Sean Penn deserves Thandiwe Newton's 'gibbering fool' tag over his complaints about men being 'feminised' – Laura Waddell

Sean Penn has hit the headlines for complaining about American men being “feminised”. He seems very put out by it.

Thandiwe Newton's judgement of Sean Penn's remarks about men being 'feminised' was scathing (Picture: Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images)

Whining to the Independent, he said: “There are a lot of, I think, cowardly genes that lead to people surrendering their jeans and putting on a skirt.”

He might be referring to trends on the red carpet, where celebrities such as Harry Styles are the latest in a long line of male pop stars to embrace feminine stylings, with looks that are cool and casual as much as they’re a little bit glam. In 2022, it’s surprising anyone feels put out by it.

Of course, Penn wasn’t slagging men in skirts to an audience of kilted Scotsman heading home from the rugby. And I don’t know how long Penn could brave the Scottish cold in his manly jeans, but I doubt he’s felt the wind chill of the wee hours on his legs as the clubs of Sauchiehall Street turn out to never-ending taxi queues.

But why is he so bothered? Had Penn simply become confused about Jeans for Genes Day, his words would have been more understandable than why he feels so strongly about what other men choose to wear.

Why does he think the world should be ordered to his own, personal aesthetic preferences? How unbearably drab and controlling to insist that everyone should dress in the same way.

Tellingly, comments like these don’t attack only those men he considers below his standard of macho fashion choices, but lets slip a familiar casual derision towards women.

Identifying “putting on a skirt” as a sign of being “cowardly” suggests he looks down upon us lesser beings, equating femininity with inferiority. He wants us to stay in our places within this hierarchy.

To Penn, brave skirts-shunners like himself are naturally at the top of the food chain. The desire to control how others express themselves often comes down to insecurity about losing societal power. An aggrieved entitlement jumps out when others disrupt this order, even as innocuously as androgynous fashion choices at movie premieres.

I’m with Thandiwe Newton who called him “a gibbering fool”. Frankly, he deserves to have his day ruined by a glimpse of a man in eyeliner.

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