2020: year of the pandemic, protests, and Harry Styles wearing a dress on the cover of Vogue. In retrospect, Harry Styles breaking gender norms should have been the least of our worries, however, many conservatives had more to say on the matter than they did when the BLM movement came to light, or when wildfires started tearing through Australia. So let’s give this topic the recognition it deserves. 

On November 13, Harry Styles became the first solo male to be published on the cover of Vogue. He also became the first man to wear a dress on the cover of Vogue. This news was shocking and even disturbing to some viewers, however, this isn’t the first time a celebrity male has broken gender norms by wearing feminine clothing. 

In 1999, Brad Pitt shot the cover of Rolling Stone magazine while wearing a mini, pink, sequined dress. Other outfits he wore in the issue included a gray mini dress, a multicolor mini dress and a sparkly pink top with hoop earrings. Billy Porter, Jaden Smith, Timothee Chalamet, and the late Kurt Kobain, have decided not to let gender norms define their clothing choices. 

So if men have been wearing feminine clothing for over twenty years, why haven’t we normalized it yet? The truth is that some people aren’t willing to accept the fact that America has progressed past the stereotypical, black and white views it once held on gender norms. But the 20th century is all about change. We are going to have the first women vice president and a man posed on the cover of the world’s most influential fashion magazine in a dress. In reality, feminine clothing is a completely made-up concept anyway. Clothes really have no gender, so it’s time to stop shaming people just because they don’t fit into the gender norms that ruled America in the 18th century. It’s childish to judge someone solely based on what they wear.

Change is scary, but it’s inevitable. And in reality, a real man is not defined by what he wears, but by his beliefs and what he fights for. So if you’re spending all your energy hating on Harry Styles just because he wore a dress, what does that say about you? As Harry Styles once tweeted, “Bring back manly men.”