Signs, Power, and the Body: A Communication Perspective on Fashion and Gender Identity

Abstract

Fashion transcends personal aesthetics to function as a narrative tool in reconstructing gender identity and social discourse. In the contemporary globalized and digital-saturated world, trends like gender-neutral fashion and new interpretations of garments are challenging the traditional binary cultural norms. Against the backdrop of the rapid development of social media and the increasing diversity of fashion trends, this research applies communication theory to explore how fashion symbols interact symbolically, the process of encoding-decoding, and the representation in social media to redefine gender identity. The findings reveal that fashion can effectively convey complex gender messages and reshape gender perception of gender roles. By looking back at the relationship between designers and wearers, as well as traditional media and digital narratives, the study demonstrates fashion’s ability to break through the power structure and broaden self-expression beyond binary gender. Through this research, the powerful role of fashion in shaping and reshaping individual and social discourse power can be better understood, the mediating role of fashion can be deeply explored, and the development of fashion communication as well as the fields of identity and gender recognition can be further promoted.