Women's Skirts Send the Wrong Message.

In many people's minds, a man wearing a woman's skirt is not expressing his masculinity - he is either "gay" or getting his sexual kicks from cross-dressing. This may be totally false and unfair, but that is how most people will interpret it. That impression is further increased if the man is wearing a miniskirt with shaved legs and/or pantyhose. While it may not be fair, such activities simply reinforce the negative stereotype that skirt-wearing men have either a fetish about women's clothing or some form of gender disorder.

In contrast, the public nowadays should have a much more positive reaction to a man who expresses his male sexuality by wearing a masculine kilt. Many women drool over men in kilts. However, this does not mean that traditional Scottish kilts are the only way to go. I am simply pointing out certain practical things we must keep in mind if we want to move kilts into the mainstream.

Buying and wearing women's clothing will not accomplish this. While I suppose that the first women to wear trousers must have borrowed them from the men, I do not find this to be a convincing analogy. There wasn't the same kind of social stigma against women wearing men's clothing (which symbolizes power and practicality) as there is to men wearing women's clothing (which symbolizes submission and passivity). Women were discouraged from wearing trousers because trousers were viewed as a symbol of men's elevated status and power. If there is any "power" in women's clothing, it is the way in which it expresses female sexuality, by showing off a women's body or femininity to good effect. Therefore, women's clothing on a man looks incongruous to most people.

If we wish to overcome Trouser Tyranny, wearing a man's kilt sends a much stronger message to the public than wearing women's skirts. When asked what your objective is in wearing a kilt, you can explain that you want "the freedom to wear a man's garment that is more comfortable for a man's anatomy." In contrast, the Freestylers' "fashion freedom" objective basically boils down to allowing men the freedom to wear women's clothing. This message does not advance the public's acceptance of unbifurcated garments as men's clothing.