Saving Lives by Busting Gender Norms

By Chris Dorso

I’ve got dresses in my closet, charity to raise money for and gender norms to break. For each day in December, I’m wearing a dress to support the necessary work of the Dressember Foundation team, who have raised over $10 million dollars to battle human trafficking. 

Why a dress every day, when Dressember offers the option that men can just wear ties for the month instead?

1. Because ties are stupid and dresses are fun.

2. And because gender norms are stupid, too. Why does it matter what we wear? (I’m not talking about full drag. That’s Draguary, which is an entirely different charity month.) Just me, as I am, pulling some dresses out of the closet and wearing them... and raising money to help people who are being exploited around the world.

Dressember is rated Platinum by Guidestar and 100% by Charity Navigator, so you know your money is going to people who can make change happen.

Here are some ways you can help:

1. Donate, obviously. Even a dollar. Or two. Or five. GO CRAZY, PEOPLE. Make me raise my goal.

(1a. Or donate somewhere else if you want. Something local, something important to you, whatever. Again, even a few bucks helps and charities have been really hit hard this year.)

2. Join the team! You can wear dresses (or ties, if you’re boring), too!

3. Do you have an old XL dress or two lying around that you don’t know what to do with? I’m anywhere from a size 14 to a 20, depending on the dress. I’ll come get it and add it to my closet and then at the end of the month, I’ll donate dresses to a local charity.

Please visit Chris’ Dressember webpage to donate to this charity.

Wearing New York & Company

Dave Foley plays a femulating dentist in the 2004 film Employee of the Month.