Sexuality and Fashion: What I'll be Teaching My Children

I'm not sure if you have heard, but there are no straight men in fashion. The homosexuals flock to the runways and the dressing rooms, while the heterosexuals are content to buy their t-shirts out of a plastic-wrapped multipack. Only the most flamboyant among men can dare to be seen in bold colors and crazy prints. If you're a straight American male? Don't even think about it.

This discriminatory box has long been the accepted convention in American society. Straight men who take interest in their clothing must browse the shopping racks and fashion magazines very carefully lest rumors appear that they are someone that they are not. Further, I have gay friends with no interest at all in cardigans or bow-ties that lament having to live with the constant question: "If your gay, how come you don't dress nice?"

Despite the fact that this theory on sexuality and fashion still reigns, it does not seem to actually fit the true nature of men. Oscar de la Renta and Tommy Hilfiger are both straight male fashion designers. Lady-loving actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt rocks the fitted vest better than anybody. Straight male actor Ed Westwick, who plays straight male playboy Chuck Bass on The CW's Gossip Girl, has embraced virtually every color and pattern imaginable.   Are we finally understanding that sexuality and fashion are not congruent and consistant concepts? Are we finally accepting that, hey, maybe we can't fit entire groups of people into teeny tiny molds and conventions?

Pictured: (left) Gordon-Levitt (right) Westwick

It's hard to tell, because for every fierce fashion photo of a straight man, there are equally as many internet rebuttles and questions. For example, within ten seconds of searching for Ed Westwick on Google I was able to find link after link of people questioning his sexuality or links to him having to address gay rumors by reporters and interviewers. All because he knows how to properly fit a blazer!

So, returning to the question posed earlier in regards to the changes we can expect to see in our society, the answer (from me, at least) is that it is just to early to tell. But, certainly, I think we are beginning to shift in the right direction. I for one, will be teaching my children that men can be as fashionable, or as unfashionable, as they choose to be- regardless of their sexual orientation. Will you do the same? Maybe they can be friends with this forward-thinking little girl: