Rain Dove has already paved a path for herself in the fashion world as one of the rising androgynous models who is walking in both women’s and men’s fashion shows. Her modeling career kicked off after she lost a bet over a football game and had to show up to a Calvin Klein casting call. After initially being mistaken for a man, she was unexpectedly invited to walk the runway for Calvin Klein. But as a genderqueer model, Dove has come across a lot of rejections as well for having a masculine appearance. She continues to speak up for trans and gender fluid people everywhere, voicing her discontent against the gender binary system through her own campaigns.
For example, last year Dove posed in Victoria’s Secret lingerie and photoshopped Victoria’s Secret Angels’ faces over her body to prove that you can construct your own beauty standards.
That’s why it’s no surprise that Rain Dove is taking a stand against binding her chest for London Fashion Week, where she will be walking in men’s shows. She took to Instagram to explain her decision, posting two photos: one in which she has chest binders but is assuming a more feminine stance, and one where she doesn’t have her chest bound but has a more traditionally masculine pose. Her caption reads, “I REFUSE to bind my chest just to look more ‘manly’. My tits don’t define my sex and they got swagger.”
Dove also cautions that chest binding, if done incorrectly, can be extremely dangerous. In an article for Bustle, Dove warns, “Inappropriate binding can lead to crushed organs, ribs, arrythmia, and more. It’s important to me that if people feel that the only way they will be safely respected as male or passably flat chested without surgery that they do this practice carefully!”
Most importantly, Dove is saying that breasts don’t have to mean you’re female, or that you have to be feminine. Our identities aren’t strictly limited to our physical appearances, and while Dove’s post may be controversial, we’re glad that someone is breaking the boundaries that society has set.