Breaking Femme Fashion for Men Taboo

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About Breaking Femme Fashion for Men Taboo

Rules for My Flickr Group: Femme Fashion Taboo

This group features photos of men breaking the taboo that forbids men from wearing women's fashions.

This group is not about women wearing men's fashion. That taboo was smashed 60 years ago.

The photos must show the man in a real-world setting - at the supermarket, in a restaurant, on the subway, that sort of thing. A picture of a man in the hallway to his front door is not a real-life setting. In other words, the breaking of taboo requires a credible witness. The photo does not need to include the witness, but it does need to imply the possibility of their presence. Please no photos of transvestites "passing" as women. No taboo is broken when a transvestite passes. Taboo is only broken when everyone knows that a man is wearing a woman's fashion.

Please no "Men in Frocks" type photos. There are Flickr groups for that already. If you think you might be a man-in-a-frock, please check out the Men In Frocks pool. If that's your proper fit, please post your photos there.

In General, facial hair combined with femme fashion is a joke of some sort. Beards are likely to get your photo removed.

In general, wigs are not in the spirit of this group either because wigs tend to either create the man-in-a-frock look or the passing transvestite look.

To the extent that your photo might be sexy, please keep it in the spirit of the glossy fashion magazine. There's a lot of room to get sexy within that genre. Gross is not sexy in this context. Please, no gross stuff here.

The image should convey a message something like: "This is the way I dress - in public. It's not a joke (man-in-frock). It's not a disguise (passing transvestite). I dress this way because this is who I am and this is the way I want to dress".

This group is not about breaking the femme fashion taboo here in cyberspace. This group is about photographs of men breaking the taboo in real-space with witness. The underlying idea is that by breaking the taboo in real-space, we actually destroy the taboo in our own mind-space and free ourselves from its limitations. This may or may not be a good idea, but like so many cats, once out of bag, hard to put back.

Here are some specific taboos you might want to break:

a) Man carrying a purse.
b) Man wearing lipstick or eye makeup.
c) Man in women's shoes - flats/pumps/boots.
d) Man wearing colorful scarf.
e) Man wearing nail polish, especially dark colors.
f) Man wearing jewelry - necklace/bracelets/earrings, maybe.
g) Man showing cleavage or breast emphasis.
h) Man in skinny jeans/pants.
i) Man in skirt, maybe.
j) Man in frilly blouse.

For most men, breaking these taboos requires huge mental strength. The fear of being teased (or worse) runs deep. If you are thinking of breaking these taboos, please allow me to offer some small advice. Number one, put a smile on your face. Look people in the eye. When you notice someone checking you out, talk to them if the situation offers that possibility. Children, ages 4 to 12, are very puzzled when they see a man doing one of these taboos. They will need to discuss it with their mommy or daddy at once. Speak to them if it seems at all appropriate. Young girls, ages 12 to 16, giggle a lot. A man wearing a skirt is sure to put them into a paroxysm of laughter. That's just young girls. They giggle about everything. Talk with everyone at every opportunity. Some people will want to know why you are wearing a bra, pumps, whatever. A short answer like, "to hold up my tits" usually does the job. The real answer to "why" is beyond the limitations of our language. Do not show fear. Show happiness and interest in your fellow human beings. I had a fellow block my path in Boston's North Station and say, "You are the weirdest goddamn thing I have ever seen." To which I responded. "Thank you very much. Thank you for noticing." We had a nice little chat and did the high-5. What I am trying to say is that people are very friendly, but you have to bring that friendliness to the contact. Fear is not friendly. Conversation provides the connection, but the message is visual, not verbal.