What makes a skirt manly v feminine

[Stu]

Manly v feminine: Who cares? Wear what you like. If you are worried about M-F placement on some continuum in somebody minds -- put on your pants or dress how you feel good. As to length: I'd say any so long as it covers the genitals to keep you out of the pokey, and you feel good with it.

You make a good point, but some people really do want to retain an appearance commensurate with the conventions of their gender, either because they prefer it or because they have people in their life who would struggle to accept it otherwise. I like to look masculine and will I am mindful of that when I choose what to wear, but also if I expect my wife to tolerate me in a skirt, I want her to feel comfortable as well. We have free will - but we are also social creatures.

[Tazzmac]

G'day all.... Good topic ...I'll add my two cents worth ... I love my kilts and of course they are primarily a garment with the male in mind but of course women wear them also .. Completely okay .

I bought a leather kilt not too long ago on spec and online without really checking the detail and although it was advertised as a kilt it's actually a male skirt without doubt . It was cheap , not all that well made to be honest with inconsistent stitching in places when you look close but I love it .
It's 22" Size 38 . As i said elsewhere I have probably have too many kilts both traditional wool , wool blend , 5 yard mostly but one 8 yard (very heavy) and my preferred are utility kilts including khaki , cotton and a denim one now .. Trying to find a high viz one too when one suitably priced pops up during the upcoming summer .
No problem AT ALL , not any for any males in authentic skirts ..so many guys look amazing sure but never really found it yet for me unfortunately . I often wonder though particularly with short to mid length skirt and dress' styles how great if some company made a Roman or Greek style tunic , toga, chiton look reflecting the classic warrior times . I read only recently that the Romans regarded breeches as effeminate way back .

On EBAY earlier this year I saw a fake leather battledress style skirt advertised at 21" . The pics made the model wearing it look very masculine but like all clothes it requires confidence to wear such things .

Funnily enough , that cheap and nasty leather (it is actually leather too albeit not the most supple) kilt/skirt I have gives me a joy to put on here and there and it actually does feel masculine . To me anyway.,

[Grok]

Manly v feminine: Who cares? Wear what you like. If you are worried about M-F placement on some continuum in somebody minds -- put on your pants or dress how you feel good. As to length: I'd say any so long as it covers the genitals to keep you out of the pokey, and you feel good with it.

I don't particularly care about that either. Just so long as the rig looks good you.

[Barleymower]

There's nothing we can do about bigots and ignoramus in the short term. So dress well, be yourself and be happy that you have the guts where most men have none.

That is precisely what I'm advocating for. Let's try to decouple the "skirt == feminine" aspect from the matter and just get on with things. It'll be simpler that way.

My own way to deal deal with the decoupling of the skirt from skirt=feminine is to assume that it is decoupled ie nothing to to see here and take on challenges as they arise.
The best method of attack being: don't wait for approval, it won't happen.
Moving away slightly, women have made a lot of gains through saying "I'm just a girl". They have gained equality without giving up advantages. Men can't say the same. If we want something we have to take it. Nobody is giving us anything.

[robehickman]

There's nothing we can do about bigots and ignoramus in the short term. So dress well, be yourself and be happy that you have the guts where most men have none.

That is precisely what I'm advocating for. Let's try to decouple the "skirt == feminine" aspect from the matter and just get on with things. It'll be simpler that way.

My own way to deal deal with the decoupling of the skirt from skirt=feminine is to assume that it is decoupled ie nothing to to see here and take on challenges as they arise.
The best method of attack being: don't wait for approval, it won't happen.
Moving away slightly, women have made a lot of gains through saying "I'm just a girl". They have gained equality without giving up advantages. Men can't say the same. If we want something we have to take it. Nobody is giving us anything.

'Just do it and keep doing it' seems to be how skirts for men became normalised among contra dancers. It started initially in the 1980's - and from then over the 1990's there is a lot of evidence of people pushing back against it, but by about the mid 2000's that pushback appears to go away. It's then easy to find videos from the early 2010's up to today of dance festivals where a substantial portion of male dancers are in skirts, nobody appearing to care.

Just wear skirts, make sure what you're doing is visually consistent, act naturally, and stick to it.Would probably help if we could develop some guidance with how to respond to negative people, as the historybounding crowd have.

[DrFishnets]

This is my take on it but I tend to stick to wearing black or dark coloured pleated skirts that look similar to kilts with black doc martens with thick black tights and men’s tops and wearing a travellers back pack on my back if I’m wanting a manly look. To me colour plays a big part in the appearance. I also wear t-shirt mini dresses which can look manly amd like a long top. When I’m feeling adventurous and feminine then I swap out the black thick tights for fishnets or sheer tights/pantyhose and a lighter patterned skirt or dress.

[Mouse]

Just wear skirts, make sure what you're doing is visually consistent, act naturally, and stick to it.Would probably help if we could develop some guidance with how to respond to negative people, as the historybounding crowd have.

I think this is a really important point. Having made your decision that it is your preference to wear skirts and it is what you want to incorporate into your life. You have to stick with it and weather any storm that comes your way. If you persevere with skirts and normally wear skirts as a rule, then people will start to accept this and work round it, discussing what skirt you will wear and not whether you will wear a skirt.
Obviously not everybody wants to wear skirts as a rule, but I have found that sticking with it, just removes discussion about your skirt wearing.

[steamman]

To answer whether a skirt is masculine or feminine one has to first be clear about what masculine and feminine actually is. And it immediately runs into problems. Why? Quite simply because conceptions of masculinity and femininity are social constructs. They are made up. A hundred years ago pink was deemed to be masculine. What’s gendered about a colour anyway: it’s a property of physics! I couldn’t care less about the whole masculine v feminine toxicity, the sooner it goes in the bin the better. People should simply be who they are and wear whatever they want. It really is that simple.

[Uncle Al]

"What makes a skirt manly v feminine"

Really, who cares

When wearing a skirt, IMHO, I try to incorporate the colors that I would
normally wear, if / when, wearing P*nts. This way the skirt would not be
that noticeable, not be "shocking" to the viewer's eyes. Their eyes would
not be drawn to the lower half of the body. They will see a guy, standing
in front of them - not some 'freak' that some people will call us.

Just my $.02 worth but, so far, this has worked for me

Uncle Al

[KiltedBigWave]

Manly v feminine: Who cares? Wear what you like. If you are worried about M-F placement on some continuum in somebody minds -- put on your pants or dress how you feel good. As to length: I'd say any so long as it covers the genitals to keep you out of the pokey, and you feel good with it.

Well said, I could not agree more