In today’s episode of 'how to piss off a conservative bigot’ it would appear dressing in whichever way pleases you makes it on the list, alongside the classics of helping others less fortunate than yourself and asking the rich to pay higher taxes.
In a recent interview with Vogue, former One Direction member Harry Styles donned a series of flamboyant dresses, extravagant ball gowns and a custom Gucci jacket as the cover star of Decembers issue of the legendary fashion magazine. This unfathomable display of free will caused an uproar among the Conservative community, especially with conservative author and political activist Candace Owens, who in a recent tweet demanded a return of the ‘manly man’ and called out Styles' Vogue cover for its outright ‘attack' on strong men.
The tweet, which has received over 100,000 likes along with an absolute slay response from Olivia Wilde (“You’re Pathetic”) was then followed up by Owens defending her position, stating that her request to bring back manly men is not encouraging toxic masculinity, which is a term according to Owens made up by toxic females. Really though, what is Candace Owens’ problem?
Firstly let’s focus on Harry Styles, in his interview with Vogue the singer openly talks about his love for traditional female clothing, “I’ll go in shops sometimes, and I just find myself looking at the women’s clothes thinking they’re amazing”. Explaining further, Harry reveals he feels like he’s in a superhero outfit when he wears something he feels amazing in, flamboyant or plain, female or male orientated, for him it’s about breaking down barriers, “Clothes are there to have fun with and experiment with and play with. What’s really exciting is that all of these lines are just kind of crumbling away”.
So that’s pretty self-explanatory, the guy feels empowered and happy in wearing whatever he wants, embracing his creative desires and channelling his trend-setting gender blurring idols David Bowie, Prince and Freddy Mercury brings him joy, so why shoot him down? Let me give you a brief look into the world of Candace Owens, the individual who publicly did so.
Owens is an avid Trump supporter and a huge critic of modern day feminism (the two often go hand in hand) and in a 2017 article in the Stamford Advocate, the Conservative author wrote a critique explaining her stance on feminism and the feminist movement. Candace claimed it encourages a ‘playing the victim’ culture which in turn allows the ‘victim’ to relinquish all responsibility for their lives, their lack of achievements and their toxic relationships. An individual opening up and talking about specific incidents and traumatic experiences is merely an attempt for and I quote "a handout, or a pat on the back”. This is clearly the thought process of someone who has no idea what it’s like to be the victim, which she pretty much confirms in the article, bragging that "not once in my entire life was I made to feel incapable, or weak next to my male peers", how lovely it must be to live such a privileged life of ignorance.
Continuing on Owens argues that feminism isn’t a movement but an agenda (to what? Enslave all men and turn us into sperm cows?) that bullies women into a certain catalog of thought, a premise she calls 'groupthink'. From this 'groupthink' argument you begin to understand why she is so concerned with the Vogue article. Owen essentially believes that because Vogue is publicly displaying a man dressed in women’s clothes, and Harry is broadcasting to everyone how amazing it makes him feel, that suddenly every man will be encouraged to start wearing Eighteenth century ball gowns and flamboyant skirts and thus immediately lose their ability to be a 'manly man' whatever the hell that even entails.
What she fails to understand is, just like feminism, this isn't an agenda. There is no catalogue of thought being pushed on anyone because that isn’t what the point of Vogue is and anyone with more than two brain cells to rub together understands this. The point of the article is to discuss fashion which, if anyone isn’t aware, is the whole premise and nature of Vogue magazine. If any catalogue of thought can indeed be taken away from the article, it is merely to do what Harry Styles has done which is whatever makes you happy, an important message it must be said to send out to everyone especially to men. I am a man and I don’t see the article or Harry's wardrobe as an attack on anything, nor am I suddenly overcome with an undeniable urge to wear a skirt. What I am however intent on is supporting other males for their decisions, especially when they are attacked by narrow minded bigoted Conservatives like Candace Owens, who by using the ridiculously stereotyped phrase ‘manly men’ has merely built a giant landing pad for 'toxic masculinity' to land its ugly self.
Furthermore, Owens undermines and contradicts her own viewpoint when she uses a blanket statement like ‘manly men’, because a 'manly man' assumes all kinds of detail without actually hearing all sides of what people believe a man to be. Does he have to build shelves, fix cars and expect his dinner on the table at 6pm every night? Much like her argument against feminism that it focuses only on individuals negative experiences of men rather than hearing the other side, which in turn causes a narrow minded and sweeping generalisation of men as the aggressors and women the victims, surely the use of 'manly men' has the same effect in that it assumes a man should be manly and is so by not wearing a dress.
Whereas if we take into account other peoples opinions on what constitutes a manly man, this would paint a fairer and more universally rounded picture of what we believe a manly man is, and for others this may include having the courage to wear whatever you want (including a ball gown) and not caring what others think of you. Essentially shouldn't we all have a chance to speak as men about what we believe constitutes a manly man, much like she demands of feminism when she criticises it for focusing fundamentally on the stories of victims and their negative experiences.
Either way I can tell you one thing, being a man for me isn’t about how many pints you can drink, how many punches you can throw or how well you can hold back tears. It's about having the courage to do whatever makes you happy in life regardless of what other people think, which is exactly what Harry Styles is doing, killing it in a woman's ball gown on the front cover of Vogue magazine. So Conservatives like Candace Owens can moan all they want, but they haven't won this one.