Clothing, gender and freedom

I often think about how women have so much more freedom than men in dress. Womenswear is more colourful, vibrant and varied than men's. Additionally, women have more freedom to flout gender rules: wearing pants, or even opting for masculine styles, is OK. Some women are criticised or bullied for it - especially lesbian and bisexual women, when people know their gender expression is part of being "wrong" in other ways. But it's not in the same league as men who dare to wear a skirt or adopt feminine looks.

A friend has just given me another perspective. They said they thought men had more freedom: freedom not to give a damn. It's expected that men pay zero attention to clothes or grooming, and indeed caring too much about these things can often get you labelled as gay, which is usually meant as a synonym for "not a real man". Coordinating looks, fashions which change by seasons, taking an interest in what you wear: men get away with ignoring all of these. Men's grooming can also be simpler: one hairstyle, easy to ask for at the barbers; no make up; and no complex shaving.

I'm not interested in, like, "who has it worst???" because that's uninteresting and pointless. More interested in how our values about clothes and appearance can be so different, depending on gender - even though there are no logical reasons for these rules to exist.

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