No Church in the Wild: The Role of Church and Family in Shaping Stud Fashion Norms

Disclaimer: The following contains personal perspective, historical context, and cultural observations with regard to stud fashion, religion, and social norms. No single religion, group, nor culture is intended to be degraded, offended, or judged. Understanding and conversation are our goals-never harm. Please read with an open mind and respect toward the diverse experiences featured herein.

The Black Church | PBS Documentary Series

In fashion, there's often a strong tension between how we would like to present ourselves and how those deeply close to us would expect us to appear. Many people grow up within faith traditions and family dynamics that seem, on the surface, incompatible with styles in fashion that they are presenting. Yet despite these pressures, it is culture that endures, flourishes and is shaped by history, fueled by pop culture, and ultimately anchored in personal authenticity.

Inspired to write behind the track "No Church in the Wild" by Jay-Z and Kanye West, I felt it offers a real insight into these tensions. One reddit user speaks of the song and video speaking volumes, specifically behind the main verse that reads “What's a mob to a king? What's a king to a god? What's a god to a non-believer?” At its core, the song speaks that there is always a system that seeks to discredit, vilify, and or denigrate a group of people that appears to be, on the surface, smaller and that once you lose that core belief system, 'all hell' is supposed to break loose. 

Civilization is built on four pillars: language, trade, a form of belief, and education, much like a four-legged stool. Take out your beliefs, then you have a three-legged stool: that's 'no church in the wild.' It means when we take out or question this common belief that keeps society glued, we go into chaos. In the song, Jay-Z invokes all the lies and bloodshed and moral ambiguity that ensue after people lose their tenuous grasp on common belief. At the other end, Kanye's part highlights how beliefs are shaped to align with others, exposing potential hypocrisy even in religious spaces hence being cast into “The Wild”. Questioning gender presentation in conservative contexts often leads to rejection, with families viewing masculine traits in women as disruptive. Yet, as the song suggests, such questioning can drive introspection, growth, and societal change. So how does this relate to Stud fashion?

A Challenged Tradition

The existence of masculine presenting women is not anything new, especially in religious and cultural settings. During the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s, for example, legendary performers and socialites had already blurred gender lines. Places such as the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem also housed a very lively nightlife where androgynous style comes more into its own, despite the overarching conservatism of the era. Fast-forward to the Civil Rights Movement, and churches, especially Black churches, served not only as a house of worship but also as a community hotbed. The dominant message was unity within most of these spaces, but that call for unity often came hand in hand with strongly defined gender roles, as well as social expectations. It would require careful navigation of such environments by studs, butch women, and androgynous presenting individuals, who have to balance their personal truth with community pressure to "blend in" for the greater good.

And even in those times, studs continued to express themselves, often in subtle ways, sometimes brazenly through mannered clothes, discreet gatherings, and a secret code. It's a legacy that has cleared a path for today's studs to be more public about themselves.

Gladys Bentley, a bold 1920s blues singer, redefined audacity during the Harlem Renaissance with her powerful voice, fiery piano, and provocative lyrics. Her daring performances, once labeled as “masculine-garbed smut-singing,” even led to the closure of King’s Terrace, a venue she performed at. 

Often overlooked due to her risqué acts, Bentley’s legacy is now being rediscovered and celebrated, not just for her musical talent but for her courage as an African-American woman who loved other women, wore men’s clothing, and broke taboos. Although not the first, she helped paved the way for future generations to embrace authenticity without fear.

The Pressure

For many families steeped in religious or conservative values, the default expectation for formal occasions, weddings, Easter Sundays, and Christmas services is a dress, stockings, and heels for those perceived as women. Well, a stud showing up in a tailored suit, crisp sneakers, or a wide brimmed fedora can act like a declaration of rebellion or even disrespect. Ane=d trust, all eyes are definitely on them. With this challenge, many studs have sought to converge with dress pants rather than jeans, more muted color palettes, or a more masculine-cut blazer on their body, topping it with more subtle nods to the feminine styling. These small steps, over time, sort of succeeded in helping families and other groups understand that these people's gender expression is fluid, cultivating incremental acceptance even in families where the idea is slowly converging with hyperreligiosity.

Today, pop culture icons like Young M.A. bring stud fashion into the mainstream consciousness. Wearing a laid-back, tomboy style-baggy jeans, fresh sneakers, big chains-Young M.A. is definitely one to defy stereotypes about how women "should" look or dress. She moves inside traditionally masculine hip-hop spaces and remains unapologetically herself, granting visibility and validation to so many studs who see themselves in her. 

Meanwhile, others from Lena Waithe in daring suits on the red carpet to Syd from The Internet and her laid-back minimalist style-are making sure that there is immense diversity in stud fashion. Each one of these public figures adds a different take on what masculinity means, helping more studs find their reflections in individuals that best mirror or inspire their personal styles.

Faith, Family, and Fashion in Tension

For many studs, the church and the family unit that often revolves around it is a cornerstone of their upbringing. Tradition can be comforting and suffocating. Church services, choir rehearsals, and bible study gatherings frequently reinforce conservative gender roles, making it difficult for studs to show up in a manner that aligns with their identity.

• Guilt and Shame: Some studs struggle with feelings of shame or sinfulness, reinforced by religious doctrine that condemns or marginalizes queers.

• Family Pressure: Relatives, while well-meaning, may view masculine clothing choices as a phase that the girls will "grow out of" or as an act of rebellion. Comments can range from harmless teasing to outright condemnation.

• Passively Defiant Acts: In response, studs often perpetrate acts of quiet rebellion such as attending Sunday service in a stylishly cut blazer instead of a frilly dress. These quiet acts of defiance often change attitudes over time within the family.

I asked a good friend of mine who identifies proudly as a stud about how she exudes confidence and individuality through her style and about her experience in fashion growing up. She explained to me that since she could remember, being a stud was all rooted in embracing what felt natural to her. From the time she was young, there was an authenticity in her style that didn't always fit into what others expected. "The fact that my people had an opinion or even disliked my clothes and presentation never made me question myself, it was not about rebellion; it was about me and being true to me," she said. With time, she learned that confidence wasn't about fitting in but standing firmly in what made her whole.

Moving Forward

Fashion is not just a statement of style, but it's also an identity, a declaration of beliefs, and sometimes a protest. For studs, choices around clothing can often become the point of great friction between personal authenticity and deeply ingrained religious or cultural expectations. 

This can hurt so much, yet it can be a catalyst that may transform not just one individual but even a community, as even in writing and sharing the topic of this post with my family, it was a controversial and trivial topic in my own home. This coming from an openly gay man furthered the point of the entire conversation: traditions and ideologies being force-fed down our throats to make us conform and made to look as if it's a warning or caution when, in fact, it is actually the fear of the unknown.

Note that this is just one interpretation of an experience threaded together in an attempt to really drive home one of the most powerful cross-sections: religion, identity, and self-expression. Regardless of agreeing with the philosophies behind what has been said, it creates a conversation that can be relatable in the lives of many who balance faith, family, and fashion-often all at once. By all means, take this article and shape it to fit your experience more personally.