The male right to wear feminine clothes

2017-02-18T03:48:42+00:00

Isn't that a genuine men's right that we're missing?

In some specific situations, yes. For example, rules of attire in school and business. I think if you make the rules egalitarian there, it will allow those who really want to break the norm to get the snowball rolling so that the semi-curious can also participate, and culture can change.

But I don't believe in any sort of right for people to not think you're being weird.

LucifersHammerr · 2017-02-18T04:35:00+00:00

Dude, I've seen some guys who can rock makeup and dresses better than any of my female friends ever could. And I understand the worry behind what people think. I'm a woman and not very feminine myself and have been mistaken for a guy before. (I'm straight too, oddly enough.) So while I advise you be wary of your surroundings and protect yourself, I wont say you shouldn't dress how you want. I think society should be more encouraging to not give a fuck as long as you're not hurting anyone or yourself. And we are progressing towards that, slowly but surely. But we're not there yet.

I think a lot of the distinction as to why it's more unusual for men to wear women's clothing is because the more unisex styles of jeans + t-shirt, for example, more closely resembles male clothing. Even when the specific articles are cut and designed specifically for the female form. Whereas most traditional women's clothing has no such style relating to it. Which I think mainly, fashion evolved that way because men's clothing was mostly made to be practical and comfortable and women's put more emphasis into aesthetics but comfort and practicality took a backseat. However, there have been a few instances lately where people have attempted to close that gap by making clothing made to fit the male figure but is aesthetically related to traditional women's clothing like dresses and lingerie. But it has yet to become mainstream. And frankly, I think it's because there isn't much demand for it. And comfort and practicality might still play a part in that, unfortunately.

jerry292 · 2017-02-18T07:16:02+00:00

A few things to note... Some of it is male-driven. Most men just honestly do not care much for fashion. Lots of men dont even care if the color of their clothes match. Men just tend to be more boring about their clothes. So the fashion lines for male clothes tend to be bland and usually stick to Earth tone colors.

Some of it is also part of the social programming. Boys are taught by society to fear anything that is perceived as being feminine or "girly." And it extends into adulthood. And a lot of that is due to the perception that femininity is inferior and masculinity is superior. So it is considered OK for women/girls to do masculine things (or wear masculine clothes) since masculinity is considered a step-up. But if a boy/man does something feminine, it's considered a step-down and worthy of mockery.

One good example is names. You can name a girl with a masculine name. But you can't name a boy with a feminine name. Not only that, but if male name becomes popular for girls, it no longer gets used for men. Did you know the names Lindsay, Alexis, Ashley, Beverly, Stacy, Brooke, Lauren, and Kelsey ALL started as boys names? They are nearly 100% girls names now. Once a name goes pink, it never goes back to blue.

rg57 · 2017-02-18T17:34:09+00:00

Yes.

I think it's fair to say most men are never going to want this right, but it must be available.

Further, women's clothing can be far more comfortable and expressive than what men are allowed to wear (tie, long pants). Men have to be allowed to be as comfortable as women, and at least allow shorts and half-open shirts.

And frankly, our color options suck. I don't want a dress. But I do want to look good. And that isn't going to happen in brown, blue, black, and grey.

2017-02-19T00:03:20+00:00

To be fair, it's toxic masculinity that is stopping men from doing this and feminism is fighting toxic masculinity pretty hard.

Women had to fight for decades to remove stereotypical gendered clothing. Men just haven't fought the fight yet.

trash-dove · 2017-02-20T01:45:37+00:00

don't wear heels. don't do that to your feet. they are torture. I mean I'll argue for your right to wear them all day but fuck they're just dumb articles of clothing for every sex.

ShitXChromosomes · 2017-02-18T11:59:53+00:00

A HUGE barrier in the way of what you're proposing is biology. Even if you solve the problem of making it acceptable for men to wear traditionally feminine clothing, fact is, it will NEVER have as much positive impact as it does when women wear it, because, simply put, men are not as attractive as women. I do firmly believe a lot of gender, is socially constructed, but one thing that is biological (or, if social, too "deep" to realistically deconstruct) is our positive perception of "feminine" traits. Completely regardless of your sexual orientation (or even lack thereof!), traits such as:

meeker stature
smoother skin
smoother facial bone structure
higher pitched voice

elicit a different response than their counterparts, particularly for the purposes of being perceived as "feminine". I already have no trouble with dudes wearing whatever the fuck they want, but suppose that, right now, two people come at me, both wearing THIS, one being a 6" ripped, bearded dude and the other being a 5.4" slim girl with long hair, smooth skin, etc. They will not elicit an equally positive initial response. You can actually throw sex completely out the window and this still works: a 6", large frame person, with visible body hair, versus 5.4" petite frame, no body hair, etc. Same thing.

This is why it's a nearly fruitless thing to pursue. As is, MEN wearing such clothing will never receive as much social benefit from it as WOMEN, because we, as human beings, do not react as well to male physical characteristics, as we do to female ones.

OF COURSE, a man can alter their physical appearance to be more in line with the traditionally feminine, but DOESN'T THAT DEFEAT THE POINT? Take off your body hair, burn up that muscle mass, train that voice, then wear that dress. Yep, you're cute now, but at that point, all things considered, you're closer to being a woman than being a man. Might as well take it all the way and transition, as there's zero benefit to keeping that M next your name, if not for "biological correctness" reasons, but you'll find most people don't give a fuck about that nowadays.

TL;DR: I'm not good at explaining this very well, it's been a while since I dabbled in this argument. You probably could sum it all up by just saying you can't because of the "women are wonderful effect", which is too difficult to realistically deconstruct by itself (If you've managed to deconstruct this phenomena, you've already radically changed society in a bunch of other ways as well).

Vacbs · 2017-02-18T12:35:45+00:00

. . .

Clothing is not a right. It's a social norm. If you want to break social norms you are allowed to, you will simply be treated like an oddball that breaks social norms. You don't have a right to be treated with respect.

Why do you think this is the case, and how can we expand men's rights to broaden the kind of gender expression that's accepted for men?

The worst thing about feminism is their obsessive need to try and socially engineer things they don't like. If you want to try and do that then fine, but I will fight you tooth and bloody nail every step of the way.

paragonofcynicism · 2017-02-18T21:30:23+00:00

I think the reason is actually pretty simple. Women's clothes are design to accentuate their body shape. Men's clothes are designed to cover their body and be decent looking. Which can work for both sexes.

Women's clothing doesn't really accentuate the man's typical body shape so it just looks weird. But men's clothing on women simply hides their feminine differences and simply makes them look like skinnier men. So there isn't much of a shock factor to seeing it because there's nothing that stands out.

Now you should ask, what's the difference between a robe and a dress.

Imnotmrabut · 2017-02-18T03:03:12+00:00

It occurred to me that women can dress "like a man", but men can't easily dress "like women".

Darling - you should try any good Drag Bar to verify your hypothesis?

Personally, I aint fond of even seeing chicks in frocks and high heals and often find them ridiculous. If you want to don a frock, panty girdle or fishnets go for it. I've Missed the New Romantics since they went all commercial back in the 80's.

Title	The male right to wear feminine clothes
Author	[deleted]
Upvotes	12
Comments	32
Date	February 18, 2017 2:49 AM UTC (9 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/5uqeau/the_male_right_to_wear_feminine_clothes/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/the-male-right-to-wear-feminine-clothes.931716 https://theredarchive.com/post/931716

Comments