Pride 2021
June 8th 2021, Alex (they/them)
In honor of pride month, Monique asked me to collaborate to both highlight and celebrate pride without marketing it or making a financial gain out of it. As I already love working with her, of course, I was thrilled. My plan for this month thus goes as follows: today, I’m introducing myself. I want to share what pride means for me and how I engage with it. In my upcoming posts, I want to discuss my relationship with lingerie as a nonbinary person, and how sometimes embracing my femme energy in lingerie feels like a superpower. Then, I’ll see how we engage until then and how the month unfolds – usually pride month itself brings something to discuss. Finally, by the end of the month, after discussing with Monique again, we’ll see how Monique Morin Lingerie will go on working with queer people and what the aims of the year to come will be in terms of collabs and support.
So first of all, hi, my name is Alex, I use they/them pronouns in English, and elle/ael in French. I’m a freelance creative located in Montreal. I identify as nonbinary and queer. What I like about MM Lingerie is the emphasis on uniqueness rather than femininity, as is too often the case with lingerie brands. There’s something wonderful in the way that it seems natural for Monique to think of comfort and uniqueness rather than gendering her brand.
We had a lovely discussion about labels last week and it’s so fun and interesting to see how she looks for that little *spark* in everyone rather than a specific physical aspect or label. We talked about why labels matter very deeply for me. I feel them in my core and coming out as nonbinary and slowly exploring my gender more outwardly has been so freeing, rather than restrictive, as some people seem to think they are. It is a way that allows me to ensure that people see me as I actually feel. It’s a way to know that if people know my pronouns and my gender identity, they’ll see me as I want to be perceived. I still get misgendered a lot, but I also get the little euphoric moment when people see my labels and respect them. The pandemic allowed a lot of us to do more introspection, and I want to invite you to read my article from @pinkypromise.world on gender. Our labels define us but also allow us to feel a certainty about the way we are being defined in other people’s eyes and it is such a validating way of being seen.
So, happy pride and be sure to join us as I explore ways of understanding pride and its importance in my identity!