“No Pumps Allowed”: Gender Expression and the Appropriate Attire Policy at Morehouse College

• In Event: Anxiety and Agency at the Intersections: The Educational Plights and Possibilities of Black Queer Males

Abstract

Objective

The purpose of this paper is to consider the implications of the Appropriate Attire Policy for gay and gender-non-conforming (GNC) students who attend Morehouse College, a private, all-male, historically Black college in Atlanta, Georgia.


Framework

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have been lauded within existing higher education scholarship for their exceptional ability to provide African American students with culturally engaging academic and social environments (Brown & Davis, 2001; Outcalt & Skewes-Cox, 2002). Unfortunately, this literature has often depicted African American students as a monolithic group, leaving a paucity of available research on the intersections of race, gender, and sexual identities that shape students’ experiences on HBCU campuses (Patton & Simmons, 2008; Shields, 2008). Drawing upon intersectionality theory from Black feminism (Collins, 2000), this paper addresses this void in the scholarship on HBCUs by examining the dilemmas that emerge around the intersections of race, sexuality, and gender expression at Morehouse College when considering the identity politics surrounding its Appropriate Attire Policy.


Methods & Data Sources

This paper draws upon the Vibe article, “The Mean Girls of Morehouse” (King, 2010) which offers a unique narrative of the experiences of several gay, GNC students who attended Morehouse College and were referred to as “The Plastics” by their classmates. In addition to delving into this article, the authors interviewed Morehouse College alumni and reviewed institutional documents including the student newspaper and university website to gain in-depth insight into the institutional campus culture and context.


Results

Echoing Harper and Gasman’s (2008) analysis of institutional conservatism at HBCUs, the authors of this paper argue that the Appropriate Attire Policy created an environment that inhibited opportunities for self-expression, particularly for students who identified as gay or GNC. Analysis of Morehouse’s institutional context revealed the notion of black racial “respectability” (Patillo, 2007) as central to the College’s struggle to make space for gay and GNC students. This paper also asserts that gay and GNC students did not negotiate their identities within distinct silos. Rather, they were constantly aware of how their multiple identities affected their daily interactions not only within the higher education context but also within African American communities and U.S. society as a whole, making these broader backdrops important for understanding these students’ experiences.


Scholarly Significance

In contrast to the wealth of scholarship depicting HBCUs as empowering environments for Black students, this paper highlights the marginalization that can occur when intraracial anxieties toward gay, GNC students become solidified in institutional policies that police gender and sexual differences. Not only does this paper demonstrate the need for more research that interrogates the fate of multiple and intersecting forms of difference on HBCU campuses, but it also points specifically to the urgency of contending with the restrictive legacy of racial respectability at HBCUs. Furthermore, it provides a model for how multiple stakeholders may begin to articulate critiques of some HBCUs’ conservative policies around gender and sexual expression.

Authors

• Steve D. Mobley, University of Maryland

• Jennifer Michelle Johnson, Bowie State University