Jaden Smith and the phenomena of "Gender Bending"

When considering gender fluidity in youth, my first thought was of Will & Jada Smith’s family, specifically their offspring, Jaden. (When writing that, I had difficulty finding a gender-neutral word to describe “child” without demeaning Jaden’s age, maturity, creative capacity, etc…that really should speak for itself towards societally-based gender construction, shouldn’t it?). Over recent weeks, Jaden has successfully become the poster-person for “gender bending”, tackling gender fluidity with a fearless sense of approaching their own artistic/creative notions, no matter what anyone else says about them. Smith, described as the frontrunner of “challenging masculinity norms” (Donnelly) has appeared in the most recent Louis Vuitton women’s wear campaign in a dress. While it’s not far off from their appearance to prom in a his-and-her dress combination (forgoing the traditional men’s suit & tie), the move has certainly warranted a lot more press than the last social media buzz.  

The folks in the video link below describe it best, as they talk about challenging the gender norms in the face of such public outcry and how Jaden is approaching the whole “gender bending issue”. 

First, I’ll provide some context. Jaden, as a child, was a Hollywood icon, often performing next their parents, and perhaps most well known for their performance with father Will Smith in The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) and more recently, the reboot ofThe Karate Kid franchise in 2010. In both of these films, Jaden performed to the gender norms constructed by society. They played to the script. Both films featured Jaden dressed in “masculine” clothing (the suit & tie look in Happyness and leather jacket, tie, dress shirt, men’s wear dress pants in Karate Kid) and took on a primarily “masculine” verbiage and articulation when speaking in the movie. 

In recent weeks however, Smith has begun to read off-script and transition into a primarily androgynous gender role. Two weeks ago, Smith posted a picture on their Instagram (below) from their recent Louis Vuitton photo shoot. Featured shirtless, presenting a more “masculine” body type, Smith presents painted nails (a deemed primarily feminine choice),  wears a skirt and fashions a rose behind their ear. 

What Jaden does here completely and *highly intentionally* displays almost 100% cracks in the gender performativity world. They completely go off-book here and perform what society has deemed, the alternate of the binary gender. The one thing that does perform to Jaden’s assigned-at-birth gender however is the fact that Jaden can freely pose shirtless without the backlash. There are no old white men up in arms with the fact that Jaden’s nipples are prominently displayed, nor is there a need to cover Jaden’s nipples with electricians tape. Instead, these old white men are up in arms about the photo itself, and the un-masculine conduct of Jaden in recent years (months?). Take a look at the comments on Jaden’s Instagram photo above, one in particular strikes me the hardest. Can you guess which one? 

In previous comments, Instagrammer @trippy_maanngg commented that they felt sorry for Jaden, and in response to @alvassaisabel explained that the comment was made because Jaden has refused to come out of the closet. 

Why must an assigned male be homosexual should he choose to perform to the opposite sex/gender? Butler challenges this social expectation, in essence describing the transvestite (read: drag queen, cross-dresser, etc.) quoting: “…the transvestite’s gender is as fully real as that of anyone whose performance complies with social expectations” (221). If a self-identified, heterosexual male from Scotland can dress in a traditional kilt to formal events — or a historical Gladiator, considered the epitome of masculinity can dress in a skirt in the fighting ring — why can Jaden not wear a dress, a skirt, or have painted nails attending an awards ceremony or going about everyday life without being labelled as a confused 17-year old. And why does Jaden need the pity of a (excuse the un-scholarly tone here…) straight “dudebro” just for living the androgynous life that they want to live? 

Maybe Jaden will keep living the “mood” he tweeted about just last month….at least until folks read a little bit of Butler and understand the notions behind gender performance and the difference between performativity and sexual orientation/identity…  

Cited: 

Butler, Judith. “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution”. The Performance Studies

Reader. Ed. Henry Bial & Sara Brady. 3rd ed. London: Routledge, 2016. 205-210. Print.