Space Oddity: David Bowie and Gender Performance

"David Bowie has come... to symbolize modern rock as an idiom in which literacy, art, fashion, style, sexual exploration and social commentary can be rolled into one."  - Rolling Stone Magazine

During the 1970’s, the genre of glam rock seemed to propose “a flight towards the sensationalist aesthetic of the ‘strange,” embodying a wildly contradictory range of cultural motifs, expressed through the use of masks, make-up, platform heels, and outrageous costumes (Chambers, 66). This theatrical display suggested that gender roles were merely superficial; it drew public attention to sexuality precisely during a time in which authoritarian morality was making a concerted effort to ‘clean up’ the media and reassert traditional views on sexuality and ‘moral’ behavior (Chambers, 74). A pioneer of this genre, David Bowie subverted the notion of the masculine rock star through his use of androgynous costume, elaborate make-up, erotic stage performance, and provocative song lyrics. Through his embodiment of archetypal, sexually ambiguous characters such as Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane, Bowie was able to push the boundaries of gender roles on and off the stage, while encouraging his young audience to do the same. He did so at a time when the “free love” mantra of the 1960’s had given way to anxiety over amoral decadence and social decay. Throughout this turbulent era, Bowie’s ambiguous characters presented new possibilities for self-expression, and a highly visible yet subversive escape for the new youth. Subsequently, his work is of paramount importance to the study of fashion and gender performance.

Glam rock was at once narcissistic and sophisticated in its self-conscious expression of the rock star as an artificial construct. Its reflective, theatrical nature allowed the genre to survive the scrutiny of a conservative, if not homophobic public – after all, it was only rock and roll. The seemingly taboo elements of glam-rock were acceptable to a greater audience than the gay community because they existed under the guise of performance. In her essay, “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution,” Judith Butler underlines the reason for this phenomenon:

In the theater, one can say, “This is just an act,” and de-realize the act, make acting into something quite distinct from what is real. Because of this distinction one can maintain one’s sense of reality in the face of this temporary challenge to our existing ontological assumptions about gender arrangements; the various conventions which announce that “this is only a play” allows strict lines to be drawn between the performance and life (Butler, 194).

The following case study of David Bowie fits well into this methodological approach. A further discussion of the performative aspect of gender in relation to fashion is necessary to appreciate the complexity of Bowie’s characters.

Fashion and Gender Performance

In feminist discourse, the term “gender” has come to be understood as a performative process, rather than a biological fact. Gender has to do with how one performs or defies the expectations of their biological sex within the hegemonic heterosexual model of society. It is useful to underline the distinction between “gender” and “sex,” using Anne Oakley’s definitions as set forth in Sex, Gender and Society, where “sex” refers to the biological differences between male and female: the visible difference in genitalia and the related difference in procreative function. Gender refers to the social classifications of “masculine” and “feminine" (Entwistle, 142-143). Because gender roles can be fluid from one culture to the next, they are generally difficult to define - however, the gender constructs of each culture do revolve around some of the same principles.

One of the main issues with gender is that it is based on a heterosexual model: if one is born male, then one must perform as a “man,” adopting the rituals and dress that are associated with masculinity in that particular culture. Males are expected to be attracted to females, and vice versa. If the performance of masculinity is disrupted beyond an acceptable point in fashion, gesture, or sexual conduct, that behavior is punished accordingly. This model of behavior is supported by Merleau Ponty’s reflection, “the body is an historical idea, rather than a natural species" (Butler, 188). The gender roles of men and women are socially constructed, and have been re-enforced throughout history in a series of repetitive acts. These acts are performed as though gender itself is a fact, though gender roles do not occur naturally. Fashion scholar Susan Kaiser aptly states, “Gender is socially constructed and culturally created and represented. Gender is something that people do” (Kaiser, 127).  Thus, when David Bowie appeared in skintight bodysuits and platform heels, he could have been said to be performing aspects of the female gender through fashion. However, the contrast of his deep voice and obvious male sex (on display thanks to those same skintight bodysuits), served to confuse the issue. The nullification of male and female attributes in Bowie’s performance explains his common association with androgyny.

Fashion plays an important role in the performance of gender - it allows others in society to categorize an individual as either male or female according to dress and personal appearance.  Fashion also allows the individual to come into a sense of being either masculine or feminine through everyday performance; as the feminist scholar Simone de Beauvoir famously asserted, “One is not born, but rather, becomes a woman" (Butler, 188). Gender is thus “a process of the body,” and inevitably involves “engagement with complicated, shifting coding systems of colors, fabrics, trims, forms, shapes and patterns, and other body fashionings" (Kaiser, 121). These other fashionings include hairstyles, fragrances, or grooming rituals that “finish” the body and support the performance of gender. Gender performance does not occur without an audience. Kaiser explains, “From a performative perspective, gender can be described as a way of repeatedly styling the body; this styling is regulated by cultural discourse, but it becomes part of the ongoing experience of fashioning the gendered body on a personal and social level, as well" (Kaiser, 123). 

Though every individual must interact with and participate in fashion, the term consistently seems to imply femininity in the negative sense that it is superficial or fickle. It follows that men should avoid being categorized as fashionable, which would undermine their masculinity. Kaiser expands upon this idea: “A feminine borrowing or appropriation of masculine power seems to be more logical than a masculine borrowing or appropriation of female power. The context of cross-dressing, in turn, seems to follow from this principle of hegemonic masculine power. That is, MtF cross-dressing is likely to arouse more attention and anxiety than FtM cross-dressing due to gendered power relations that are in flux but obviously still uneven" (Kaiser, 123). 

The issue of cross-dressing is especially interesting in its element of performing the other. Butler uses the radical example of the drag queen, whose theatrical “act” is acceptable on the stage, but becomes dangerous in everyday life because, “there is no presumption that the act is distinct from reality" (Butler, 194). David Bowie’s feminine attire, however, was acceptable because he was publicly performing characters of his own creation. James Perone addresses this subject in his analytical text, The Words and Music of David Bowie:

"The fact that [David Bowie] played a theatrical role, confirmed by his costumes and makeup, that was at home on stage, in the recording studio, and (as far as the public could tell) in his private life, allowed his work to cross over into the realm of performance art" (Perone, 144). 

A contemporary of Bowie, Brian Eno contends, “I think all those [glam] bands – us and Bowie and the others – were turning round towards the audience and saying, ‘We are doing a show’” (Pegg, 236). Thus distinction between performance art and taboo made Bowie’s characters both permissible and wildly successful. The following is a character and costume analysis of two of his personae from the 1970’s: Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane.

Ziggy Stardust

The character of Ziggy Stardust is the subject of David Bowie’s 1972 concept album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. According to Bowie, Ziggy was created as a fashion icon; he states in a 1990 interview for Q Magazine that the name Ziggy was inspired by a tailor’s shop by the same name, and since “the whole thing was going to be about clothes,” it would be a fitting title (Du Noyer). Ziggy’s “fall” was based on the cautionary tale of Vince Taylor, a British pop singer who enjoyed some popularity in the 1960’s but fell prey to drug-induced hallucinations, which effectively ended his career. The archetype of the tragic rock-star was one that would be rehashed throughout the next decade, as other stars like Syd Barrett, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin succumbed to addiction.

Ziggy begins as a messianic figure, an alien or prophet sent to spread hope at the end of the world. As his celebrity grows Ziggy forgets his purpose, losing himself in the decadent lifestyle of the superstar, and eventually commits ‘rock ‘n roll suicide.’ About the album, biographer Nicholas Pegg writes, “The nature of stardom, the end of the world, the extraterrestrial shtick, the false Messiah and the mistrust of organized religion, the lure of America, rock music and celebrity as metaphors for sexual consummation, decline, defeat, catharsis: all Bowie’s pet subjects wrapped in eleven perfect pop songs” (Pegg, 242). The album came at the right time, considering the unrest that was proliferate during the seventies. Pegg states, “Glam [rock] was about cherishing uncertainty, anxiety and change, and it did so via a heady combination of nostalgia and futurism” (Pegg, 235).  Bowie’s outlandish costumes gave him an extraterrestrial appearance that defied earthly gender constructs and made Ziggy Stardust a celebrity of celestial proportions.

Ziggy Stardust Costumes

David Bowie worked closely with designer Freddie Burretti to fabricate an edgy wardrobe fit for “Starman” Ziggy, which was mostly comprised of fitted suits and quilted separates. Angular shoulder pads and sleek lines cut a dramatic figure in editorials and onstage, while a proliferation of geometric patterns emphasized the extraterrestrial essence of the Ziggy character. Bowie completed the ensemble with a pair of plastic PVC platform shoes, which in context might be described as moon boots.

Burretti’s suits highlighted Bowie’s slender frame with bold color combinations and wild patterns. His 1972 two-piece suits for the Ziggy Stardust tour look strikingly similar to astronaut attire, featuring long exposed zippers and quilted fabric. The resulting texture appears both functional and couture, while the busy patterns encourage the eye to travel; it is a dizzying effect. The PVC boots finish the outfits with a polished, futuristic look. Though David Bowie announced the end of the Ziggy Stardust character on July 3, 1973, he continued to use the concept of the space man in his subsequent album and tour, Aladdin Sane.

Aladdin Sane

The character of Aladdin Sane, or “a lad insane,” was a continuation of the Ziggy Stardust aesthetic, which sought to capitalize on the concept of the artist as a victim of his stardom. By this time, Bowie was himself struggling with the implications of his massive celebrity. Aladdin Sane was much about the reconciliation of the split personalities, David Bowie and Ziggy Stardust. Aladdin Sane’s highly evolved style transcended the boundaries of gender; his gaunt appearance, effeminate make-up and exotic costume seemed completely alien.

The album art for Aladdin Sane is one of the most iconic images in fashion and music history. Bowie is pictured with his eyes closed, his characteristic red hair swept back in the mullet style of the day. His smooth, hairless skin and jutting cheekbones contribute to his effeminate appearance, while Pierre La Roche’s innovative makeup gives the impression of both a brilliant bolt of lightning as well as a bloody wound.

In her essay, “Theater of Gender: David Bowie at the Climax of the Sexual Revolution,” Camille Paglia writes,

It’s as clinical as an autopsy… the background blankness is encroaching like a freezing cryogenic wave upon the figure, with a glob of extracted flesh lodged on the collarbone. This teardrop of phalliform jelly resembles the unidentifiable bits of protoplasm and biomorphic conglomerations that stud the sexualized landscapes of Salvador Dali. Also Surrealist are the inflamed creases of Ziggy’s armpits, which look like fresh surgical scars as well as raw female genitalia (Paglia, 78).

Bowie appears both sexed and sexless, a futuristic entity beyond the boundaries of gender. With his eyes closed, he looks so innocent, sexually ambiguous and ambivalent.

Aladdin Sane Costumes

After joining forces with Japanese designer Kansai Yamamoto, Bowie began to cultivate an even greater alien aesthetic, drawing inspiration from Eastern patterns, fabrics, and silhouettes. Yamamoto was to generate the next wave of Bowie’s spectacular costumes for the 1973 Aladdin Sane tour, which was essentially a continuation of the Ziggy Stardust concept with the addition of song material and an amped-up stage routine. Aladdin Sane’s style included elements of traditional dress, skintight bodysuits, avant-garde makeup, and intergalactic hairstyles.  

When he began designing Bowie’s costumes, Yamamoto remarked, “He has an unusual face… He’s neither man nor woman… which suits me as a designer because most of my clothes are for either sex" (Cullen, 240). Yamamoto’s costumes transformed Bowie’s live shows into exotic productions that existed in the liminal space between high art and dramatic performance. Oriental influences simultaneously endowed Ziggy’s character with a sense of alien authenticity and paid homage to the traditional practice of Kabuki Theater:

As 1972 progressed, Bowie began using Japanese culture as another signifier for what was “alien” in his species of rock music. Kabuki literally means “song, dance, art,” and its exotic make-up and physical expressionism, not to mention the fact that both male and female roles are played by men, gave it an obvious resonance for Bowie (Cullen, 367).

The gender complexity of Kabuki performance was most fascinating to Bowie, as was its aesthetic of visual excess in costume and make-up. It was at this point that Bowie began to move beyond the realm of glam rock and into that of the Oriental other. Aladdin Sane equated extraterrestrial “otherness” with Orientalist fashion. Kansai Yamamoto’s designs also lent themselves to Bowie’s androgynous appeal due to their dramatic shapes, colors, and alternative materials. His 1973 “Tokyo Pop” vinyl bodysuit is a prime example – the sensational curves of the suit evoke the shape of exaggerated harem pants, while the symmetrical embroidery emphasizes the vast amount of material and adds a futuristic texture. The sleek vinyl catches the light, which gives the whole ensemble an additional sense of volume. The shape of the costume is neither male nor female, but rather androgynous and otherworldly.

Yamamoto’s asymmetrical knitted bodysuit from the same period has a similar effect. The garment is skintight and very revealing, exposing the left arm and right leg. The hemline on the right side flirts dangerously with the pelvic region, while the left breast and collarbone are exposed. The daring bodysuit is blanketed with four individual patterns and divided into seven sections. Three giant knitted bangles adorn the exposed wrist and ankle. Yamamoto also designed an Oriental cloak to be worn over the bodysuit. The silk fabric is decorated with kanji characters in the Japanese style, which translate as “one who spits out words in a fiery manner,” and phonetically spell “David Bowie.”

Bowie asserts that these costumes were designed to broaden rock’s vocabulary:

We were trying to include certain visual aspects in our music, grown out of the fine arts and real theatrical and cinematic leanings… as far as I was concerned, I introduced elements of Dada, and an enormous amount of elements borrowed from Japanese culture. I think we took ourselves for avant-garde explorers, the representatives of an embryonic form of postmodernism (Pegg, 235).

By associating himself with Oriental culture, David Bowie transcended the boundaries of gender and revived the Orientalist aesthetic in fashion. This synthesis of art, fashion, and music contributed to an international discourse concerning gender roles and sexual liberation.         

David Bowie and Sexuality

In addition to his androgynous style, Bowie’s ambiguous statements and behavior also kept his audience guessing about his sexuality. In the 1972 January issue of Melody Maker, Bowie openly declared his homosexuality. Interviewer Michael Watts wrote,

David’s present image is to come on like a swishy queen, a gorgeously effeminate boy. He’s as camp as a row of tents, with his limp and trolling vocabulary. ‘I’m gay,’ he says, ‘and always have been, even when I was David Jones.’ But there’s a sly jollity about how he says it, a secret smile at the corners of his mouth. He knows that in these times its permissible to act like a male tart, and that to shock and outrage, which pop has always striven to do throughout its history, is a balls-breaking process (Watts, 49).

 As Watts suggests, Bowie may have twisted his professed sexuality as a publicity stunt in order to shock the public and gain fans from the gay community. There was certainly the issue of his wife and son, Angie and Zowie – however Angie spoke about free love when questioned about her marriage, and Bowie was apparently a doting father despite his potentially confusing androgyny (Rook, 135). 

In a 1974 interview with “Beat godfather,” William Seward Burroughs, Bowie made perhaps the most truthful statement about his sexuality when he said, “I’m regarded quite asexually by a lot of people. And the people that understand me the best are nearer to what I understand about me. Which is not very much, for I’m still searching" (Copetas, 110). Bowie would later deny his claims of homosexuality; in 1980 he divorced Angie and eventually married the Somali-American supermodel, Iman. Perhaps Bowie had succeeded in confusing even himself about his true desires, so conflated were his personalities that one could not be distinguished from another.

Regardless of his personal life as David Jones, the performer David Bowie invited his audience to temporarily leave the social pressures and confines of everyday life. They offered a kind of utopian acceptance that echoed the values of the feminist and gay liberation movements. In David Bowie: Fame, Sound and Vision, Nick Stevenson elaborates:

Ziggy’s appeal should be situated in a context that recognizes the rigidly sexual and gendered codes operating in the late sixties and early seventies. The open expression of sexuality and desire in a public place gave the concert a carnival-type atmosphere (Stevenson, 59).

Whether or not his claimed homosexuality was genuine or merely another component of his Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane personae, the fact remains that Bowie raised serious issues about sexual orientation in rock music and fashion that still exist to this day.

David Bowie: Fashion Phenomenon 

David Bowie has continued to be a source of inspiration in fashion and music; in 2011 the Financial Times reported, “fashion has had a four-decade love affair with Bowie that’s only getting stronger. Indeed, Bowie may be the most referenced musician in fashion history” (Cullen, 235). This claim is supported by the fact that numerous designers including Phoebe Philo at Celine, Lucas Ossendrijver at Lanvin, and Hedi Slimane at Dior Homme have drawn inspiration from Bowie’s dramatic wardrobe in the past decade. Though Bowie himself has been less visible in recent years, it seems that the appetite for his style has skyrocketed.

In December 2011, Vogue Paris published a Bowie-inspired spread featuring supermodel Kate Moss. The cover photo presents Moss wearing a spiked orange wig and a metallic Balmain jumpsuit open to the navel. The composition highlights her cheekbones, and her angular arm position exposes a tiny anchor on her right forearm; this photo is reminiscent of Mick Rock’s 1973 promotional film for ‘John, I’m Only Dancing,’ which featured Bowie in the same style.

In January 2012, German Vogue also produced an editorial tribute to Bowie’s career starring Daphne Guinness. It is not surprising that both publications would choose female models to represent Bowie; his elongated slender frame is still the fashion industry’s standard of beauty.

The recent exhibition David Bowie is at the Victoria and Albert Museum was inspired by the evolution of David Bowie as both artist and fashion icon. The show examined David Bowie’s creative processes and partnerships, exhibiting an extensive collection of original costumes, set designs, photography, and handwritten lyrics. Audience members could listen to clips of Bowie’s music on headsets as they walked through the show, which responded to sensors in the various installations. The attendance at the exhibition is a testament to the significance of David Bowie in fashion – the show attracted a record 311,000 visitors (The V&A Conservation Blog). Due to its unprecedented popularity, David Bowie is… will be on tour for the next three years, traveling to six museums including the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Museum of Image and Sound in Brazil, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, the Philharmonie de Paris, and the Groninger Museum in the Netherlands. David Bowie is… a gift that keeps on giving.

Conclusion

The ambiguous identities of Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane provided a medium through which David Bowie problematized and popularized a truly androgynous style. His rapid and radical transformations of image both electrified his audience and shaped trends throughout the 1970’s. Bowie was extra-terrestrial in more senses than one – by embracing the ambiguities of the transvestite, bisexual, and homosexual, he confronted pop’s normal gallery with the subversive suggestions of an unstable male sexuality (Chambers, 72). As Nicholas Pegg aptly states,

Bowie was the first star to challenge the reactionary perception of homosexuality as the preserve of limp-wristed shop assistants… he rubbed the nation’s nose in the idea that homosexuals could be young, attractive, talented and successful. He was the first “gay” man marketed to both girls and boys (Pegg, 241).

Bowie’s fashion has been described as “gender-bending” by many sources, but a better explanation for this phenomenon is that he avoids all gender role stereotypes, and allows for all sexual orientations. He treats the constructs of male and female genders equally, which makes him accessible to every audience. By allowing his listeners to project themselves (regardless of their own genders or orientations) into his music, Bowie leaves the doors to rock and fashion open for all who wish to enter.

Works Cited:

Broackes, Victoria, Geoffrey Marsh eds. David Bowie Is. London: V&A Publishing, 2013.

 Butler, Judith. “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory, in: Bial, Henry (ed.) The Performance Studies Reader. London and New York: Routledge 2007, 187-199.

 Du Noyer, Paul. “David Bowie: the 1990 Interview.” Last modified August, 2009. Accessed September 15, 2013. www.pauldunoyer.com.

 Doggett, Peter. The Man Who Sold the World: David Bowie and the 1970s. New York: Harper Perennial, 2013.

 Entwistle, Joanne. “Fashion and Gender,” in Joanne Entwistle The Fashioned Body: Fashion, Dress and Modern Social Theory. Cambridge: Polity Press 2000, 140-180.

 Garratt, Sheryl. “Kansai Yamamoto on designing for David Bowie in April 1973.”Telegraph.co.uk, March 17, 2013. Accessed September 15, 2013. http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk.

Kaiser, Susan B. Fashion and Cultural Studies. London and New York: Bloomsbury, 2012, 121-147.

 Mendes, Valerie and Amy de la Haye. 20th Century Fashion. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd, 1999.

 Pegg, Nicholas. The Complete David Bowie. London: Reynolds & Hearn Ltd, 2002.

 Perone, James E. The Words and Music of David Bowie. Westport CT: Praeger Publishers, 2007.

 Stevenson, Nick. David Bowie: Fame, Sound and Vision. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2006.

 The V&A Conservation Blog. “David Bowie Is… Moving On.” Last updated August 30, 2013. http://www.vam.ac.uk.

 Trynka, Paul. David Bowie: Starman. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2011.