Harry Styles in Vogue: The Debate of the “Manly Man”
By: Mallory Johnson
For the December 2020 issue of Vogue former One Direction member Harry Styles confidently rocked a gorgeous blue, floor length dress. Without knowing, the once innocent picture sparked a debate about gender. Many of his fans (including me) think that he looks amazing in the dress, but some others disagree.
The most prominent person to disagree is Republican, Candace Owens. She is a woman of color and is an author, commentator, and political activist. She has previously criticized the Black Lives Matter movement and the Democratic Party. In response to the magazine cover, she tweeted, “There is no society that can survive without strong men. The East knows this. In the west, the steady feminization of our men at the same time that Marxism is being taught to our children is not a coincidence. It is an outright attack. Bring back manly men.”
Just because one man wears a dress, does not mean that society has completely lost all “manly men”, nor does it mean that that man is not masculine. Masculinity does not exclusively refer to men, and femininity does not exclusively refer to women.
After Candace Owens voiced her opinions on Harry’s outfit, fans and celebrities came to the artist’s defense. These celebrities include: Jameela Jamil, Olivia Wilde, Zach Braff, Elijah Wood, Kathy Griffin, Lucy Hale, Sara Bareilles, Harry Shum Jr, and more. Additionally, a lot of Styles’ fans noticed that there were pictures of Candace Owens wearing a suit, which undermines her criticism against Harry wearing clothing not typically for his gender.
In my Diverse Masculinities course, I brought this issue to my professor's attention. In this class we study all the different aspects of masculinity, and how not just men are masculine. We also talk about dated gender stereotypes. I have also taken a class called Making Sense of Gender, where we discussed all aspects of gender. These courses may be interesting to anyone intrigued by the Harry Styles-Candace Owens ‘drama’ or gender norms in general.
In conclusion, let everyone wear what they want to wear. Let people express their gender (or lack of) however they want.