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Re: Dress

Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2021 3:01 pm
by Stevej180
I completely empathise with the comments made in this post, although I think there is a major generational shift taking place right now. I speak as a child of the 70s, who went to an all-boys school in the 80s. Being different was limited to having your school tie tied a slightly non-standard length. For example no one dared come out as gay at school - I later learned of a couple of friends who subsequently came out in their 20s. So I certainly would never have entertained the idea of presenting as different, although I did once manage to get myself cast as a roman in a school play and wear a tunic, which I found secretly very liberating!

Fast forward to now, and my kids have just finished high school. Not only does being gay not warrant any attention, they don’t even really understand what ‘coming out means’, that’s not even a thing. They casually refer to a friend who finished one term presenting as a boy and starting the next presenting as a girl. No big deal. Going further, they actively ‘celebrate’ differences and have grown up in an era where everybody seems to be on one sort of spectrum or another, so pushing gender boundaries with clothing and messing with cultural norms really isn’t that big a deal for them.

So when I told my kids a few months back that their Dad sometimes likes to wear skirts or a kilt, their reaction was a mixture of ‘Wow, that’s great!’, ‘it’s great to be different’ and ‘I’m proud of you’. I was taken aback. My wife has been relaxed about it for a while, so now it means I can dress and express myself how I want at home. Going out in public.... that’s another step for another day.

Re: Dress

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2021 1:48 am
by KiltedintheValley
I was bullied pretty heavily in school. It started in the third grade and ended at High School Graduation. I tried so hard to "fit in", but it never worked. I had a few friends, but I know of no one who was bullied quite as extensively as I was. Looking back, adding a skirt or kilt to my wardrobe in High School would have definitely led to a severe beating. (It was rumored that the "rednecks" of my High School beat one of my classmates so severely after he "came out" that he had to finish his senior year elsewhere.)

Fast forward to today. My youngest daughter's friends think I am the coolest dad because I am not afraid to wear a skirt out and about. (My youngest daughter is a senior in High School.) My oldest daughter isn't afraid to be seen with me in public while in a skirt. As a matter of fact, she has helped me with my outfits! My 10-year-old son expressed interest in having a denim skirt like mine (don't tell his mom!).

I believe that this generation will fully embrace men in skirts, even if only a select few of us wear them. :D

Re: Dress

Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2021 3:57 am
by Grok
KiltedintheValley wrote: Wed Feb 03, 2021 1:48 am
My 10-year-old son expressed interest in having a denim skirt like mine (don't tell his mom!).
This must be how a new tradition is born-when kids get inspiration from older people. :mrgreen:

Re: Dress

Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2021 11:26 am
by STEVIE
Grok wrote: Sat Feb 13, 2021 3:57 am This must be how a new tradition is born-when kids get inspiration from older people.
Re: DressQuote KiltedintheValley
by
This is true but can be a double edged sword too.
Inspiration can all too easily become cast in stone and not all for the good either.
In some distant past somebody was inspired for trousers to become "traditional" menswear.
Look where that has got us.
Steve.

Re: Dress

Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2021 1:52 pm
by moonshadow
I feel like the largest reason for the overall move towards gender equality is likely due to the internet and the free exchange of ideas around the world.

Of course, that too is a double edge sword, yes it's very easy to share ideas, though there are a lot of bad ideas floating around, leading from mostly benign concepts like the flat Earth, to more harmful ideas that may be leading to the end of the free world as we know it.

Re: Dress

Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2021 8:51 am
by Daryl
moonshadow wrote: Sat Feb 13, 2021 1:52 pm I feel like the largest reason for the overall move towards gender equality is likely due to the internet and the free exchange of ideas around the world.

Of course, that too is a double edge sword, yes it's very easy to share ideas, though there are a lot of bad ideas floating around, leading from mostly benign concepts like the flat Earth, to more harmful ideas that may be leading to the end of the free world as we know it.
Heh heh.

You youngins wanna take credit for everything. The rise in gender equality began with my generation, in fact, with just one person from my generation: David Bowie. The rest is all a footnote. 8)

Re: Dress

Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2021 12:06 pm
by Sinned
Daryl, there has been an undercurrent of men wearing the flamboyant through the ages. In the fifties there were musicians such as Little Richard. Then from the sixties and seventies, to name a few, Alice Cooper, Annie Lennox ( yes, women can be overtly masculine in style and aggression ), Boy George, Grace Jones, Iggy Pop, Marc Bolam are just some off the top of my head. Of course musicians and female clothing are commonplace and most have dabbled with dresses at some point in their career, even if, like Queen, it was just for fun. David Bowie, while influential, was certainly not the first or only.

Re: Dress

Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2021 2:54 pm
by moonshadow
Daryl wrote: Sun Feb 14, 2021 8:51 am Heh heh.

You youngins wanna take credit for everything. The rise in gender equality began with my generation, in fact, with just one person from my generation: David Bowie. The rest is all a footnote.
Got me there... Bowie could sure rock a dress!

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Re: Dress

Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2021 5:05 pm
by Daryl
Sinned wrote: Sun Feb 14, 2021 12:06 pm David Bowie, while influential, was certainly not the first or only.
Blasphemy!