How Berlin is Redefining Masculinity

How Berlin is Redefining Masculinity

photo: Liam Warton

No other city in the world gives us so much space to discuss and observe different gender stereotypes like Berlin. While walking down Kottbusser Damm all the way to Hermannplatz you can encounter many different types of typical Berlin men. The buff Turkish smartphone shop owner, the thin and elegant androgynous fashion design student shopping fabrics at Maybachufer, the Scandinavian exchange student with long Jesus hair and beard sipping a coffee-to-go in a recyclable cup, the German punk cuddling his dog. All these men sound like cliches of course. But cliches that I actually encounter quite regularly. This is how Berlin and its citizens make you aware that there is no strict norm here on how a man should look and behave like in other parts of the world. A city where playing with gender and identity is nothing unusual but rather the norm.

Reflecting on the softness of men my dear friend and curator Laetitia Duveau from Curated by Girls is launching a brand new exhibition called New Masculinity this Saturday. The show will feature the works of 4 artists who found each other on Instagram and teamed up to drive attention to a new and different portrayal of masculinity. Giving you a little excitement for the opening on November 11 check out a preview from the artist Annika Weertz, Joseph Barrett, Liam Warton, and Phoebe Jane Barrett! Read on…

Berlin Feminist Film Week

Berlin Feminist Film Week

photo: Annique Delphine

The Oscars are a great opportunity to analyze the gender roles in the film business. Nominees in the important gender neutral categories like Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Film are mainly white men; while the red carpet is dominated by the sparkly robes of the ladies. When Kathryn Bigelow picked up the Best Director Oscar as the very first woman in 2010, 81 men already had one of those super Oscars at home.

So there’s plenty to be done for women in the world of film and the Berlin Feminist Film Week has set out to do just that…

Read on…