When Morehouse College redefined their dress code, it was obvious to most that there was something going on over there.? Not to say that it’s a good thing or a bad thing, but the dress code did nothing to redefine the image of what a “Morehouse Man” is these days.
READ: Morehouse College Says “No” to Men in Pumps…
Yesterday, Vibe posted an article about the new Morehouse man. Forcing all to take a look inside what was really behind all the hoopla surrounding that dress code issue.
Within the openly Gay community at Atlanta’s Morehouse College, there’s a subgroup: Gender Benders who rock makeup, Marc Jacobs, tote bags, sky-high heels and Beyonce’-style hair weaves.
Can a man of Morehouse be Gay? Absolutely. But can he be a woman?
Meet the Plastics…the group believed to have prompted the controversial dress code announced by leaders of the African-American college last fall.
Diamond Martin Poulin, 20, teetering in strappy sandals with three-inch heels, steps into an eclectic clothing boutique in Little Five Points, a quaint cluster of shops and restaurants two and a half miles outside of downtown Atlanta. ?Ooooh,? squeals Diamond. ?What about this?? Holding up a white floor-skimming skirt with an eyelet hem, he swoons. The proprietor of the store looks up at Diamond, does a double take, and immediately picks up the cordless phone at the register. ?There?s a man in here with heels on!? she whispers loudly into the phone. Diamond raises his eyebrows and continues browsing the racks. He shrugs when asked if the comment bothers him. ?Isn?t it true?? he says, chuckling. ?There is a man in here with heels on.?
?I?ve always been into clothes, shoes, hair and everything,? says Diamond, who was born and raised in Providence, R.I. He says there?s a good chance he?ll transition into a woman at some point. ?My mother says I always played dress-up in her clothes, my grandmother?s clothes. I?d even get my brother to do it sometimes. That?s just always been me?pushing the envelope of what I?m supposed to be as a man.?
So does Diamond really consider herself a man? At the question, he groans. ?Yes, I refer to myself as a man, you know, to relieve any confusion. Sometimes people don?t understand the whole androgyny thing. There?s always the question: Well, what are you? Yes, I?m a man. I like women?s clothes. And yeah, I?m gay. But I don?t want that to define me. How come people can?t just see me as a person??
Vibe magazine delivers a provocative article about the Plastics, a group of men who dress as women at the prestigious Morehouse College in Georgia.