News : Sean Penn Says ‘Cowardly Genes’ Have Led to Men Wearing Skirts

Sean Penn has doubled down on his view that “men in American culture have become wildly feminized.”

The actor and his daughter Dylan sat down with The Independent for a profile published on Thursday in which the Mystic River actor was asked to clarify comments that he made to another newspaper, saying, “I am in the club that believes that men in American culture have become wildly feminized… I don’t think that [in order] to be fair to women, we should become them.”

Penn reiterated to The Independent that “men have, in my view, become quite feminized.”

“I have these very strong women in my life who do not take masculinity as a sign of oppression toward them,” he continued. “There are a lot of, I think, cowardly genes that lead to people surrendering their jeans and putting on a skirt.”

Despite Penn’s views, a number of high-profile music stars have recently stepped into the fashion game with iconic dressed-up looks. Post Malone rocked a custom plaid dress chosen by his stylist Catherine Hahn for his Billboard cover story released this week, portraying the ultimate “mountain hideaway.” The Grammy-nominated artist also took the 2020 Billboard Music Awards stage in a punk-inspired skirt with knee-high socks and chunky loafers to accept nine awards as the night’s biggest winner, including the all-genre top artist award.

Harry Styles is famously no stranger to high fashion, flaunting a stunning Gucci dress for his December 2020 Vogue cover, and later dressed up as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz for his sold-out 2021 Harryween show at NYC’s Madison Square Garden.

In an interview with Variety, Styles addressed conservative commentator’s Candace Owens’ plea to “bring back manly men” following the Vogue cover release. “To not wear [something] because it’s females’ clothing, you shut out a whole world of great clothes,” Styles explained. “And I think what’s exciting about right now is you can wear what you like. It doesn’t have to be X or Y. Those lines are becoming more and more blurred.”