Women have been wearing traditionally masculine clothing for centuries, so why is it so taboo for men to wear traditionally feminine clothing?
In the past, it has been socially acceptable for men to wear dresses, for example in Scotland men wear kilts. The spartans even more skirts for battle. It was common for nobles to wear dresses, skirts, and robes. Fashion shifted to where it is now, many people see it as socially unacceptable for a man to wear a dress or skirt.
Within the last few years, many male celebrities have worn dresses and skirts. Celebrities such as Billy Porter and Harry Styles have dressed in traditionally feminine clothing for photoshoots and also gone on the red carpet in this attire. This has caused a discussion about gender roles to spring up. It’s even become a TikTok trend for men to make videos in dresses and skirts, more specifically guys in maid dresses.
Junior Libby McFarlen said, “I think if a man wants to wear a dress or skirt, they should be able to. Clothing doesn’t have a gender. Women don’t get shamed for wearing more ‘masculine’ clothing, but men get shamed for wearing dresses and skirts. If a man feels confident and feels good about his outfit, he should wear whatever he wants. It won’t hurt anyone else if they do so.” Quite a few people had the same positive outlook.
Some, like junior Cassidy Conley, even expressed a love of it. “Men that wear ‘feminine’ clothes are so powerful. If they can be that confident with themselves and who they are while wearing clothes that are typically thought of to be girls’ clothes, proves how it doesn’t matter what you are wearing but I guess how you wear it,” Conley said.
There were a few students who expressed a dislike for it, but they requested not to be quoted in this article.
Sophomore Curtis Chapman said, “I think that if a guy wants to wear a dress, he has every right to do so. But, unfortunately, not everyone is so accepting, and if you wear a dress in a public place, know that some people may insult or bully you because of it. I wish that people were different, but many people bully others simply for the things that they wear. So overall, it’s the guy’s right to wear a dress if he wants, but in doing so, he has to accept that some people will make fun of it. But it’s up to him on whether he lets the criticism control him or not.”
Chapman brings up a very good point. You need to have a certain degree of confidence to be able to wear something that society deems taboo.
I feel that, as a trans man, I have a very unique outlook on gender roles and gendered items. I grew up female and was actually fairly feminine as a kid. As soon as I came out as trans, I started doing anything I could to be perceived as male, causing me to fall into societal gender norms. I wanted so badly to fit in. There’s this twisted belief that if someone is trans they have to fit into gender norms or they’re faking being trans. I just recently wore a skirt for the first time since I came out. I’m reclaiming my femininity as a man.
Based on my own experience and observations I believe that gender, in general, is a social construct. Thus no clothing is gendered. That’s what I want to believe at least, I’m still working on dispelling the idea of gender that I was raised with.
There is nothing wrong with a man wearing a dress. At the end of the day, he’s doing something that makes him happy and he’s not hurting himself or anyone else.