Key Points
- Christian Wilkins never expected to receive such hateful response when he wore a dress to The Logies.
- Insight looks at why society struggles to understand gender fluidity.
Insight speaks to people who don’t conform to traditional ideas about gender and explores why that makes some people confused and uncomfortable. Watch 'The Gender Spectrum' .
When Christian Wilkins walked onto the Logies TV awards night red carpet in a dress, he had no idea his wardrobe decision would inspire a public backlash.
“I received, without any exaggeration, thousands of negative trolling comments,“ he said.
“People telling me to OD, people telling me that I'm a disgrace. I mean, I was very surprised to find out that the patriarchy was so flimsy that it could be taken down by a piece of white silk.”
Christian Wilkins in a dress at The Logies.
“To be completely honest, I was actually really shocked at what my alleged crime was compared to what the response was,” he said.
Our society has worked in a way that it reinforces particular types of gender onto particular bodies.Christian Wilkins
“I'm not leading the Stonewall riots [protests by members of the LGBTIQ+ community in New York in 1969], I wore a white dress to the Logies. Like, come on.”
Commenting on the efforts of Australians like Mr Wilkins who are trying to reinvent new ways of being a man, Professor Kerry Robinson, an expert in gender and sexuality research from Western Sydney University, told Insight: “I think that a lot of people are challenging the gender stereotypes that exist around being male or female in that binary context.”
“But our society has worked in a way that it reinforces particular types of gender onto particular bodies, and it just doesn't work for a whole lot of people.”
Christian Wilkins at the 32nd ARIA Awards in 2018. Source: AAP / JOEL CARRETT
Mr Wilkins has heard many critics saying his parents, including his father - veteran entertainment reporter Richard Wilkins, would be ashamed of him for the way he dresses.
“I think the reason that I'm able to go out there and do what I do and wear what I wear is because I know that that's not true and I know for a fact that I actually make my parents very proud,” he said.
“As a kid, I always, kind of, loved anything that was pink and sparkly…I was never necessarily encouraged to wear dresses. But my parents said, if I wanted to, they would absolutely allow me to.”
Sommer is a non-binary parent who is attempting to raise their child free of gender labels.
Sommer
“Because every time someone wants to ask if it's a boy or a girl, unless you tell them, they feel like you're attacking them.”
Diversity is actually something that's really positive for our society.Professor Kerry Robinson
Sommer transitioned to a non-binary identity at the age of 35 and had gender-affirming “top surgery” [removal of breast or chest tissue] to assist with this process.
Working as a tradesperson in a male-dominated space, they found it difficult to share this side of themselves with their co-workers.
“They didn't even respond well to me being female as someone that's been in the industry for 13 years and so when I came out as non-binary, it was to very few people because I didn't feel comfortable or safe, to be honest, in terms of what had happened to me as a female on site, let alone to add non-binary on there,” they said.
Professor Robinson said those that identify outside of gender norms often face dangers.
“They can experience discrimination, they can experience harassment and even violence, because it's challenging the way people look at the world,” she said.
“But [that] diversity is actually something that's really positive for our society.”
Despite the social media backlash, Mr Wilkins believes that pushing gender boundaries and living authentically is important not just for him but the culture at large.
“I think that by searching for my own happiness and my own sense of identity, it's led me to hopefully create a space for other people to do the same as well.”
