Look what I found

“Girls can wear jeans and cut their hair short and wear shirts and boots because it’s okay to be a boy; for girls it’s like promotion.

But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading, according to you, because secretly you believe that being a girl is degrading.”

― Ian McEwan, The Cement Garden (later used in Madonna’s What It Feels Like For A Girl)

What they say:

• “Don’t act girly”
• “Don’t be fem”
• “Straight-acting only”
• “Real men only”
• “No queens”

The message they send:

• “For a boy to act like a girl is degrading.”

It’s not just internalised homophobia; it’s also sexist.