Good Boy Gone Bad

This chapter details Zayn’s construction of “post boy band masculinity.” His departure from One Direction instigated an extensive reconfiguration of his public identity, and the bulk of the chapter concerns the creation of discursive distance between his solo persona and his boy band past. The chapter opens with a thorough assessment of the prevailing prejudices that characterize boy bands as innocent, immature, and inauthentic. It is in response to such prejudices, it is argued, that Zayn’s transformation was undertaken in a bid to authenticate his solo persona in both musical and masculine terms. This is achieved in the music video, Pillowtalk (2016), wherein a sonic alignment with rock idioms and the audiovisual construction of a seductive dreamscape largely maintains gender norms and affirm his heterosexual virility. At the same time, Zayn’s openness about mental health issues and his devotion to fashion have spurred descriptions of him as ushering in new ways of being masculine. These contradictory facets of his persona indicate that even seemingly heteronormative expressions of identity may contain potentially subversive aspects, and vice versa.