A straight dad is fighting against gender stereotypes by wearing skirts and heels.
When raising your children, you want to ensure they’re open-minded and accepting of others.
Most of us do that by explaining to our kids that all types of different people deserve love and respect.
But one dad is going the extra mile.
Mark Bryan, a straight father of three, shows his kids that gender stereotypes are just a social construct by wearing skirts and heels.
Bryan’s bold stance on gendered clothing has left many people impressed, with numerous messages of support pouring in for the father.
One person commented, “Great, I’m glad he can wear what he wants. It shows he’s self-confident. We need more people like him.”
Another added, “It looks great! Not sure how he manages on a daily basis though—heels this high must hurt after a few hours.”
A third chimed in, “The only thing I’m jealous of is how I can’t get my calves to look like his, haha. He looks amazing!”
Bryan works full-time as an engineer but is also growing a substantial social media presence, with nearly 600,000 followers on Instagram.
For every outfit post, he includes the caption: “Clothes and shoes do not dictate a person’s s**ual orientation or gender.”
In an interview with PurpleHaze, Bryan discussed the impact his posts have had on others: “It became more and more clear that what I was doing on Instagram was helping so many people who wanted to wear non-gender conforming clothing but were afraid of having their s**uality questioned.”
He shared that he receives over 100 direct messages a day, with many followers thanking him for inspiring them to wear what they want, despite the fear of judgment. “Others still struggle with this fear, though,” he noted.
Bryan explained that his goal is to ‘des**ualize clothing’ and encourage everyone to ‘feel comfortable’ in whatever they choose to wear.
In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar Australia, Bryan opened up about his new career as an influencer.
“If I have the opportunity, why not try to make some money doing it?” he said. “But I’m also having a lot of fun.”
“If you’d told me I’d be doing this 13 months ago, I would have just laughed and said, ‘No freakin’ way.’”
He added, “If someone sees me walking down the street, they should just say, ‘Oh, that’s Mark, and he’s wearing a pair of shoes,’ rather than, ‘That’s Mark, wearing a pair of women’s shoes.’”
“When we reach a point where we don’t associate gender with clothing, that’s when clothes become truly genderless.”
Bryan told Bored Panda he’s ‘always admired’ women who wear skirts and heels because of the ‘power’ they present.
He explained: “To me, clothes have no gender. I prefer skirts to dresses. Dresses don’t allow me to mix the genders. I prefer a ‘masculine’ look above the waist and a non-gendered look below the waist. It’s all about clothes having no gender.”
The dad added he loves ‘all the fashion options.’
