The Dress: Narrative, Symbol, Boundary

Polina Penkova

Sofia University

https://doi.org/10.53656/bel2025-4-8P

Abstract. The study analyzes the tensions between the man and the dress in works written by men in order to trace how their relationships build notions of masculinity. The objects of the study are the novel “Body Under the Dress” by Galin Nikiforov and the short story “The Redhead” by Valeri Stefanov. The dress is considered as a garment-symbol that denotes female territory. It expresses the female end in the binary opposition male-female and is therefore forbidden for men. The analysis shows that a man in women’s clothes ceases to be a man. The dress appears as the most obvious female attribute and, accordingly, as categorically unsuitable for the male body, only if the male has stable frames that define it. The disintegration of masculinity under the dress indicates that masculinity continues to be reproduced mainly through traditional stereotypes.

Keywords: dress; garment; body; masculinity; femininity

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