Gender-Sexuality Analysis of Janelle Monáe

Background:

Who: 

• Janelle Monáe is a pansexual, non-bianry person (Mier, 2022).

  • Came out with sexuality in 2018.

  • Came out with gender identity in 2022.

    • Uses She/Her & They/Them pronouns.

• They are artists and actors. 

Gender: 

• In the early 2000s, Monáe would wear many suits as an element of her style & it was more than just a fashion statement (Clifton, 2015). 

  • She explained how it was representative of the uniforms her blue-collared family wore (Clifton, 2015). . 

  • Gender Element: (Clifton, 2015).

    • In 2015, a Twitter user criticized them for wearing suits and issued Monáe should dress more "Sexy." 

    • Monáe responds: "Sit down. I am not for male consumption." 

      • It is a powerful statement because they affirm that whatever gender performance they have is not for the benefit of men and patriarchal beliefs. 

• Monáe does exclusively wear suits. However, they have been known to have frequent, more feminine silhouettes as well. 

• Non-binary Identity: (Mier, 2022).

  • Early in 2022, Monáe came out as non-binary. 

  • Her thoughts on her identity:

    • "I just do not see myself as a woman solely. I feel all of my energy. I feel God is much bigger than the 'he' or the 'she,' she said. "And if I am from God, I am everything. However, I will always stand with women. I will always stand with Black women. But I just see everything that I am beyond the binary."

 

Gender Performance Analysis: 

Monáe is an excellent example of how people perform their gender. Gender is always a performance. People tend to participate in traditional gender values even in the cis-straight realm. It can be hard to participate in gender in a way that is non-conforming because people will criticize your identity, even though it is not theirs to critique. The individual point is often ignored for the sake of what pleases traditional society, But who else is gender supposed to please other than the body and mind it represents? Gender is constantly evolving and growing with the person, and it can rarely be the same daily. 

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Intersectionality & Gender: 

• The intersection of gender with race, class, and sexuality often gets ignored. Rhetoric that fails to explore these interactions undermines how gender performances can be dictated by race, class, and sexuality.

  • There are often set expectations within another identity that informs someone's relationship with gender and how they must perform it. 

Sexuality & Gender:

• Monáe identifies as pansexual, meaning they are not limited in their sexual choice concerning biological sex, gender, or gender identity (Mier, 2022).

  • Monáe announced her sexual identity a few years before her gender identity. 

• Sexuality and gender are interesting intersections because one may closely inform or evolve the other. 

  • Monáe understood from a sexual-attraction mindset that gender and sex did not inform their desire for someone (Mier, 2022). However, it was the individual themselves that lent that value to her.  

• Thus, that understanding may have led them to consider how traditional gender constructs of cis-womanhood do not bind their gender identity. 

Race & Gender:

• Monáe mentioned in her coming out statement that she would always align with Black women despite her non-binary status. 

  • "But I will always, always stand with women. I will always stand with Black women. But I just see everything that I am beyond the binary"(Mier, 2022).

    • This is a significant sentiment Monáe shares because it represents how important the solidarity between Black women is and how society affects what gender means to Black women. 

• Black Women's Societal Gender Expectations:

  • Black Women's feminine identity is often belittled to reinforce stereotypes. 

    • Black Women are often described as angry, aggressive, manly, and anything that undermines more feminine traits that they may possess. 

    • Society does not let Black women be feminine the way white women and non-black women are allowed. Instead, biases are emphasized because it confirms people's preconceived notions of the Black community. 

  • Monáe stating that they still stand with Black women is essential because it illustrates that understanding that she may continue to be perceived as a feminine woman by others and that she still empahizes with what it means to be a Black woman in the US. 

    • When they came out as non-binary, it did not disregard the years of existing and being perceived as a cis-women. Monáe can still relate to the experience and represent the experience without undermining her non-binary status. 

  • Monáe also illustrates the solidarity that Black people, and specifically Black women, have with each other because of their shared experiences and how they are perceived in a predominately white country that often holds incredibly vile biases and opinions of them. 

    • Thus, standing up with them, even as nonbinary persons, holds much power. 

 

My Opinion Gender-Sexuality Criticism: 

• First, gender and sexuality are fundamental rhetorical analyses because they show how gender and sexuality inform much of societal behavior. 

  • Examining gender and sexuality also allows for critiquing traditional systems that bound people to limitations of those identities that are often unnecessary and harmful to follow. 

• Second, Janelle Monáe is a valuable case study due to her intersection of identity regarding gender, race, and sexuality. All of these inform and connect, thus, illustrating how she breaks down barriers too. 

• Ultimately, it is valuable to utilize multiple analysis types because gender and sexuality often need to be understood from multiple perspectives. 

  • Using gender performance as one lens helps people learn how acting out gender illustrates people's relationship with gender roles and values. 

  • Intersectionality is essential to feminism and sexuality studies because without understanding how race plays a role in Monáe's identity, one would not have the whole picture.