Comments made by fashion guru and Project Runway host Tim Gunn about transgender models walking the runway are returning to the spotlight this week, following news that 22-year-old Australian model Andreja Pejic had come out as a trans woman.
Pejic has walked for some of the most prestigious designers in the industry — a “dicey issue,” according to Tim Gunn.
His comments were made in an interview with HuffPo in February:
“I’m conflicted. On one hand, I don’t want to say that because you were a man and now you’re a woman, you can’t be in a women’s fashion show. But I feel it’s a dicey issue. The fact of the matter is, when you are transgender — if you go, say, male to female — you’re not having your pelvis broken and having it expanded surgically. You still have the anatomical bone structure of a man.”
Ironically enough, Gunn clarified his stance further when asked about “androgynous models, like Andrej Pejic.” He added:
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“The fact that fashion designers would put basically adolescent-shaped boys or men in women’s clothes is head-scratching for me because, anatomically, women and men have different shapes. So, to be looking at women’s fashion on a tall, skinny guy with no hips, there’s no way you can project yourself into those clothes.
It underscores all of those body issues that we know women have. It’s the world telling us that there’s something wrong with us and that we’d look better in our clothes and the world would think us more beautiful if we looked like this. I think it’s horrible.”
You can check out Gunn’s full interview over at HuffPo.
h/t Gay Star News
callenstewart
I think this headline is horrible. Talk about out of context!
sosodeformed
You just used what he said regarding women having body issues to make it seem hateful against trans people. This is very disappointing, queerty.
Cam
““The fact that fashion designers would put basically adolescent-shaped boys or men in women’s clothes is head-scratching for me because, anatomically, women and men have different shapes.”
_______________________________
Has Tim not seen what has come down the runway from the major Fashion Houses? The women walking the runway are so shapeless that they don’t look any different from 12 year old boys. Jutting Collar bones, no hips, thighs no wider than their knees, frankly health wise, it would be better for the models if they DID just put wigs on 12 year olds and send them down the runway because what you have now are adult women starving themselves trying to look like they haven’t hit puberty yet.
As for Transgender models, how they identify is irrelevant, modeling is only about appearance. If they look the part and want to do it, good for them.
Nowuvedoneit
While Tim Gunn has some valid points, I doubt he will have a major impact in designers choices. It’s going to be women if they see a problem with a transgender model whose impact will be heard and felt.
Desert Boy
Why does Queerty have a vendetta against Tim Gunn?
Milk
He has some valid points. In a sense some of those haute couture runway fashion designers are misogynists. They are not designing for real women or functional clothings. Rather create a piece of art draping over walking statute purely for visual impact. On the other hand there are other designers who create wearable fashions that would seek out more realistic body type models to display their designs. There should be no limit to who can and cannot walk for runway. His quote was out of context if you want to use it to highlight a political point of view. I do not think he should be misunderstood as transphobe without actually asking more valid questions.
Tackle
Those are very odd statements coming from Tim. Considering his age, sexuality, and exposure to many types of people, one would think he would know better. As far as a trans women not having hips, and not having the anatomical shape of a woman, Tim is wrong on that one. Most trans people I know ( male to female) even before the ” final” nip and tuck: if they choose, have already been on feminizing hormone therapy for yrs, which has given them, hips, butt, breast, very much an anatomical shap/ structure of what is required of a runway model. If Tim indeed made these comments, then he is deliberately being blind.
vive
Tall skinny guys with no hips? That pretty much describes 99% of female runway models, so what ‘s new?
Dxley
I’m starting to love Tim. Good guy, Gunn.
robirob
I’d guess in this case Tim Gunn is trapped in his long lasting teacher profession in fashion design where fashion forward means going further with the fabric, cuts, proportions, etc. and not changing the body underneath beyond losing weight.
From all the gay celebrities who are out there it’s Tim Gunn I admire the most, but in this case I do not agree with him. The fashion industry has always been promoting a Barbie doll like ideal only very few people can come close outside the media entertainment industry. Adding the male bone structure of a male to female transexual or post OP in the visual presentation of female fashion runway collections isn’t much of a leap at all given that people ‘dress to impress’ and pick what they think/believe/hope looks good on them.
Sweet Boy
Tim Gunn needs to get laid….or at least an enema, he’s becoming and tired old queen
Daveliam
More sensationalism and click-baiting from Queerty. Yawn.
Such crap. At least TRY to maintain some professionalism.
J.T.
He’s right. Androgynous, anorexic, and trans models confuse and blur body images and identity and make haute couture ridiculous and inaccessible. Although heaven forbid, we go in the other direction and favor women with hips and asses like Khloe and Kim Khardashian.
badtungsten
@Daveliam: Absolutely. I’m done with Queerty’s lack of professionalism. In the last year I have seen Queerty misrepresent Darienne Lake (and just plain be mean to her), Michael Urie, and now Tim Gunn. Frankly, I’m surprised there was any time for this with the wall to wall coverage of every fart escaping the arses of Tom Daley and Cheyenne Jackson. Farewell Queerty, this is the last straw.
nemesis9
@badtungsten: Especially when you click on the link to the original Gay Star News article where the article is titled, “Project Runway’s Tim Gunn admits to feeling ‘conflicted’ about trans models being on runway.” Queerty really is the WORST!
Alton
Congratulations on your most intentionally dishonest headline ever. A new low that will be hard to beat, but I’m sure you’ll keep trying.
E T
He’s already been quoted saying that Hillary Clinton looks confused about her gender, and he has made a career telling women what is and isn’t beautiful, working with models who have unrealistic bodies for everyday folk. Read closer. He did NOT say that he thinks women’s body issues are terrible – he thinks transgender models are horrible.
The title was more honest than Tim Gunn, it called it like it is. He’s just so full of himself, he can’t even admit his own bias, shrouding it in pseudo-liberal rhetoric.
“We have to discriminate against transgender people! It’s for the women!!!” Ugh.
BitterOldQueen
@Desert Boy: Because Queerty has decided that being a total cheerleader for whatever the trans community (transgender community? non-cisgendered community?) is being Thoroughly Outraged about this week is somehow going to drive eyeballs, and hence ad revenue, to their site. It’s just more nonsense.
masc4masc
Tim obviously knows his profession well and is simply being honest. He didn’t state his opinion in a disrespectful way at all. There are some legitimate conflicts when it comes to men modeling women’s wear. Good for Tim for speaking his mind instead of just following the herd.
michael mellor
The fashion industry exploits women. The female models enjoy being exploited because they are rewarded for it.
Stenar
Wrong answer, Tim.
ancillarybuffoonery
Please change this headline. It’s terribly misleading.
Arkansassy
Tim Gunn is awesome and his comments are right on the mark. That headline is horrible and disrespectful to Gunn who has a huge heart and has proven over the years that he is an advocate for all of us.
james_in_cambridge
Queerty Editors: I’m with the vast majority that are telling you how awful this headline is. It’s actually quite unforgivable. I think most of us are getting used to these “click-bait” headlines to a certain degree but they can’t be flat-out dishonest like this one. Just because you guys may not be traditional journalists doesn’t mean you can throw out the basic rules of journalism.
And you’ve also lost the right to criticize the loons at Fox News ever again; you’ve been engaging in the same type of disingenuousness since Queerty was rebooted. If this is the new Queerty, well, then honestly it was better off dead.
charwegl
I decided to try Queerty again and this article is what I got. A sensationalist headline that was purposefully taken out of context. That was embarrassing. You know fully well what you were doing when you twisted those words. That’s some Fox News bullshit. Shame on you, Queerty. Shame on you.
allegiance2none
Put Chaz Bono on the cover of GQ. That’s equality.
Chris
Gunn makes a very valid point about using models who do not “look like” regular women. Though it is in the context of trans-models, his point applies across the board.
Qweerty went for a cheap headline based on spinning, if not outright misrepresenting, what Gunn actually said.
SteveDenver
The only reason I am enjoying this headline is because it sorts out those who take a minute to actually read the article and those who jumped to an indignant conclusion.
buffnightwing
Trans is the new “thing”. can’t wait to move onto something more worthy like HIV prevention for ALL of us.
Ben Dover
After reading this article and comments, I laughed so hard that I fell out of my chair and broke my pelvis!
No interest in getting it “expanded surgically,” though.
callenstewart
@sosodeformed: Ditto.
Curtis Penfold
Andreja IS a woman, therefore she has a woman’s body.
Cam
@Curtis Penfold:
You actually take from the discussion by pretending to be blind to what the actual post is about.
If Andreja identifies as female and has a penis, does that mean that a penis is what somebody is referencing when they say “A Women’s Body”? No, Gunn is talking about the most commonly referenced differences between male and female bodies, Hips, Breasts, Shoulders etc…
I think his comment is foolish considering the common behavior among designers of hiring anorexic models who already look like 12 year old boys, but your comment for all it’s Kum Ba Ya sunniness, doesn’t deal with the actual posting.
Curtis Penfold
No, Cam.
Andreja’s hips are female hips. Her breasts are female breasts. Her shoulders are female shoulders.
She is a woman. Her body is the body of a woman.
cmk2877
Wow Queerty. You’ve become very lazy. This headline doesn’t even begin to represent the content. What happened? Queerty: Your Source for Stupid Lists About L.A. (now with 500% more clickbait!)
tricky ricky
he’s RIGHT!
bubblebutts
@sosodeformed: THIS IS NOT ABOUT WOMEN’S ISSUES!!! THIS IS ABOUT BIGOTRY PLAIN AND SIMPLE!!! HE SOUNDS LIKE A DELUDED TERF SPOUTING PSUEDO-SCIENCE REASONS WHY TRANS SHOULD BE SEGRATED FROM WOMEN’S EVENTS FOR SUPERFICIAL REASONS AND HERE YOU ARE CLAPPING YOUR HANDS LIKE HE’S SOME KIND OF HERO WHEN HIS KIND OF HYPERBOLE IS THE REASON’S TRANS HAVE NO RIGHTS WORLDWIDE.
bubblebutts
@bubblebutts: IF YOU CANNOT TELL HE IS IGNORANT OF TRANS FACTS BY HIS USE OF THE WORD MAN THEN YOU SIR ARE THE IDIOM.
Taurox
I enjoy keeping updated on LGBT news but Queerty is starting to annoy me. Is there another lgbt news site that is maybe more professional or are they all tabloid-like sites.