Sara McGinnis
posted in CelebritiesJaden Smith believes he's doing future generations a favor by pushing the boundaries of which sex can wear what type of clothing. The skirt-loving son of Will and Jada Pinkett-Smith has opened up about his place as a trendsetter for Nylon's latest issue, in which he poses in a lacy, traditionally-feminine turtleneck for the cover.
"You just have to believe in yourself, you know," he tells the magazine of where he draws his confidence to wear whatever he likes. "The world is going to keep bashing me for whatever I do, and I'm going to keep not caring. I'm going to keep doing the same things -- I'm going to keep doing more things."
"I'm going to take most of the blows for my fellow MSFTS. So, you know, in five years when a kid goes to school wearing a skirt, he won't get beat up and kids won't get mad at him. It just doesn't matter," he continued. "I'm taking the brunt of it so that later on, my kids and the next generations of kids will all think that certain things are normal that weren't expected before my time."
Jaden Smith previously opened up about seeing clothing differently than most people, telling British GQ Style, "I feel like people are kind of confused about gender norms. I feel like people don't really get it. I'm not saying that I get it, I'm just saying that I've never seen any distinction...I don't see man clothes and woman clothes, I just see scared people and comfortable people."
And though the Smith children have been lambasted over the years for some of their more out-there comments, as the mom of 11 and 10-year-old boys I dare say his latest interview seems to spot-on.
It's not that I didn't know a guy or two who wore skirts back in my high school days (heck, I even dated one for a brief time), it's that I truly believe the coming generation feels less attached to gender norms than any before. There're a number of young Hollywood stars already identifying as neither gay or straight, and I suspect they're a fairly solid representation of what's to come.
Perhaps I think it's a bit much to hear Jaden say he is blazing the path of acceptance for our children, because I believe there are many out there being just as bold, but ultimately I do appreciate him doing it on the mega-sized platform he was born with.
We all know that Will and Jada don't do punishments, and have long believed that their kids' bodies are their own to be in charge of, but as a fellow parent of a next-generation kid I'd love to pick their brains about how they really feel seeing their son wear skirts. I'm guessing they're by and large on board with it -- but is there just a little speck of a part of them, the part that was raised in a different era, that finds it tough?
I'm mentally preparing myself for my children to thoroughly explore all sorts of hair and fashion trends as their teen years come and go, but I can only hope I'm actually ready to see purple mohawks and perhaps even skirts. It's just one thing to be alright with it on a general scale and another to see your baby, who has always looked a certain way, flip the script.
Photos: Tom Nicholson/REX/Shutterstock
In honor of Jaden Smith's recent 18th birthday, a look back at his family through the years:
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