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24th May 2024
04:48pm BST
A married dad of three is battling gender stereotypes by wearing skirts and heels on a daily basis.
Mark Bryan is an American citizen living in Germany, and he has caused a social media storm with his boundary-defying content.
The 63-year-old has amassed nearly 600,000 followers on his Instagram, where he shares fashion content with his followers.
Generally, Bryan's style features stereotypical men's clothing from the waist up, but from there down he prefers to dress in a skirt and heels - and looks pretty darn incredible!
Alongside every post, Bryan includes these words: "Clothes and shoes does not dictate a person's sexual orientation or gender."
He opened up to BoredPanda about why he chooses to dress like he does.
"I dress like this because I can. Just to be different. I have always admired the women that wore tight skirts and heels. Not sexually, but the power they presented," he told the outlet.
"To me, clothes have no gender. I prefer skirts to dresses. Dresses don't allow me to mix the genders."
He went on: "[It's] all the fashion options. With men’s pants, you have just a few colour options: black, grey, navy, and brown, and no pants with prints.
"With skirts, you can add reds, green, brighter blues, floral prints, animal prints, etc. Same with shoes."
The engineer explained that his aim is to de-sexualise clothing, and that what he wears makes him feel empowered.
"I feel no different as to me, it’s just clothes. Naturally, on a cold or windy day, it physically feels different.
"In all, maybe having the inner strength to have the confidence to wear non-conforming clothing has also given me the confidence and strength to handle my pressures at work."
Bryan issued advice to any other men who want to try wearing skirts and heels.
"If you are asking about heels, then I would say to start with a low heel and work your way up as your confidence gets higher. You cannot be afraid," he said.
"Some people are like animals, they attack the weak. Show confidence and show the world you are not afraid and nobody will bother you.
"The only fear you have is fear itself. Skirts? Just do it. Maybe not with high heels, but skirts are much more acceptable on a man than a man wearing heels."
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