Thank you to everyone who submitted questions for my husband during “Danny’s 2 Cents Week“.  He has been sweet enough to work full-time, complete other projects, and still spend time writing on my blog (which means he’s staying up late and getting up early).  Thanks, Sweetie!  He is backlogged on questions, but don’t worry–yours will be answered AND we will extend his week since there still appears to be interest.  So, continue to ask any questions you want a male perspective on.  Remember, no topic is off limits.

RE from Bad Gals Radio had the following question:

“Danny, can you tell us what’s up with this Pushing Men into Pink Clothes thing? and also why do men carry Murses?“

For those of you who don’t know what she’s talking about, read here to learn about the newest trend for men to ditch the briefcase and carry a man purse.

Julia from Everyday Mom Ideas had this to say:

“When I was dating my husband he was very metrosexual. There was nothing to girly that he wouldnt do with me, except for wearing a dress He was always comfortable with that kind of stuff… he would have me braid his hair or we would do masks together. He even let me paint his toenails(because he could put socks on them)…Fast forward six years and two kids later, and all that has changed… we still have a great relationship…I was just wondering why you think he has stopped being so comfortable with doing some girly stuff with me after six years of marriage. He’s turned into a man’s man. I just want to know what might have caused this.“

Without further delay, I give you the man of the week…

“Let me start by saying that I am by no means a fashion guru.  By the time I catch on to the latest trend, it’s usually no longer trendy.  My wonderful wife holds down the area of fashion in our household and if you see a picture of me on the blog with something really nice on, she probably picked it out.  I say that to let everyone know the subject matter of this post is a limited area for me, but since the question was raised, here’s my 2 cents on it.

The metrosexual movement seems to have brought a new angle to the old question on what attire is appropriate for each gender?  Once upon a time, when it came to dressing up, men wore the pants and only women wore pink and carried purses.  Today we see plenty of women pants suits, and men wear pink shirts, hats, shoes, ties, probably a number of other apparel that I have yet to catch on to, and a select few carry “murses.”

The 80s raised a lot of questions on fashion.  This was the era of Mohawks, tight pants (for men and women), big hair, big earrings, and a number of other things I may have missed since I was either too young or fashionably blind to notice.  One trend that was brought to the forefront was questioning the appropriateness of men wearing earrings.  Many of the earlier men who wore them were either deemed rebels or questionable with regards to their sexual orientation.  The test of time has proved them to be trendsetters because it is very common to see men with earrings these days (I even have my ears pierced). 

The common theme with the earring trend and some of the current metrosexual trends is the boldness it takes to do something that is different than the norm.  I used to wonder why Prince was so popular amongst women, when he did so many questionable things.  I mean, who would want a 5′2″ man who wears high heals, halter tops, leather suits, pants with no backs to them, and hair styles better than most women?  Well from what I’ve heard of his concerts, A LOT of women.  I’ve now come to realize that women are attracted to the bold confidence of this little man, questionable fashion and all.

The interesting thing with these trends is that when the rest of the male population notices the positive attention these bold individuals, who push the limit on gender appropriateness, get from the opposite sex, they jump on the bandwagon.  If you didn’t already know, guys will do almost anything to hear that they’re cool from someone of the opposite sex.  If he has to wear pink and carry a “murse,” then that’s what he’ll do. 

So to answer RE’s question about the push for men to wear pink, it’s because some men have caught on that this will actually attract women these days, as opposed to causing them to run as they would have in the past.  With regards to the “murse,” the jury’s still out on that one, since as far as I know it has yet to make it out of the gay and metrosexual community.

Women don’t seem to get as much flack for wearing pants suits as a man who wear pink (that is, unless she’s Hillary Clinton on David Letterman).  It may be because we as a society don’t worry as much about women who cross the gender line as we do men.  In fact it seems to be encouraged, because we see plenty of portrayals in the media of women with women, but are less likely to see the flipside. 

Many of the people who participate in these trends are the people who like to be seen.  Typically it’s the single, still-trying-to-mingle crowd.  Usually those who are married and/or have children don’t participate in these trends, because being married takes away the need to be noticed by the opposite sex and being a parent eliminates the want to have to explain any questionable fashion to the kids. 

So Julia–I would guess that your husband may not be as quick to do all the girly things he did before, because he has an extra four eyes on him.  Something about your kids looking up to you holds dear to many men’s hearts and the possibility of going from the greatest dad to the dad who does questionable things may make him think twice about doing some of those metrosexual things he did before.”

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