JEANNE (she)
Jeanne is a transfeminine person who is currently studying for her bachelor's degree in sexology. Since obtaining her certificate in critical studies of sexuality, Jeanne has tried to fight to deconstruct dominant discourses surrounding sexuality and gender. When she is not at school, she gets involved in her student association and works as a research assistant at UQAM. Apart from her excessive work, she can be found thinking critically about society, cooking, reflecting, or resting.
What is the most important detail in your practice?
The most important detail for me is to take into account the realities of the people involved in our work. We do not (yet) listen enough to marginalized people and what they have to say on the issues that concern them. Too often I see voices being ignored while other discourses mobilize their hegemony to maintain their power. In the future, I’d like for us to amplify the voices of those least often listened to so we can expose and solve the problems that persist in our society. This detail is articulated in several ways in my practice, in particular by proposing alternative representations in the industry as part of my commitment with DETAILS.
For the past few years, I have been very interested in fashion and how we can use it in our own way. We can use it to protect us from the rain (of course), but I see clothing as a way to control our relationship with our environment. What do I want to communicate with the clothes I wear? What do I want to draw attention to? How do I want to be perceived by others? What we see and what we interact with can have a major influence on our state of mind. In the same way that we can be moved by the sight of a beautiful building, we can be moved by beautiful clothes. I think it is important to promote the diverse aspect of what is beautiful. Beauty is not always the same thing. Beauty is vast, unique and personal. We can find it all around us if we are open to it. I want to participate in the upheaval of the hegemonic standard of beauty. I want everyone to feel beautiful wearing the clothes they like, not what is comfortable for others. We need to question what we see and not settle for it.
Photos by and/or for Paola Chapdelaine, Heirloom Hats, Sonia Bazar, Odeyalo by Camarade, Mathieu Mainville, Quo Beauty