One of the most frequent discussions that have arisen over the last years is the one about the genders and how they are defined. As we are going through the 1st quarter of the 21st century, people and society are more open and welcoming to new ideas as to how we can identify ourselves.
In the past, it was quite clear-cut that there were two genders, the male and the female, so it was left up to nature to decide if someone would live his/ her life as a boy or a girl. Anything that would deviate from these two routes, was considered abnormal or even “sick”.
There was a specific way that the people were expected to behave and anything that would be outside this norm, could get you branded for life or even get you killed. Ironically, although we are in the 21st century, there are still countries where it’s legalized to be “killed” if you aren’t behaving according to your gender.
According to Healthline, there are 64 terms that can describe a person’s gender identity and expression. Nowadays, many parents even try to raise their children as “asexual” and leave it to them to decide how they would like to live their lives. Of course, as with many new ideas, this has many advocates and many protestors, who claim that the children growing up as “asexual” could be confused sexually later on.
However, there are many who dare to challenge society’s narrow-mindedness and often too conservative values and principles with their behavior. In our story, we will meet a very progressive and modern man, who refuses to conform where clothes and gender are concerned.
Meet Mark Bryan, an American robotic engineer currently living in Germany, who doesn’t agree that clothes should be gendered. Who said that skirts can be worn only by women? And why is that?
Bryan describes himself as a “straight, happily married guy that loves Porsche’s, beautiful women, and incorporating high heels and skirts into my daily wardrobe,”. That’s right, Bryan is a married man who enjoys wearing skirts and often high-heels full-time, even at his workplace, for the last 3 years.
Undoubtedly, Bryan and his unconventional style might seem a bit strange or new to some people, but as he says, “95% of people don’t care what you wear as long as it has no effect on them. It’s the 5% that catcall, whistle, yell rude remarks only because they feel threatened to some extent”.
Bryan’s hybrid look has gained him more than 127k followers on Instagram and he revealed to McGill Media that it was his wife that encouraged him to try out wearing skirts. He said that “I was already wearing high heels with pants, sometimes women’s pants. My wife asked why I wouldn’t wear a dress or a skirt, that I have nice legs to show”. It’s so amazing when you have a partner who not only doesn’t judge and demotivates you, but she actually embraces your lifestyle.
As you can see in the pictures, although the skirt and high heels might give a more “feminine” vibe to his body, as the clothes are still gendered in our society, his whole posture and muscle build still tone his male image.
Bryan was asked how he addresses the negative comments he receives, and he responded “It’s not worth my time to explain myself. I find I am pretty thick-skinned when it comes to negative comments and focus on the positive comments, which come in much more often,”.
Let’s applaud this man who dares to “challenge” our conservative society which is desperately in need of a change as there shouldn’t be considered a challenge in the first place. People should be able to identify or dress as they want. Life is too short to live it as a stranger in your own body.
If you would like to see more of Bryan’s different styles, check out his Instagram.
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