Sean Penn says that 'cowardly genes' lead to men wearing skirts

• Sean Penn told The Independent that "cowardly genes" lead to men swapping out jeans for skirts.
• Penn was asked to clarify comments he made recently to the I about men becoming "wildly feminized."

Sean Penn suggested that "cowardly genes" may be the cause behind some men swapping out jeans for skirts in a new interview with The Independent.

Penn, who recently directed and starred in "Flag Day" with his daughter Dylan Penn, recently told British newspaper The i that "there has been an absence of male behavior" as gender roles are being challenged.

During an interview with The Independent about "Flag Day" ahead of its UK release, Penn was asked to clarify those comments.

"I think that men have, in my view, become quite feminized," the 61-year-old actor responded. "I have these very strong women in my life who do not take masculinity as a sign of oppression toward them. There are a lot of, I think, cowardly genes that lead to people surrendering their jeans and putting on a skirt."

In the interview with The i, Penn also said: "I am in the club that believes that men in American culture have become wildly feminized. I don't think that being a brute or having insensitivity or disrespect for women is anything to do with masculinity, or ever did. But I don't think that [in order] to be fair to women, we should become them."

Whilst people in the LGBTQ+ community, especially trans people, have been embracing gender nonconformity for decades, in recent years it has become more publicized as more and more celebrities embrace it. Harry Styles became the first man to wear a dress on the cover of Vogue and talked about his fluid sense of style during his cover story.

Many, including Billy Porter and Insider reporter Rachel Askinasi, criticized Vogue's decision for putting Styles on the groundbreaking cover because it did not acknowledge Trans femmes and drag queens of color who have been leading the gender-fluid fashion movement for decades.