The new issue of Dossier magazine features male model Andrej Pejic, who happens to look very androgynous. Barnes and Noble bookstore have decided to censor this particular issue using an opaque black covering on the magazine's cover in fear of customers mistaking the male model for a woman. Barnes and Noble is currently the largest bookstore in the continental US and is aware of the fact that when these issues of Dossier came out featuring this model, they knew he is indeed a male. The problem here obviously lies within the public perception and ignorance to what the gender of this person actually is; it poses a question on gender perception within society. As featured in the image, Pejic is clearly not the first shirtless male on a magazine cover, but his thin build and feminine face contrast with the built, shirtless models featured on many men's magazines. Dossier being a culture and arts journal may play a role in the fact that he is not posing in order to promote masculinity, but instead high fashion-which is known to be open to gender ambiguity. This, not necessarily being the "norm" to the general public, with high fashion having a particular subculture audience, may cause for customer complaints due to offensiveness, lack of censorship, and ignorance. Barnes and Noble, being only a small percentage of world wide sales of this issue, does not pose a huge a threat in deficit in sales, but it does play a role on social perception of others based on gender ambiguity. Many people are not used to seeing such individuals portrayed in the media; to them this is not the norm. Consequently, what is not the norm is also not comfortable and may be viewed as unsafe for a child walking into the store to view as an example. This poses a commentary on how the public teaches children of "norms" from a young age, and deems anything other than the norm as offensive and uncomfortable, unfortunately.Article: http://jezebel.com/5802115/barnes--noble-censors-cover-featuring-androgynous-male-model
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