Biopolitics, clothing and transgression: essay on dressing as an instrument of resistance to heteronormativity

Abstract

The present study is a theoretical essay that aims to discuss, through Foucault's concept of biopolitics, how the marginalization of genres outside the binary pattern occurred and how this hegemony based on mechanisms of domination is being broken not only through great movements and gestures, but also through small aspects present in the daily lives of these individuals: one of them is aesthetics and, more specifically, clothing. What someone wears, therefore, assumes the character of micro-resistance and becomes an important instrument of identity, freedom, transgression, and transformation. As this is a theoretical essay, the study is based on bibliographical research on the key issues, seeking a deeper understanding of the relationship between power, body, clothing, and sexuality.