Oh
he dresses nicely, is he gay?
 |
| Hello Class! (=^_^=) |
Many of us have been downtown. Have you seen that
one guy who randomly catches your eye? Not because he’s features are good
looking or his eyes are amazing. It’s because he’s dressed like one of those men
that we fan girl/boy over during movies or in magazines. Then comes the moment
where we question their orientation.
Trust me; I've come to a lot of random conclusions. Now
a day’s we've seen in our own society, that men with the most fashionable taste
are sadly gay.
On the other hand, have we ever considered a
straight man loving fashion without any of us assuming he has a slight interest
in men or he’s gay?
If you've watched TV these days, shows portray the
gay men with the most stylish looks, however, if we take a look at the straight
guy he’s in a t-shirt and jeans. The show Glee for example, Kurt (The gay male
in the show) is the classiest dressed man in the series.
Now many of us might
say it’s cause he’s gay, now let’s try to put a straight guy in his position. Can
you imagine a straight man liking glitter, even I can’t imagine that. Is this a
new type of discrimination? Men who like fashion are gay.
This also goes for women. How is it easy to tell if
a woman is straight or not?
It’s not only media who encourages these false
ideas, but also stereotypes. It’s true that gay men do dress well, however,
does that apply for all men. That only gay men should dress nicely and get away
with it? But where do these stereotypes start from? Danny
Keefe, a first-grader from Bridgewater, Massachusetts, who suffers from a
speech impediment, has become the target of bullies who called him a baby and
ridiculed him for wearing a suit and tie to school. (Farberov, “Mail online”)
 |
| {Kim Bum from Shinee} |
We as kids always had our parents
dress for us. Many of us fit in, and others didn't. However, why does bullying happen? The best answer I could find was “The fact that one gets more social recognition for behaviours can also contribute to reasons why people bully” (Bullying Statistics, “Why do
people bully?”)
Different is the key word used when it comes to describe this
type of situations. Now when it comes to the real world and we forget about
school and all these ideas of bullying, there is still the idea that these males
are gay for dressing good.
A lot of straight men are hiding their
potentials because they are afraid of what society “might” view of them. Guy
Trebay, a New York Times journalist writes “Designer fashion is no
longer just for gay men and Europeans. Welcome to the age of sartorial
enlightenment, in which the average male has shed schlumpiness for style.”(Guy Trebay, “Tmagezine”)
There
is society who is encouraging, yet contradicting itself for the amount of stereotypes
they are creating and because of this many men feel threatened by fashion, by
style and by taking pride in one’s appearance. (James Gallichio, “The stigma of
the well dressed man”) I mean its 2014 come one; I doubt anyone would negatively
comment on how greatly you’re dressed. ;)
Questions~
- Why do you think it’s hard for straight men to express their love for fashion without being judged in society? Do you believe it’s another form of discrimination?
- How do women suffer from the same idea? Is it harder for women to express themselves as person who would rather dress manly than womanly?
Work Cited
Gallichio, James.
"The Stigma of the Well-Dressed Man." A
Good Man. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.<http://agoodman.com.au/stigma-of-the-well-dressed-man/>.
Trebay, Guy. "The
Rise of the Well-Dressed Man." T Magazine The Rise of the
WellDressed Man Comments. N.p., 27 Feb. 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.<http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/27/the-rise-of-the-well-dressed-man/?smid=tw-share>.
Farberov, Snejana.
"Touching moment a fifth-grade football team stands up for their
special-needs waterboy, 6, who was bullied for wearing suits to school... by
dressing just like him." Mail Online. Associated
Newspapers, 25 Nov. 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2512633/Kindness-suits-Moment-fifth-grade-football-team-rallies-bullied-special-needs-waterboy-likes-wear-jackets-ties-dressing-like-him.html>.
Unknown, Unknown.
"Why do People Bully?." - Bullying Statistics. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.<http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/why-do-people-bully.html>.
This is not actual comment because i already responded in this month, but I want quickly answer your 2nd question.
ReplyDeleteNO. If a man wears a dress it looks ridiculous to us, but if a woman wears jeans and a shirt its completely fine. Although I'm not much into fashion, but women do get a wider variety of clothing while men are more limited in choice. this i probably because men are supposed to be "manly" so clothing is not often tailored to them. Although this is changing with more and more guys caring about appearances like doing their hair, looking good, etc.
I agree with your ideas, your blog was quite interesting to read and I think you touched on a highly controversial subject. I have also always wondered why gay men are into fashion a great deal than the rest of us. I have personally come across lots of super stylish gay people that I remember asking myself a question, if being so-stylish is something that comes naturally to gay people. These people really know all the “technical parts” of fashion such as what to wear, when and how to wear it. In my opinion, one of the reasons for this would be the fact that gay men have already been labelled “feminine” by most of the society. As a result, it is okay for them to go shopping every month, and on top of that spend hours in front of the mirror to go out dressed very well.
ReplyDeleteGoing back to your “question”, I am not even sure if it is an actual question as it sounded quite rhetorical to me. But since I found it interesting, I am going to have my say on that. The question goes “have we ever considered a straight man loving fashion without any of us assuming he has a slight interest in men or he’s gay?” Yes, I have considered lots of straight men who love fashion without assuming they are into the same sex instead of the opposite. I think that it is morally wrong to judge someone based on their appearance. Although gay men dominate the fashion world, we need to be aware that there are plenty straight men who put some extra effort into being well dressed. Just because a man is well-dressed I won’t automatically think that he is gay. When a straight man takes care of himself, not only it is a sign that he has some dignity and manner, but it also shows that he is brave and confident enough to ignore others opinion who might think that he is gay. According to our society, men are supposed to be effortlessly hot and naturally handsome. I think we all need to break free from this narrow mindset and accept that it is totally okay for guys to like fashion. Infact there is something really attractive about it.
FASHION was always a industry that female's dominated, or men have influenced in the dark. Once something unfamiliar or different comes into society it is instantly discriminated on. Male's who dress 'stylish' may be perceived as homosexual because there's that stereotype where all gay men love fashion and are fashion designers- mainly because many male designers are gay therefore it's applied to all males with a high fashion sense. I see it's also seen the other way around. Females who wear baggy clothes/'non-feminine clothes' are guess to be a dyke: lesbian.
ReplyDeleteIt is another form of discrimination because it's stereotyping and also discouraging other males to hide in the dark or dress 'normally' to not be insulted and pointed out.
first of all, you have posted a really different and a blog with a new idea. to answer your questions i feel that it's really hard for a straight men to love fashion because like Ashley commented on the post above that most of men in fashion industry are gay, so if a straight male dresses up in different colors, he is inferred to be homosexual. also i want to say that from my point of view, men really don't care about clothing/fashion that much, some do i know, but as like average i don't think they care about it. yes, i think it is a form of discrimination because it's not that much of an open minded thing, if it was an open minded thing, then i don't think men would think about society before thinking to dress. so yes, it is an form of discrimination because men and women are treated differently by looking at the way the dress.
ReplyDeletei don't think it's hard for women to dress however they want to because society never looks at the women in a way that they have clothing restrictions, unless its religious. if women dresses like a men, it doesn't really seem to be a problem but if a man dress like a women, i think that is going to be really weird. for example if men wears pink which is considered to be girls color people think that he is gay but if girl wears blue (boy's color) people don't think anything. so i don't think it is hard for women to dress like a men.
Haha scary how I've done this not realizing how judgmental I was being in the moment. Ultimately I think it can all be related back to homosexual men in the media just as Ashley stated. On many shows,Real World, for example a homosexual man is never shown as 'dressed down.' He is forever dressed so fancy fancy and I think people take this as a real depiction of when they see what may be a heterosexual man walking down the street. Again this is where an individuals ability to be able to think & filter their thoughts and ideas would come into play. If you're intelligent enough to make your own realistic interpretations, you realize it's not always the case. Society has been brainwashed into believing many things with no supporting evidence & it's actually rather sad that people take it so seriously without hesitation. Just as a side note, your blog made me wonder, hey why is that many men think it's 'gay' or 'unmanly' to wear pink? Just some food for thought.
ReplyDeleteIn respect to women, I don't see it being harder, in fact I see it as equal if not less hard for them to dress manly without scrutinization. If a woman dresses in baggy clothes people just look at her & think 'Oh, she's a tom boy' and go on with their day & in that respect I think women get it pretty easy.
It is hard for straight men to express their love for fashion because the people are automatically going to assume the person is gay. One day I was talking to my friends and this boy passed by us. He was wearing a baby blue shirt and a black cardigan. Due to the way he was dressed me friends assumed he was gay. One of my friend said “if I was his mom I would be worried”. I knew that boy and I was also aware of the fact he is not gay but fashion conscious. I told my friends he is not gay but just like to dress up and they complained how it does not look proper. From this situation I believe the reason they end up calling the fashionable guy gay is that dressing up and making fashion their passion is more famine and not consider a masculine. Mostly you will hear girls talk about clothing and accessories not boys. If a boy will take interest in this type of conversation it will not look normal. I do not think it is another type of discrimination because even though I have seen people judging and gossiping about the person, they do not bully the person. Also they have the same rights as us. The thing is long time ago these fashionable guys might have a hard time but now days they are considered attractive. When you look into the media world guys have to be fashionable. They need to have their own sense of style. In fact even guy celebrities apply make-up on to. For example, if you look at the boys from k pop band they are extremely stylish and apply make-up on. They are not considered gay but girls say they are perfect and desperately wish to marry a guy like them. I think in future you do not have to be a girl to be fashionable.
ReplyDelete[Allow me to say on a side note: eccentric Key is looking as great as ever!] So, to answer your first question, I personally haven't noticed that straight men get judged for being fashionable. Contrary to your opinion, I see a rising demand in society for men to be fashionable due to the media and apparel industries. "Fashion" refers to the popular trends and whatever is deemed by people to look good. It doesn't incline the person to look "fab". Therefore, anything from suits to graphic hoodies to the new Jordans is considered fashionable as well. Knowing that, all men - other than those who are indifferent about their appearance - try to be fashionable. It's more about "looking good" and making a good impression on the people around them. I feel that the issue with the bullied child was not because they disliked his "fashion sense". It was because of a general unspoken rule in school: don't try too hard and don't stand out for doing something "overboard" (or like someone once said: something "ratchet"). And in his case, wearing a suit and tie to school was considered overboard (let's not try to be saintly; most of us - I know for SURE - see that as overboard too). I think the issue isn't about men being "fashionable", it's about men wearing designer clothing that, according to the long accepted standards of masculinity, incorporate feminine concepts and for some odd reason are the criterion to being "well-dressed". I think that, in itself, is discrimination. People have different styles and different trends they like, so why is it that that style specifically defines being well dressed? And referring to Zoe's blog, not all gays are "fabulously stylish" in the first place so that's another messed up stereotype right there. Also, I find what the time magazine journalist said implausible (“Designer fashion is no longer just for gay men and Europeans.") because I believe it never was exclusively for gay men and Europeans in the first place. I refuse to believe that, before now, all the menswear designers in the world were in a consensus that everything they designed would somehow be either "feminine" or aimed at Europeans. He could've AT LEAST slipped the obvious "celebrity" choice in there for plausibility points.
ReplyDeleteRegarding your second question, I believe that in our time, the line between female and male clothing is dissipating, enabling everyone to dress as they fancy (really bad pun intended). Of course, whether or not I agree with that phenomenon, and the reasons behind the aiming of distasteful looks at emo/metal/other-things-accepted-as-extreme-or-weird-or-inapproperiate type clothing, are other topics. However, concerning women dressing in "manly" clothes, I think society accepts it by now since there are many, as Hannah said, tom boys around now.
Wow where was I when you posted this blog Marian. This really made me say "wow". Im not going to lie sometimes when I dress a certain way in school which isn't normal to all my friends I will always get 2 or 3 people say "you bro you look gay fam" but I don't let that get to me and neither do I blame them because thats just the way it is. Gay people will always dress better than Straight men I don't know its just something that the media has made everyone think.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your first question, I think it is really hard for straight men to express their love for fashion with out being judge is because first of people judge no one can deny they don't and when we have a third party for example the media telling us that gay men always dress better than straight men than of course people will have a reason to judge. In other hands the media plays a big role in everything and what ever idea they give out it will always be followed by people, sadly.
I don't believe it's discrimination it's just a way of life!
P.S good blog