In recent years, fashion’s gender norms have taken a turn for the better. Men have been more comfortable embracing femininity, and women have done the same with masculinity.

Men have struggled more in terms of trying to break these gender norms compared to women who used the feminist movement to help break these boundaries.

Male celebrities such as Prince, Jaden Smith, Young Thug, Tyler the Creator and Dennis Rodman are just a few examples of pioneers of men who have challenged gender norms.

Nail polish, nose piercings, dresses and hair dye are often associated with femininity, but why should they be?
Wearing nail polish shouldn’t make you feel any less of a man, but this is something that many men struggle to come to terms with.

Dressing in a certain way does not have to correlate with your sexuality. For decades, the toxic masculinity in the male community normalized calling men who dressed in a feminine way homophonic slurs.

After the release of his mixtape “Jeffery,” Young Thug had received backlash for wearing a dress on the cover of the mixtape. It raised eyebrows in the rap community, but it also helped shift the opinions that many people had about femininity in the rap community and the gender norms that have been forced on us for years.
Although many positive changes have been made regarding strict gender norms, it hasn’t stopped online trolls from spreading negativity.
Harry Styles appeared on the December cover of Vogue in a dress. Styles’ fans were quick to defend him after conservative author, Candace Owens expressed her opinions on the shoot.

She voiced her concerns about the steady feminization of men and how we need to “bring back manly men.”
Well known musicians such as David Bowie and Kurt Cobain have been crossdressing since the 1970s. Gender norms have been changing for decades. The only difference is that now people are starting to accept and embrace it.

Something everyone needs to understand is that Harry Styles wasn’t the first to bend gender roles, and he won’t be the last. Every day, more people are inspired to challenge these gender roles and break unwritten rules.

Artists like Freddie Mercury were the blueprint for crossdressing. Queen shocked the world when they released the music video for “I Want to Break Free.” Dennis Rodman dyed his hair bright colors and painted his nails. Kanye West wore skirts during his live performances, and Cody Fern wore eyeshadow on red carpets.

It’s only fair to give these people the recognition for inspiring today’s celebrities to help change the world’s perception of gender norms.