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Reyes’ article about men being fearful of taking on roles that are not traditionally masculine brings a lot of thoughts to mind, one being the idea that being traditionally feminine, or that anything typically associated with women = bad. The article mentions how women have a
better time taking on masculine roles and young girls are not as criticized for playing with trucks as young boys are for playing with dolls. While this is completely true, I think asking the question of “why” is important here. There is a common denominator in this scenario that
I don’t feel like many people discuss. The reason everyone is more okay with girls playing baseball than they are with boys wearing dresses is because femininity is seen as a bad thing. To me, this is where everyone experiences the repercussions of a cis-male
dominated world. A recent situation that feels appropriate to mention here is Candace Owens’ critique of Harry Styles wearing dresses, as she poses in pant suits. Of course, there is nothing wrong with her wearing a pant suit, but why is she and other people alike so appalled by
a man in a gown? She questions his masculinity because of this, which doesn’t make sense as no one is questioning her femininity because of her clothing. There is no benefit for anyone by pushing the narrative that femininity is weak while masculinity is strong and powerful.
Like the article says, “masculinity is valued more than femininity”, and drawling lines for the sake of tradition and comfortability for bigotry is harmful and invaluable. Masculinity and femininity are not defined by fabric, and no one should be claiming this as the end all, be
all of the discussion of gender norms. The obsession of labeling one another is another harmful aspect of gender norms, and to continue with the Harry Styles in a dress thing, a lot of men have their sexuality questioned when they break gender norms, once again proving that men
cannot be feminine unless their sexuality is anything but hetero. This opens up a new conversation about homophobia and transphobia, but nonetheless, femininity is always weaponized while masculinity is always praised.
