Can a Choice or an Object be Post-Gendered?
This is a complicated question. The short answer is “it depends.”
The item or choice must have been associated with one gender or the other. The choice to get dressed can not be considered post gendered since both males and females get dressed. Certain items of clothing, however, can be considered post-gendered. Pants are a prime example of this since they had been associated with males and now are associated with neither male nor female.
Determining whether or not a choice is post-gendered is contingent on a person’s motivation. The choice can not be made to enhance a person’s masculinity or femininity. The choice to wear pants is not inherently post-gendered. There is the possibility that by choosing to wear pants one is implicitly rejecting skirts and dresses because of their association with femininity. Gender consciousness is present in this case when one embraces gender neutrality in favor of femininity. Thus, the choice to wear pants in this instance is not post-gendered.
If the choice is based on other factors such as the weather, and gender does not play a deciding role in the choice, then the choice can be considered post-gendered.
