“My goal is to be a walking piece of political art every time I show up. To challenge expectations. What is masculinity? What does that mean?” – Billy Porter
The other day I shared a post about Boy Wonder (The Launch of Boy Wonder) calling for folks to take a survey and share “what’s missing from boys’ clothing lines.” And not simply more variety in colors — “sparkles, sequins, bows, metallics” were welcomed suggestions. Someone commented on my post: “yes to more colors” but “stop trying to unisex everything.”
I’ll say for the millionth time, CLOTHES MATTER. It matters that a few decades ago companies wanting to make more money started marketing butterflies for girls and beetles for boys. It matters that girls are now encouraged to embrace both butterflies and beetles while boys remain limited to only beetles. Of course, butterflies and beetles have far more significance that the focal of a t-shirt. Butterflies are gentle and beautiful. Beetles are dirty and tough. It matters that we are telling our boys they can only be tough….this and countless similar messages has lead to increased Toxic Masculinity. It matters so much that the American Psychological Association has set out treatment recommendations for Toxic Masculinity (Breaking News on Toxic Masculinity). This is not about “unisexsing” everything, this is about boys’ our health and happiness. So, thank you Billy.
Another maddening example of the gendering of everything….. The other day an add popped up on my newsfeed for kid’s dino sunglasses. Excited, I checked out who was selling these spiffy specs — Rockets of Awesome. I went to the “boy section” because dinosaurs are often assigned to boys. No luck– I then found them in the “girls section.” I didn’t realize there were sparkles on the glasses and “sparkles belong to girls.” So, I’ll say it again, thank you Billy!
whatsaboymom 