A KALTBLUT exclusive. Photography by Asafe Ghalib. Model is Zorawar Waraich. Art direction by Joana Feuerharmel. Article by Zorawar Waraich.
Gender should be an aspect of our identities that helps us to find our freedom. No one is an expert on your gender, other than you. Gender can be an aspect of your expression – but it is not limited to that. It can be invisible.
Humanity’s progress should mean that gender no longer functions with Western hegemony that polices, limits, and confines us. Determines our pay and worth – our life expectancy. It can and should be understood as our own invention. Informed by nothing other than the things which make us who we are.
What if we accept that the evolution of humanity means that these ideologies become normalised? The laws which prevent this from happening become redundant.
What if we accept that progress is in the existence of those who have unlearned what it is to be human beyond man or woman? Inspiring, educating and scaring the sh*t out of people who still think gender is a binary.
If evolution is desirable, then we must accept that the ways in which gender is widely understood today – the ways in which it is assigned at birth – creates a prison for us all. Those who do nothing to deconstruct the binary are complicit in the endurance of patriarchy as a weapon of oppression against anyone who wishes to escape it.
What if we accept that these images say nothing about my gender unless I want them too. Look at these images and realise that no matter how you see me or my gender, I have the right to correct you.
Contributor and Photography by Asafe Ghalib / asafeghalib.com / instagram: @asafeghalib
Model is Zorawar Waraich / instagram: @zeesw
Article by Zorawar Waraich
Art direction by Joana Feuerharmel / instagram: @joanafeuerharmel
