Jaden Smith may only be sixteen years old, but he has a pretty evolved take on gender norms. Or perhaps it’s indicative of his youth, as the next generation takes the push for equality to the next level.
Whatever the case may be, we’ve got to hand it to him for sparking a new conversation about gender by posting several pictures of himself wearing dresses.
In one photo uploaded to Instagram (right), Jaden, son of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith wrote, “Went to TopShop to Buy Some Girl Clothes, I Mean ‘Clothes,'” followed by a Tweet two days later which said, “That Moment When Your Wearing a Dress With No Pants and You Swerve Way Too Hard.”
GQ posted another shot of Smith blurring gender lines:
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
When you swerve too hard http://t.co/LxiQhHAZPu pic.twitter.com/weCtI6AmLy
— GQ Magazine (@GQMagazine) April 10, 2015
And many are applauding the fashion-forward teen for challenging the hypocrisy of the style industry:
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Colin McCoy
The problem here is that I don’t give a f*** about Jaden Smith.
TemptyK
I speak English as a third language, but at 16, I knew the difference between you’re and your. Unlike this kid.
Daniel Bujes
But is it okay to be okay with the gender binary? I am a gay man that likes a specific gender and genitalia. If you remove the binary then what makes the individuality of these things no cultures awesome, goes away. Doesn’t it?
RIGay
What a beautiful person in Jaden.
SteveDenver
What is the diff between the dress in the picture and a long t-shirt?
This is the first time I’ve thought Jaden might possibly be cool. Now if his parents would stop shoving him and his sister on us at every turn.
Dawson
No reason to explain yourself. If this is what you want to wear more power to you. We all dressed differently as teenagers then we do as adults. Why judge a 16 year old who hasn’t done anything that I know of against the gay community. Now if he has said things about our community then I get why people would find a reason to be negative. If you don’t like the guy why would you bother to read the article?
NoCagada
Jeez…on a hot day, I’m jealous of women…I’d love to be wearing a cotton sun dress and no panties
robho3
Whatever floats your boat.
aliengod
This kid is a hot mess. He needs to focus a little more on his education and less on women’s clothing.
Daniel-Reader
Kinda looks like a modern kilt.
Bob LaBlah
I feel sorry for this little boy and his sister, Willow. They are NEVER photographed with other kids, as in friends. They did not attend normal school as kids (scientologist parents) and live in a world where I honestly am beginning to wonder if they understand reality from fiction. I have no problem with either being gay but this kids look and act totally lost.
Personally, I don’t see Will and jada as parents of the year. I mean really, could you see Jada breast feeding her kids? I sure can’t. I see a household where everyone went their separate ways, regardless of how young.
McShane
Chris Crocker managed to wriggle out from underneath the rock he’s been living under.
ngblog
Be honest here, Queerty/Dan: Jaden Smith is not your average teenager. It probably helps having a high profile hollywood couple as your parents, even though it’s long been rumored Will Smith is anti-gay. I doubt neither he or Jada Pinkett Smith will risk their careers at this stage of the game by doing something foolish, like, I don’t know, being parents and telling their son to stop the nonsense and put on a pair of pants.
Low Country Boy
@aliengod: I agree. I could give a crap what undereducated, privileged children of Hollywood stars do. I don’t care that Jaden was in a few movies. Most of them sucked, and ALL were with his father in some capacity. This is not news.
o.codone
The parents should help him so he doesn’t make a spectacle of himself. Though, in today’s Hollywood, that’s what matters doesn’t it? Kanye, Kim, Bruce Jenner, Madonna. Awful people, awful parents. Awful.
Agender JerBear
I am so sick and tired of some cis gender gay men constantly expressing their effeminaphobic and transphobic comments. If you were in touch with Millennials and older people that “get it” you would know that Jaden’s comments and fashion choices have stirred valuable debate on breaking down antiquated gender norms, encouraging other guys and non-binary gender identified people who were designated male at birth, to dress in a way that confirms to their taste, desire, and identity – not gender norms from the 1950s.
Dale Landefeld
Borrrring kid.
jason smeds
Good on him. I am sick and tired of the double standard which says it’s OK for girls to wear trousers but not OK for guys to wear dresses. This double standard has been around for almost a hundred years.
Women helped to create this double standard, and now it’s being challenged.
aliengod
@Agender JerBear:LOL! “Cis gender”, “effeminaphobic”? Could you be any more ridiculous?
Faggot
As Madonna’s song states in “What It feels Like For A Girl”:
[Spoken:]
Girls can wear jeans
And cut their hair short
Wear shirts and boots
‘Cause it’s OK to be a boy
But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading
‘Cause you think that being a girl is degrading
If a guy walks into a nice restaurant with the same sleeveless top that his girlfriend (or girl friend) is wearing, he won’t be seated, but she will.
For most, the gender binary has only collapsed for females who want to dress like males.
Giancarlo85
@Agender JerBear: I’m androgynous (bit of a genderbender in a sense)… and I’m telling you to shut your mouth before you do anymore damage to trans and gender non-binary people.
And can we throw out that dumb term “cis”… that has no relevance to anything.
Giancarlo85
@o.codone: Oh yeah? You have an issue with what he is wearing? A spectacle? He can do whatever the he wants without judgment from you. His parents are just fine. If one is androgynous or whatever… did the parents fail?
Oh I’m sorry, dipshit… I as a gay male and who is androgynous don’t live up to your standards of masculinity. You live in the fucking 1950s.
Silfredo Serrano
I don’t think he needs to explain anything. Also, I don’t think he’s standing up for anything. I think he’s a young confident kid who is wearing what he likes.
jwtraveler
Oh! And Jaden is a cute kid; he looks good in anything he wears.
Curty
You go girl…
sweetbrandigirl2004
@o.codone: Tell me Asshole just hows he’s making a spectacle of himself by wearing a dress ? On the contrary I think his breaking of social barriers and gender norms is a GOOD thing ! I think your the only awful person here !
TemptyK
My comment was deleted, so I’ll write it again:
Men are mutating into women. There’s nothing commendable about that.
Also, I can’t stand this family and its sham marriage.
Giancarlo85
@TemptyK: Men are mutating into women? WTF is wrong with you? Maybe there is a reason your comment got deleted, bigot.
jwtraveler
@sweetbrandigirl2004: I agree with you completely, but it makes me crazy (Sorry, I’m an English teacher) that so many American adults don’t know the difference between “YOUR”, meaning “belonging to you” and “YOU’RE”, meaning “YOU ARE”.
If I may,@o.codone: “I think YOU’RE the only awful person here!”
Now I feel better.
jwtraveler
@TemptyK: You should have left well enough alone.
stranded
It’s nice to see him at school like a regular teenager. If he wants to be an actor he really needs to just work on his craft and not use his high profile name and parents to get him movie roles. 1. He’s not good enough and it’ll turn people against him, 2. when he grows up and the cute factor is gone, it’ll be hard for him to find work.
Realitycheck
May be Jaden lost a bet, or may be he has so much money he thinks he can do anything he wants.
Donnie Terflinger
NO ONE CARES !
TransParency_
@Agender JerBear: This site is filled with privileged Cis-centric, cis-normative, cis-sexist, transexculsionary cis-homo bigots who love to demand tolerance and acceptance while spewing hatred toward transfolks. It’s easier to find tolerance among mainstream cis-het men than with the cis-homo crowd. They have co-opted our movement and fights for decades, and reaped the benefits while neglecting us all the time.
TransParency_
@Giancarlo85: Stop telling transpeople to shut up, you bigoted, transphobic BIGOT. You are the worst kind of bigot, you speak from a place of privilege while playing the victim and spewing your hatred.
Canyonboy Hopihouse
He’s GAY !!!!
jwtraveler
@TransParency_: You’re not going to get much understanding, sympathy or support by attacking everything that everyone says and calling everyone a cissy.
jwtraveler
@Realitycheck: We live in a country where the majority is more frightened and threatened by a boy in a dress than a man with a gun. Pretty sick place!
Masc Pride
“Jaden Smith Commended By Chris Crocker For Not Giving A F*** About The Gender Binary”
That changes EVERYTHING! Stop with these misleading headlines.
Giancarlo85
@TransParency_: You are not real or trans. Some may say I am trans. I am androgynous. I have a right to say my view while denoucing bullshit trolls.
Giancarlo85
@jwtraveler: Transparency isn’t real and people like transparency will set the movement back decades. And I was laughing when it said I was in a position of privilege. I am a minority within a minority. Accusing me if hatred towards trans people is laughable too… When I have defended trans, genderqueer and androgynous people consistently on this website.
I also criticized fakes like masc pride.
Anyways, lets not feed this fake transparency troll any longer.
Captain Obvious
Seems to be a huge push for males to become more and more feminine. I don’t really get it.
It’s not the same as being trans and certainly not the same as being gay. Why do (non-trans, non-femme)guys need to dress like like women?
Hollyweird is trying very hard to make this a thing. It seems somewhat destructive and full of agenda.
There are MANY LGBTs are who butch as hell and despite being in a dress or whatever will kick anyone’s butt who confronts them the wrong way.
So why is there a push for young men now to be as feminine as possible and shy away from what it means to be a man?
This isn’t about being progressive or helping others. It’s about neutering certain men so they want stand up for themselves.
Giancarlo85
@Captain Obvious: You don’t seem to get a lot of stuff. Everything seems to go into one ear for you and out the other. Logic disappears in the empty space in your head.
You don’t get anything about Hillary, feminine gay men, trans people… you don’t get a lot. You just sound like a dumb ignorant hick. It’s a surprise you’re even gay. You sound more like a bully and bigot.
Why do you care about the way someone dresses? Is it really that big of a problem for you? Does it make you feel insecure?
I don’t care about you. You are the one that is more dangerous to gay people. You peddle a fake facade and those who are “butch as hell”… who the fuck cares about them? Seems like they are trying to meet some stupid standard.
What it means to be a man? Oh I’m sorry little twerp, but I think feminine gay men are more manly than you ever will be.
You’re just a dumb fuck who doesn’t like it when people express themselves.
jwtraveler
@Captain Obvious: I have to agree with Giancarlo. You really DON’T get it. Why are people so concerned with what other people wear? How does one’s attire define one’s femininity or masculinity? Why does it make you uncomfortable to see a man wearing a dress? How does it affect you? These are the questions that you should be asking yourself.
I really don’t see a push for men to become more feminine, but why would that be a bad thing? I look at the world and see a tremendous amount of violence perpetrated by men obsessed with proving their masculinity. Maybe if men were less afraid of femininity, they would learn to express themselves more constructively rather than destructively.
One thing I’m sure of: if more men wore dresses and didn’t carry guns, the world would be a safer, happier and better place.
Giancarlo85
@jwtraveler: Wars get started because men are trying to prove they are more masculine than others… just take a look at the middle east. It’s all a game to prove who has bigger nuts than the other.
Faggot
“Wars get started because men are trying to prove they are more masculine than others… just take a look at the middle east. It’s all a game to prove who has bigger nuts than the other.”
Ah, so THAT’s what it’s been about in Middle East for over a millennium then! Testosterone. You’ve just gendered the crisis.
In that case, a tr@nny revolution should take place there. If they took over, there’d finally be peace.
Send RuPaul and Laverne Cox over to start the movement now.
(Interesting that we can type “faggot” on Queerty, but not “tr@nny” here.)
jwtraveler
@Giancarlo85: Yes, I believe I said as much. I’m glad to see you agree.
Captain Obvious
@Giancarlo85: Yawn, you’re like a little kid having a tantrum online all day.
@jwtraveler: That made no sense, that doesn’t mean I don’t “get” anything.
@Faggot: Exactly. If anything these little morons would be too busy crapping their panties to stand up for themselves because they’re looking for a Disney prince to save them.
Guys wearing girls clothing will totally end all violence and save the world… right.
Giancarlo85
@Captain Obvious: You have tantrums on here everyday and you have a disgusting inability to even make a clear post.
Poor little guy… you seem to suffer from mental problems.
You’re the idiot with a stupid picture next to your name (sums up your mental capacity) and who lives in a small town because you think “it’ll make a difference”.
switcher
@Colin McCoy: You seemed to care enough to comment…
notcisjustmale
@Daniel Bujes: Being a gay man means that you are attracted to a specific sex – namely male. Gender are the societal sex role expectations associated with either sex. One set for men (adult human males) another for women (adult human females). Individuals conform or not to those expectations in varying degrees. The degree to which one does or does not conform to sex-role expectations might simply be one part of that person’s personality.