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And if there's any place where gender is categorically an illusion, it's the fashion world. Every other season, designers and magazine editors demand women raid the closets of their boyfriends, husbands and fathers for pinstripe vests, suit pants and fedoras. Guys tote around "murses." Girls whip out pocket watches. To market his latest collection of ladies dresses, Marc Jacobs put them on dudes.
Moreover, in modeling, measurements trump all else.
"As far as I know, provided a transgender model had all the physical traits the industry demands, getting representation and finding work shouldn't be too difficult. Agencies care more about your measurements and your overall look than anything else," said a working high-fashion model, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
But while the fashion world may embrace transgender people and throw gender norms out the window, the same can't be said of the world at large.
"There have always been trannies on the periphery of fashion. But using transgender people to market things involves a certain amount of risk because there's a lot of people out there who do have prejudices and preconceived ideas," said Simon Doonan, creative director of Barney's and author of "Eccentric Glamour."
"There are editorial things they can do, say, avant-garde magazines. But they're not going to be Revlon models," Doonan said. "I can't see one showing up in a Lord & Taylor ad. There's too much money at stake."
"They don't speak to a large enough community," he added. "The transgender community … deserves respect and tolerance, but it's not a large community. So from a marketing standpoint, it's a risk to take a transgender model to market to straight women."
Models realize the risk in attaching themselves to a nonheterosexual lifestyle, whether transgender, gay, lesbian or something else, and often shy away from campaigns that could throw them from the mainstream to the fringes of the fashion world.
"I've known male models who, though gay themselves, are antsy [or their agencies are antsy] about them doing work for gay publications or gay-targeted clothing lines, because they don't want to be passed over for that campaign that'll pay $10,000 for a dude to look really sexy next to a girl," the high fashion model said. "And the same goes for lesbians. I know a couple who are, though not closeted by any measure, a little discreet about their orientation, because they don't want clients with male consumers in mind to think they can't look into the camera lens and project pure sex."
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