A man sparked a debate after banning his 12-year-old son from wearing a dress to school to 'appeal to the male and female gaze'. The 35-year-old, who raises his son as a single father, explained how he supports his son's creativity and encourages him to be himself - but had to step in when he tried to wear a dress to school . The man, from Texas, US, said on Reddit : "My son is really into fashion and I’m sure he’ll do wonderful things in the fashion industry.
He explains a lot of new concepts to me like gender spectrum and other new things that someone like me wouldn’t know. He told me that he wanted to appeal to the female gaze and the male gaze, so he wanted me to get him suits, dresses, makeup, etc." While he doesn't mind his son wearing 'women's clothing' in the house or around their neighbourhood, he believes donning it to school is a step too far.
He said: "Today when he was getting ready for school I saw him putting on one of his sundresses. I thought he was just trying out different outfits at first, so I went down to prepare some breakfast. "When he came down, I saw him still wearing the dress, but this time he had his backpack on.
So I asked if he was wearing it to school. He said yes, I told him he couldn’t and that he’d be bullied if he did." This launched them into an argument but ultimately, the boy listened to his father and changed into trousers and a top.
Wanting to know whether he's in the wrong, he added: "He was very upset at me though and cried.