Casey Legler. Photo © Paul Mpagi Sepuya
In terms of fashion and your signing with Ford, do you see this as a progressive statement by the industry or a trend within fashion’s natural cycle? This is also an interesting question in terms of its attempt to contextualise my work. Rather than remaining within the discursive limits of fashion and trend, I’d posit my work within the ideas of black-feminism, of “intersectionality” and my ideas of queer privilege, the “celebration of difference” as a component of “social justice”, and these notions’ manifestations in and relationship to the hegemony. This is what I’m interested in, this is my work, this is what I do – the fact that some of the visual and conversational components to this have landed in fashion is actually radical and also beautifully accidental but not occurring within a vacuum – the larger cultural context supports a broader interpretation of the work. I think, if anything, fashion is being extraordinarily brave in taking me under her wing and offering a platform for my work and what I think are important conversations; I am honoured to be her guest – the truth is, I’m more in the business of ideas and it’s a privilege to have one’s ideas thought of as worth sticking up for.
Why do you think Russia is persecuting people who aren’t heterosexual or heteronormative now? I think a quote attributed to Morgan Freeman may best answer this question: “I hate the word homophobia. It’s not a phobia. You are not scared. You are an asshole.” I am sure I would have a more diplomatic answer to this on another day but today, it actually just breaks my heart. I actually think that their institutional heterosexist policies – Russia is not alone in having them overtly or covertly by the way – may have a lot to do with fear and that fear may be a fear of difference. I would suggest that this fear of difference is problematic and that her history shows us that, unchecked, she can be devastating to entire peoples and diasporas.
How did being an athlete effect your sense of beauty, your body and your body’s visual effects on other people? More than anything, for me, being an athlete affected my sense of purpose. What I mean is this: I was absolutely, 100 per cent, an accidental athlete. All I wanted to do was wear a long pink tutu and read my books, go to school and write papers, shave my head and paint my nails, paint and draw, and also be in the marines and also be a cancan dancer – I was a perfectly queer kid with zero vocabulary for what I was. After an accidental foray in a pool at the age of 10, I ended up at the Olympics at 18. What was the most complicated about this was the disconnect between what I wanted to do and what I was actually doing (and didn’t want to be, but was excellent at). So, less having informed any sense of my body and beauty, and another’s understanding of my body, my having been an athlete, at retirement, had everything to do with sorting out my sense of self. In many ways, what has happened within the past year has been the result of me finally getting enough courage (totally gifted to me by circumstance than by any virtue of mine) and saying: “okay guys, to mine own self be true: I’m going to say ‘yes’, share this stuff I’ve been doing, and show you this thing I know how to do, and talk to you about this stuff I understand, and if you want to listen…”
So I guess in some way, the greatest effect swimming has had on me has been a lovely gift: knowing the experience of not being able to stick up for oneself and one’s heart. Finally doing that, I think, is pretty cool and maybe something that most people can get with. That’s actually what I’m doing here, showing you this thing that might be about the heart and courage, maybe, and also maybe about celebrating difference and also maybe about being your most excellent self, maybe… and how that might actually be really rad. It just so happens that for me, the best vehicles for that conversation look like modelling and theory and fashion and art.
Taken from Sleek 40 “Man/Boy”
Photography by Paul Mpagi Sepuya
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