November 24, 2020, 7:46 am*
Apparently the debate over Harry Styles wearing a dress on the cover of Vogue is still raging on, as now Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has stepped in to defend him.
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In case you were fortunate enough to miss the archaic discourse surrounding the popstar’s fashion choices, right-wing commentator Candace Owens slammed Styles’s decision to wear a dress earlier this month with a call to “bring back manly men.”
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Other rightwingers got involved, as did fans of Styles, who repeatedly pointed out that there is no one way to “be a man,” that opting to wear an article of clothing that our current society deems “feminine” doesn’t mean someone isn’t “manly,” and that Styles himself has made bold fashion choices blurring gender lines for years.
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Someone brought the unnecessary controversy up during a Q&A session Ocasio-Cortez hosted on her Instagram over the weekend, asking the Congresswoman if she had any thoughts.
It’s no surprise that her response was positive and accepting, as she called it “wonderful” and noted that “the masculine and feminine elements are balanced beautifully — the hair and jacket styling give me James Dean vibes too.”
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But in typical AOC fashion, she went beyond the basic to provide some thought-provoking commentary that people who struggle with the idea of a man wearing a dress could benefit from considering.
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“Some people are mad at it bc some folks are very sensitive to examining and exploring gender roles in society,” she wrote. “Perhaps for some people it provokes some anger or insecurity around masculinity/femininity/etc. If it does, then maybe that’s part of the point. Sit with that reaction and think about it, examine it, explore it, engage it, and grow with it.”
And Ocasio-Cortez also brought the conversation back to a point that has often been overlooked. This isn’t merely a guy wearing a dress. This was a fashion statement on the cover of a magazine; this was art, a creative collaboration intended to be more than just a garment thrown on on the way out the door.
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“What’s the point of creating things if they don’t make people think? Or feel or reflect? Especially as an artist or creative? Who wants to see the same things all the time? And never explore their assumptions?” she asked.
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Styles has an army of fans always eager to come to his defense, and seems completely confident and comfortable with the fashion choices he’s been making for years, so it isn’t like he needs a popular politician to stand up for him against obsolete commentary from people like Owens.
But it’s refreshing to see a Congresswoman not only take such a strong and casual stance promoting freedom of gender expression, but to speak about it in a way that demonstrates understanding and just might actually cause some people to rethink their knee-jerk responses against it.
*First Published: November 24, 2020, 7:45 am
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