Men’s Fashion Takes a Back Seat at the Oscars

Women’s outfits get the heat, but what about the men?

Prayitno

Oscar Awards

On February 28, 2016, the red carpet exploded with famous celebrities as they awaited the main event of the night: the 87th Academy Awards. Also known as ‘The Oscars,’ this award ceremony celebrates the brilliance of the film world, giving awards to winners of categories such as Best Actor/Actress and Best Picture.

While the movie awards are all well and good, we all tune in for something far more important: the outfits.

The eyes are almost always on the women, all of which wear dresses at the red carpet that flaunt their personalities This can range with some ranging from a modest dress–such as Elizabeth Bank’s white lace high-collared number–to the absolutely mind blowing–such as Tilda Swinton’s diamond patterned teal suit, gelled flame-orange hair, and thick leather choker necklace.

After the Oscars these women and their fashion choices are soon analyzed, with some getting top marks from networks such as Entertainment News, while others are thrown dismally in the “worst fashion at the 2016 Oscars” pile. It is within all this criticizing that we all forget of an important detail: what about the men’s fashion

While women are constantly judged throughout the night about their outfits, men seem to get by scot free. But why is this?

“More female celebrities have to fit into the female appearance standards, like the standards society puts on women in terms of weight (being skinny),” says junior Kelly Zafra.

“Women are judged much more on their appearances than men, such as how there was a media stir up over Pharrell’s park ranger hat, but nothing in comparison to the reaction of when Angelina Jolie’s leg that showed out of her leg-slit dress,” says junior John Boals.

Alessandro Michele, left, and Jared Leto arrive at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Jordan Strauss
Alessandro Michele, left, and Jared Leto arrive at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

“It must be pointed out that we live in a world where being a woman is a uphill battle,” says Simon Goettl, fashion apprentice at the menswear company Todd Snyder. “Women have to work harder for recognition and equality, and groups that aren’t at the top of the food chain are generally prone to be examined in a more harsh and unfair manner. The structure of our society makes it so.”

This overall situation is unfair, and men should have equal criticism when it comes to their outfits as women. However this can also be rectified if such critical analyses over such a superficial topic were to decrease.

Equality was a major theme in this year’s Academy Awards, with big emphasis of making this award ceremony more racially even. Soon, hopefully, this will be the same for gender equal fashion publicity.