Guingao 1

Meryl Grace Guingao

Professor Granillo

H English 103

20 October 2018

A Musical Guide to the Bi Experience:

An Analysis of Bisexuality and Gender Norms in Frank Ocean’s “Chanel”

Richard Wright, popularly known as the author of the critically acclaimed novel Black

Boy, once wrote, “If you possess enough courage to speak out what you are, you will find you

are not alone”. This quote can certainly be applied to a many of life’s hardships, yet in this case,

it resonates deeply with the human experience regarding sexuality and gender as a whole.

Through an analysis of the song “Chanel” by Frank Ocean, one can unravel the subtle messages

that reflect theories surrounding both gender performance and traditional gender roles as

analyzed by gender theorist Judith Butler. Throughout the song, Ocean fixates upon topics

ranging from the heavy influence of fame as well as his own romances as a black bisexual man.

Additionally, the social implication that resorts bisexuality as a sort of war that supposedly

forces one to choose sides. These ideals also function as a consistent reality for those who

identify as bisexual too. All in all, Frank Ocean’s single, “Chanel” from his Apple radio music

project blonded, explores themes of how gender and sexuality are woven with traditional

expectations and the heteropatriarchy; As a result, these stigmas tend to counteract one another,

leading to an inauthentic expression of identity/gender performance and the alienation of

bisexual people’s existence.

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In Frank Ocean’s song, “Chanel”, he explicitly states, “My guy pretty like a girl/And he

got fight stories to tell/I see both sides like Chanel” (Chanel). Ultimately, Ocean makes a

simple, yet bold declaration of his bisexuality in this short verse. As someone who has popularly

been deemed a major figure of representation amongst the bisexual community, Ocean’s

sexuality remains a controversial topic amongst the entirety of the queer community. Bisexuality,

which is defined as the sexual orientation wherein an individual is attracted to two genders,

usually men and women, is quite the touchy subject amongst the queer community. Specifically,

many make the claim that bisexuality, or the idea of bisexuality is not a valid term of expression

nor does such a sexuality exist. Many of those in the queer and heterosexual community alike

have actually participated in the unfortunate alienation of bisexual people by denying their

existence, thus continually perpetuating their oppression in the heteronormative, patriarchal

society they all live in. However, as multiple theorists have shown, such treatment not only

represses bisexual people but also leads to a struggle in truly presenting themselves in the most

truthful manner possible. These studies argue in agreement with the existence of bisexual people

who are reprimanded by the societal implications forced upon them.

In discussing how this song correlates to traditional gender norms, we see that in the line,

“My guy pretty like a girl”, the use of the word “pretty” stems from the fact that in America’s

patriarchal, heteronormative society the word ‘pretty’ should only apply to women and feminine

ideologies as a whole (Chanel). This just goes to show how although Ocean is outward when it

comes to his sexuality, there are still restraints in his mindset when it comes to these deeply-

rooted gender norms. In particular, as Lois Tyson’s text Critical Theory Today suggests, such

ideals are rooted in what is called the ‘heteropatriarchy’. Tyson explains that heteropatriarchy,

“draws our attention to the fact that patriarchy, because it is biased in favor of traditional gender
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roles, is always biased in favor of heterosexuality” (Tyson). Though it may not seem as

significant, the association of the word ‘pretty’ with girls is actually quite consequential in terms

of the emasculation of men. Historically, this treatment of language as a binary thing has

influenced men to degrade terms like ‘pretty’ with femininity and as a result, look down on all

things feminine. Thus, while Ocean is trying to shine a positive light on calling his partner

‘pretty’, the rest of society may not feel the same way.

Frank Ocean also juxtaposes masculine and feminine ideals when talking about his

partner in this song. While on one hand he refers to his lover as ‘pretty’, in Ocean’s recollection,

his partner still retains his masculine identity through his “fight stories” which suggest that his

partner constantly engages in acts of violence to indirectly boost his masculinity. This idea of

“fight stories” serves as an example of traditional masculinity at play, thus perpetuating standard

gender normalities by equating what it means to be a man with violence. Moreover, by trying to

establish some sort of balance in their relationship and in his boyfriend, Ocean finds himself

trapped by the fallacious idea that there are only two routes to conquer when it comes to being in

a relationship as a bisexual man- either solely feminine or aggressively masculine. This is an

example of what Judith Butler claims to be the “limits” of people’s humanity that is meant to be

safeguarded as a means of controlling society on quite a substantial level. Specifically she states,

“Whether gender or sex is fixed or free is a function of a discourse which, it will be

suggested, seeks to set certain limits to analysis or to safeguard certain tenets of

humanism as presuppositional to any analysis of gender (Butler)”.

As presented in the excerpt above, the “limits” that Butler refers to is what essentially hinders

modern society from being the progressive ideal people nowadays make it out to be. Through the

continuation of these traditional mindsets regarding the gender binary, people like Frank Ocean
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become transfixed in a civilization that refuses them the opportunity to move forward in a more

diverse community.

In further analyzing the song’s correlation to gender performance, Ocean’s lyrics touches

on both the influence of the gender spectrum while also addressing his own bisexuality. He does

so by alluding to the logo of the designer fashion brand, Chanel, which consists of two letter C’s

facing in opposite directions. In the previously mentioned verse, the line that states he “see[s]

both sides” is representative of Frank Ocean’s own gender performance. Gender theorist Judith

Butler explains the idea of gender performance to be what the human body is truly incapable of

expressing. Since our true gender lies within the soul, people must “perform” as a means of

either expressing their gender in the most accurate, truthful way possible or to follow suit with

the upstanding social and cultural norms that push for heterosexuality and binary culture that

restricts to only male/female and man/woman (qtd. in Granillo). In this instance, Ocean actually

strays away from societal standards and instead pushes for authenticity when singing about his

sexuality where he acknowledges “both sides”, or both sexes, to a largely homophobic,

heteronormative audience. However, the impact of this short, yet simple statement in such an

intense social climate aligns to what Judith Butler examines in her own text which states,

“In effect, gender is made to comply with a model of truth and falsity which not only

contradicts its own performative fluidity, but serves a social policy of gender regulation

and control. Performing one's gender wrong initiates a set of punishments both obvious

and indirect, and performing it well provides the reassurance that there is an essentialism

of gender identity after all (Butler)”.

As rhetorician Jonathan Alexander explains, Butler argues that “we all put on a gender

performance… so it is not a question of whether to do a gender performance, but what form that
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performance will take” (Alexander). Alexander goes on to say that by going against the

traditional performance, individuals have the power to change gender norms on a more

impactful, widespread level. Despite this optimistic perspective, in the case of Frank Ocean’s

song, by publicly expressing his own take at gender performance, Ocean fails to “comply”, as

Butler states above. As a result, he is scrutinized by society for trying to be his most authentic

self. Clearly, the “social policy” that exists regarding sexuality is so deeply rooted into modern

civilization that despite Ocean’s divergent challenge of societal norms, he still remains excluded

by the heteronormative audience he is speaking out to.

Overall, Frank Ocean’s single “Chanel” serves as a case study for the influence of

tradition and heteropatriarchal values upon gender and sexuality in today’s civilization while

also analyzing the influence that this has on bisexual people and the idea of bi-erasure through

gender performance. On a societal level, queer theory suggests that this idea of seeing “both

sides” connects directly to the often unspoken issues regarding sexuality which specifically

alienates the bisexual community by arguing that bisexuality either does not exist or is immoral,

thus forcing them to perform towards an otherwise “acceptable” sexuality. On a realistic scale,

Frank Ocean’s lyrics deeply resonates with his LGBTQ+ audience and in this specific verse, he

integrates these themes of romance with assumptions that are constantly made regarding bisexual

people.

This short but influential line of the song presents Ocean’s audience with the significant

factors like gender and sexuality that tend to play a major role in his romantic relationships and

how people often restrict their lives by remaining under the control of popularized social stigmas

having to do with bisexuality in particular. Rather than being able to express all parts of their
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personality, bisexual people more than often find themselves in a position where they feel like

they have to hide who are they are in order to stay happy and to keep the ones around them

content as well. As the gender and sexuality theories have consistently exclaimed, it is of utmost

importance that society must begin to change these toxic social stigmas that have been shaped by

the patriarchy to push for equality and inclusion, so all people of any gender or any sexuality can

live a life of comfortability and pride.

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Works Cited

Alexander, Jonathan. Literacy, Sexuality, Pedagogy: Theory and Practice for Composition

Studies. JSTOR, Utah State University Press, 2008, Logan, Utah.

https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1024&context=usupress_pus

Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. Routledge, 1999,

New York https://selforganizedseminar.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/butler-

gender_troubl

e.pdf

Butler, Judith. Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and

Feminist Theory. Theatre Journal, vol. 40, no. 4, 1988. JSTOR, JSTOR,

www.jstor.org/stable/3207893.

Tyson, Lois. Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide. Vol. 3, Routledge, 2015, New

York.