Here is my email to my manager, who is an executive in the company,
in support of my freedom of dress. I am a contractor at my company
and the contracting company called to tell me that the company
complained.

My email:

"While I understand that coming to work looking unkempt is not a good
idea, I have to say that some of the dress code rules are sexist and
unnecessary.

"I was told by my agency that I have to wear full length pants, socks
and closed toe shoes. I have noticed that women on the other hand can
freely wear clothing of various lengths from the waist down. Women
also freely wear open toed shoes and often times do not wear socks.
If women have these rights then men should have the same rights. I
would not expect the right to wear shorts, but if a man came to the
office wearing a Kilt would he be told that he is not obeying the
dress code?

"Day to day, men have very few choices when it comes to dressing. We
were told that we have to wear collared shirts, full length pants,
socks and closed shoes. There are few chances for creativity or
freedom in that short list.

"Thank you for being tolerant of my dressing beyond the norms. But
what I have noticed is that the minute that I step out of the norms
it is commented on, yet women break the dress code rules every day
and nothing is said. I would like to ask you to consider that perhaps
the norms are too restrictive on men.

"Dress codes have evolved a bit, but they originate from oppressive
practices of the bourgeoisie during the early development of the
Industrial Revolution. The wealthy executives could afford suits,
which were in style within their wealthy communities at the time, and
they made suits required because the average worker could not afford
a suit. The suit remained the standard as the average workers'
incomes increased and all workers were then required to wear suits.
Women broke that mold in the 1980s and men got some freedom with the
business casual dress code of the 1990s. But men have yet to have the
same freedom as women."

That is what I said on May 19th of 2006 and I have not received
another complaint.

Professional Basketball players are wearing tights on the court!! They like the feel of the tights and the comfort tights provide for their legs. Yet when someone asks any player about his tights, he feels compelled to make up an excuse for wearing tights.

There is no need for excuses. Men have every right to wear tights and no reason is required. In fact, men wore tights long before women did.

It is time for men to freely wear what they want without feeling compelled to explain themselves as college and pro basketball players have felt the need to.

Channel Thirteen’s Nova showed researchers recreating a Roman Bath. They not only showed how the bath was designed, but what the rooms were used for.

The Roman Baths included a room for hair removal. They removed chest hair, underarm hair and facial hair. They did this because it made them look and feel cleaner.

How they removed the hair was really amazing. They had individuals with tweezers pluck each hair out of a man’s chest, underarms and face. The researchers on the show believe that this was an hour or more process and must have been at times painful.

If the Roman men could remove the hair from their chests, underarms and face, why can’t we? They were doing it for both vanity and cleanliness and those values still applies today.

Is it imperative that macho and metrosexual be entirely divided?

There are many issues that come with the evolution of men. Some men feel threatened by change and some men feel threatened by emotions. These two issues are the basis of the difference macho verses metrosexual men.

The first item of discussion is what a man is. All men develop the same basic anatomy. There are some men who develop breasts due to estrogen levels in their bodies, but there are very few other differences from man to man.

Men develop emotionally based upon their environment, but all men have emotions in the same degree as all women have emotions. The problem is how boys are raised. Society has developed a system of forcing boys to hide their emotions and girls to display their emotions.

The truth of the matter is that men can be strong and sensitive at the same time. It is not imperative for a man to be macho at the expense of being human. Men naturally develop with emotions, but our society teaches men that emotions are bad for them. The truth is that men need to embrace their emotions because without them men are not healthy.

Hiding or denying emotions creates inner turmoil that destroys the inner man and leaves the man angry and unhappy. Not being allowed to express emotions causes men to resent the people around them. They will not express it and may not even know it but they feel anger with the people around them who they feel are preventing them from expressing those emotions.

Metrosexual men understand that they can show emotions and still be masculine since masculinity is more than just brute strength. It is neither imperative nor realistic to separate metrosexualism and strength in males. The difference between macho men and metrosexual men is no more than displayed emotions. This means that metrosexual men bring together the strength of macho men with the emotions of all men and create whole men.

The Kilt has a very different history than most of us imagine. Kilts as tartans have not been around for thousands of years.

The Kilt is one version of the Roman military skirt that men have worn for two thousand years.

The Kilt survived the Victorian movement of men embracing pants rather than skirts.

The Kilt gained family colours in the 1800s as a way of celebrating and differentiating families.

The Kilt remains a part of men’s everyday wear in Celtic societies, including Ireland and Scotland.

The Kilt is in fact a men’s skirt.

During the 1900s, women began wearing Kilts as part of their wardrobes.

There are multiple companies today bringing Kilts back to all men. These companies are reviving the original Kilt styles without family colours. It is time for all men to return to the comfort and great look of the Kilt.

You can find Kilt manufacturers on the Men’s Fashion Freedom web site’s Links page.

Here is a response to the article http://www.kaleo.org/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/01/28/41f9ec748c8a3.

The article is a discussion of how uniforms and dress codes limit self expression of high school students.

Expression through clothing is every person's right. Clothing restrictions have been developed by Puritan values that were and are wrong.

It is not only important for every person to feel free to wear the clothing that they choose, but it is necessary.

Women have gone from enduring highly restrictive clothing standards to wearing every piece of clothing that men wear and more.

Clothing is not gendered. It is society that puts gender on clothing. Words such as cross-dressing should be eliminated.

Transgender is not a description of a man or woman wearing clothing of the opposite sex. Transgender is a man or woman feeling like they are the opposite sex. There is a big difference. Once again, clothing is not gendered but people are. If a person feels like they belong to the opposite sex that is the view of him or her self and should be respected. The clothing a person chooses to wear really has nothing to do with their gender.

Men and women both wore dresses for thousands of years. Whether you call them tunics, togas or robes they were all a type of dress.

It is time for men to have the same fashion freedom that women are enjoying today. The Men's Fashion Freedom Movement is working toward this goal.

Read more about the movement at http://www.mensfashionfreedom.bravehost.com.

The limits on men's fashion are being expanded in many ways. Men are buying more accessories and adding more variety to their wardrobe.

News articles are reporting on the expenditure by men for products that used to be considered just a necessity by most men. Men are buying multiple belts to match their outfits. Men are carrying bags to hold their personal items and wallet.

This change in men's purchases is the perfect lead in to men's fashion freedom. The more men to expand their wardrobes and take pride in how they look, the quicker full fashion freedom will be granted to men.

There are many men who are starting to wear makeup to enhance their appearance. These men are a part of the growing trend toward men taking more time to look good. Men no longer feel that looking good is accomplished by nature only, but looking your best requires the help of cosmetics and proper clothing.

Please read the article in the below link and then continue with this response, but you will understand the response without the article:

http://www.californianonline.com/news/stories/20050120/localbusiness/1893242.html

The below letter was emailed to the writer Susan Blitch at sblitch@hurleylaw.com.

I read your article on the Harrah's case. What is being continually missed here is the Human Rights violations continually being committed. You are writing about this as if it has no human implications.

I am an advocate for men's fashion freedom and workplace rules that force men to have short hair, trimmed nails and no makeup are a violation of every man's rights. Men had long hair until the twentieth century. Makeup in the twentieth century has been used primarily by women, but every man appearing on television and in movies uses makeup.

Each person's appearance should be their own domain with minor restrictions. Rules against apparel with violent or fowl images or words should not be in the workplace. An employer should have the right to request that employees dress up, but should not dictate exactly what clothing employees must wear. Any other restriction should be based upon safety of the employees.

While my appearance standards may sound very loose, they are morally, ethically and legally valid. Forcing employees to dress a certain way or use or not use makeup is wrong. In fact, there are many women that do not use makeup and do not need makeup. Is it acceptable for a company to say that they must learn how to use makeup? Will the company then pay for any dermatological damage down to that woman's skin by wearing makeup unnecessarily?

Corporations are out of control. This has been shown by the financial misdeeds and now by the employee standards. You should consider that in your writing and your legal practice.

If corporations want anyone in makeup so bad, then the entire staff should wear clown makeup. Enforcing ridiculous and unnecessary employment regulations in order to support a company's image is unacceptable.

I watched the US Golden Globe Awards on January 16, 2005 and while the awards do not mean much to me the way the men dress means a lot. The men wore tuxedos but most of them wore a regular tie with a tux. One man even wore a lavender shirt and tie with his tux. It was great to see men making even a small effort at changing the same old boring look. The man in the lavender shirt commented that he gets bored seeing a bunch of men walking around looking like penguins.

I thought it was great to see men making an effort to look different in tuxedos. How nice it would be for men to dress up in more than just black and white. While it was not attempted at the Golden Globe Awards, it would be great for men to show off some of their skin, just as the women did.

Unfortunately, all the press said was that the men were making a statement that this awards show was not that important. Of course the press talked up the women at the awards show.

Men are making an effort at expanding their fashion choices and everyone should support them. The press will continue to be the biggest loser by not supporting men's fashion freedom. Why, you say? The amount of time the press spends writing about and speaking about womens fashion could be doubled by doing the same for men's fashion.

The Golden Globes were held on January 16, 2005 and the men attempted to add some variety to their tuxedos. The fashion media not only did not give them credit for trying, but in fact said that the men were dressed down.

Many of the men wore variously designed ties with their tuxedos rather than the standard bow tie. Rather than supporting men in their effort at diversifying the tuxedo, the only article that I could find that even mentioned men described the men as dressing down.

Men are trying to change the standard male look. Men are making small attempts at being different and stylish. This effort should be applauded and supported.

It is time for the fashion media to support men in their efforts in expanding men’s fashion. The fashion media spends all of the reporting time supporting women’s fashion and insults men in their small attempt at change.