Blog Post Week 9

 In this week's reading "The Realness of Billy Porter," the Academy Awards was talked about. Billy Porter has previously stunned the public with his red carpet looks. Porter wore many outfits that the public has questioned, from barbie-esque suits to all black velvet. The velvet black suit worn by Porter embodied a fitted men's suit with a gown. Shortly after, Porter commented that he should have put a dress on twenty years ago. A finger had been raised since then questioning if a man can wear a dress or not. In this day and age, many people have questioned gender norms. Celebrities that are females wear suits and ones that are males wear dresses. It has come to those attentions that it is very possible to be both masculine and feminine. For the majority of Porter's life, he had been told that this is unacceptable. Billy Porter has dealt with an abundance of homophobia surrounding who he is and his fashion sense as a gay black male. He explains how women can show up in pants but the second a man is seen in a dress controversy breaks loose. Porter explains that he wants to break the status quo. He asks questions like why should men and women be expected to wear certain articles of clothing? Porter explained a fitting of a gown that he wore where he confidently felt free. He felt completely himself and proceeds to say that people will always be uncomfortable with his choices but as long as they satisfy him, he really doesn't care. In the last article Harry Styles explains his love for playing with fashion. Designers tell how they have dressed Styles in tulle continuing to push gender norms. Styles tells how as a kid he enjoyed dressing fancy and liked playing dress-up.  Styles enjoys having fun with clothing and being able to express himself through this along with being in touch with his feminine side-something that he is more than okay with.