The idea of gender-bending became a term synonymous to a large percentage of New Wave artists that emerged during the 1980s. Discarding traditional gender ideals, many artists toyed with a combination of both masculine and feminine characteristics. Artists like Grace Jones, Annie Lennox, and Culture Club Boy George, embodied this experimentation through the incorporation of flamboyant dress and hairstyles that contributed to their image. By comparing the lyrics of artists who played with gender the those who conformed to one gender, differences in tone are visible. Through the lenses of sexuality, masculinity, and women, I explore how gender fluid artists expressed these topics in comparison to their heteronormative counterparts.

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