Ryder McEntyre, Campus Carrier Graphics Editor
If you’re a Twitter user like I am, you might have noticed the latest Will Smith-spawn-related controversy: Jaden Smith wearing a dress.
Let me outline some things about Jaden’s dress for you with a handy list: 1.) Jaden Smith wearing a dress is no more news than the billions of women every day who wear pants. 2.) If you find the previous point ridiculous, consider how women used to never wear pants, up until very recently. 3.) Jaden Smith is giving the middle finger to gender norms. 4.) Gender norms are bad for a whole other list of reasons. 5.) Jaden Smith has just become a style icon for thousands of teen boys who face adversity for their clothing choices. 6.) Jaden Smith’s choice to wear dresses is causing a vital conversation about gender variance.
A little history lesson: Women didn’t start wearing pants in the mainstream until World War I, when they started to wear their husband’s trousers, usually altered, to factory jobs. They still wore dresses and skirts in public, however, until the Education Amendments of 1972, which changed the dress code requirement for girls to allow things other than dresses. If that’s shocking, then consider the fact that the first woman to wear pants in her First Lady portrait was Hillary Clinton.
So why are women allowed to wear pants by society without judgment, but men are not allowed to wear dresses and afforded the same privilege? Because we simply only value masculinity. Men have been wearing pants for centuries, whereas the dress has been a symbol of femininity for as long as we can remember. By allowing girls to wear pants, we’re allowing them to attempt to achieve a masculine value. By not allowing boys to wear dresses, we’re saying that femininity is something less.
By gendering clothes, you’re barring access to different forms of self-expression. Am I saying I am comfortable with wearing a dress tomorrow? Not in the South. We should be free to express ourselves in any way that does not harm another human being. Would I wear a dress sometime in the future, still identify as a male and feel confident? If people like Jaden Smith continue being brave and eschewing gender norms—hell yes.
Not allowing boys to wear dresses is as ridiculous as saying women shouldn’t wear pants, a notion that has only recently faded from the status quo. Jaden Smith is pushing the limits on gender conformity, and he is the first mainstream star to do so.
If you’re cringing from looking at pictures of a man in a dress, ask yourself why. And be honest. You’re probably cringing because you’re not used to it, but also because you’re having to devalue and question a person based on their choices – which is always uncomfortable. Why do we devalue? Because masculinity, in the patriarchal society which we live, is the only valuable currency. Luckily, stars like Jaden Smith are showing us that equal value can be found in the “girly.”