Is Billie Eilish A Boy?
The eccentric and kooky pop star is renowned for a very unique taste in and approach to fashion, but do these attributes only aid the confusion behind Eilish’s gender?
Billie Eilish is not a boy. She is female.
Read on to find out more about Billie Eilish and why she chooses to appear how she does.
A Truly Unique Persona
Billie Eilish’s music stands out from the crowd, owing primarily to her deeper, somewhat monotonous tone. It’s a far stretch from other female artists of her age, who opt traditionally for peppy pop songs sung in a higher pitch.
This is where the confusion may begin, as your first impression of Billie Eilish is hearing her deep vocals. It’s arguable that it could be the voice of a teenage boy.
The fact that Billie has lived over a quarter of her life in the media spotlight has given way for the mass documentation of her developmental years.
This has of course included her ambiguous wardrobe, featuring baggy, ‘genderless’ tracksuits, luminous bomber jackets, and enveloping hoodies. As you can imagine, this only serves to further the confusion as to whether Billie Eilish may be a boy.
Further, there’s her name in itself. In full, Eilish’s name is Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O’Connell. When adopting that spelling variant, Billie is a feminine name, but it’s not immediately obvious when the name is spoken, of course.
As for being given the middle name of ‘Pirate’… well, that just highlights the uniqueness of this individual even further.
Breaking Down The Style
Billie Eilish has gone on record numerous times explaining why she chooses to appear the way she does.
She’s even gone as far as to strike out against sexism and body-shaming, claiming that if she were male and decided to dress the way she does, nobody would care.
She has explained in interviews that she decides to dress the way she does to avoid anyone judging or sexualizing her. This is a tactic that may fail from the get-go, given that she instantly opens the door to judgemental comments based on that sole factor.
Although, there may be some truth to her line of thinking.
In mid-2019, Eilish was snapped wearing a baggy hoodie that was unzipped, revealing a white tank top underneath. The immediate response consisted of derogatory comments from some male posters (exacerbated by the fact that Eilish was only seventeen at the time).
This was one of the first times Eilish ‘showed skin’, so to speak, and it definitely ended in the result she had so predicted.
Confirming Once And For All
Although her dress style, mannerisms, voice and name may seem somewhat masculine, there’s no doubt that Billie Eilish is a female artist.
It may be confusing for first-time viewers, particularly as her (arguably) most popular song is titled ‘Bad Guy’, and sung from Eilish’s perspective, but she’s definitely female.
You can hear Billie Eilish perform Bad Guy on YouTube here.
Ironically, Eilish explained that ‘Bad Guy’ was written as a satirical piece, with the song poking fun at how people present themselves.
As she continues to rocket upwards through the realm of stardom, it’s likely more people will become aware of her and who she is.
At just eighteen years of age, Billie Eilish has laid claim to five Grammys and performed the original song ‘No Time to Die’ for the James Bond movie of the same name, making her the youngest ever to record such a track.
It will be interesting to see if Eilish’s style ever changes to address the potential confusion she creates at any point going forward.
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