Crop tops for men might be taboo, but there is really no reason for it. Clothing is just clothing, and fashion is fashion for everyone to play with and enjoy. In fact, there are so many reasons why there should be more men wearing crop tops, so don’t let anyone get you down or tell you otherwise. Read on to find out the top ten reasons!
If men want to have more crop tops for men in the world, that is a good reason for needing more of them. Although giving men everything they want is not necessarily the best idea, policing their fashion choices isn’t either.
Normalizing crop tops for men doesn’t mean that every man in the world has to wear them. In fact, the point of normalizing crop tops for men is to promote societal support of men freely choosing what they want to wear: cropped, or not.
Generally speaking, women don’t want some guy coming up to them and telling them to cover up when they’re wearing a crop top, and the same is true for the majority of men in crop tops. All people get to wear what they are comfortable in, regardless of other people’s opinions, and without harassment.
That’s right! If more straight, cis men wore crop tops in addition to women, gay men, non-binary and trans folks, it would actually help to fight sexism. How? Reference the outfit below. This is a classic, Pinterest-y outfit that you would typically find on a girl going to a festival, hanging out in the summer, and doing a multitude of other activities. When a woman or a girl wears an outfit such as this one, she is perceived in one specific way that may or may not be positive. Regardless of the positivity of the perception, that perception is locked in and is dependent on her gender.
When you look at the image of the person below, you might not make the same assumptions. The more your brain sees outfits like this one on men, the weaker that preconceived, gendered notion of a woman gets wearing the same outfit gets. Thus, the normalization of crop tops for men helps to break down sexist notions of women based on their appearances and style of dress.
The rules of toxic masculinity say that men shouldn’t wear crop tops because doing so is girly and gay. Although these things can be true, wearing crop tops can be masculine, too. In addition to crop tops being masculine sometimes, they can be any number of combinations of things such as both masculine and feminine, both gay and masculine, both gay and feminine, etc.
The preconceived conceptions of masculinity and femininity have a really weird and damaging relationship with sexuality and with gender. If every variety of man wore crop tops and not just gay or otherwise queer men, gay and queer men would not have as great a risk when they chose to wear crop tops. No one should be targeted based on what they wear.
Sexualizing men and women equally isn’t the suggestion here, although both of these things do already happen. Instead, men publicly revealing skin in a way that is similar to or the same as women makes it less taboo for women to reveal skin in public. Although this argument is complicated by it being acceptable for men to be shirtless in public and not women, by boobs, and by the fact that everyone seems to have a problem with seeing female nipples in public, normalization still occurs in the brain when one sees differently gendered people wearing the exact same styles. If your brain doesn’t automatically sexualize seeing someone’s belly when they are fully dressed, your brain will not automatically sexualize seeing women’s bellies. You see?
Unless you are sexually attracted to bellies in general that is.
Have you ever noticed how many styles of clothing there are for women to choose from? Have you ever noticed how many styles of clothing are ‘off limits’ (re: sexism) for men to wear? Why do women get to have so much more fun with fashion and men are forced to choose from a limited array of pants, shirts, and suits?
Fashion is about experimentation and personal expression. There aren’t limits on these things, so why would we as a society place limits on them for men? Say no to toxic masculinity. Say no to limiting men’s fashion choices.
Men shouldn’t have to wear a sweaty t-shirt or exercise shirtless if they don’t want to. It seems that women almost exclusively wear crop tops and sports bras to work out these days, and the obvious reason behind this is because they are cute and they are practical for working out. Let those bellies breathe while you sweat!
This is a photo of professional basketball player, Jimmy Butler, at a practice for the Philadelphia 76ers. He’s wearing a crop top because it’s normal. He’s wearing a crop top because he wants to. He’s wearing a crop top because crop tops are good for working out. Normalize it! If a male sports star can wear crop tops, I’m pretty sure that every other man can, too. It’s normal.
Bellies are so cute! Why would you ever want people to hide them away from the world? “But what if they don’t have a six-pack?” you ask. Guess what, those bellies are cute, too! Everyone has a belly and all bellies are cute. Just because every belly in the world isn’t cute to you personally doesn’t mean that someone else in the world doesn’t find that same belly cute. Also, stop having opinions on other people’s bodies? Let people show their bellies by choice.
It’s time we stopped trying to tell people who can and can’t wear crop tops. Everyone can wear them if they want to, and you don’t get to make the rules!
Are you attracted to men? Do you find cutlines sexy? Do you love a happy trail? Do you love abs? Guess what! All of those things will be out and about if there are more crop tops for men in the world!
Although I do not suggest you start objectifying men, sometimes you do see a person and you feel attracted to them. Sometimes it’s at the beach, sometimes it’s at the grocery store, sometimes it’s at work. Wherever it may happen, what they are wearing may or may not matter in influencing your attraction. This means that they could be wearing a crop top, and you could like it.
Lastly, and most importantly, if men feel hot when they wear crop tops, they should feel empowered to utilize this piece of clothing to continue to own their sexuality, whatever that may be, and regardless of your feelings on the matter.
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