. “Genderfluid is a gender identity, it is not a style or a fashion trend. Being genderfluid in the Indian society comes with innumerable struggles, and if Ayushmann had any idea about what the community faces on a daily basis, he wouldn’t have simply indulged in this queerbaiting exercise,” said Ghorpade. “The post also propagates an incorrect stereotype that anyone who wears nail paint or makeup is a genderfluid person. This might subject a lot of young boys and men to bullying and harassment if they choose to paint their nails or apply mehendi or makeup and they might be misgendered by the bullies as genderfluid even though they might not necessarily be genderfluid,” he added.

link : https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/life-style/ayushmann-khurrana-gender-fluid-gq-magazine-lgbtq-gender-identity-7652189/