Reebok Caves to Fragile Masculinity, Releases Romper 'for Bros'

Before this week, men couldn't wear rompers. But thanks to a viral Kickstarter, created by a group of entrepreneurial college bros, men can finally retain their fragile sense of masculinity and wear rompers. What would we do without the straight man's approval?

First, we had the RompHim, which veiled the socially feminine silhouette with a fratty promo video and clever masc name, and now we have its spin-off, helmed by the dudes at Reebok.

Dubbed the ReeRomp--another fearful ploy to ensure the romper isn't perceived as too femme--Reebok's follow-up concept is "built for bros" and even boasts the label, "100% Bro," in its fabrication breakdown.

Related | College Bros Join the Party Late with Viral RompHim

As OUT and many other publications have noted, the romper's introduction to popular menswear happened long ago, dating back to the '20s and regularly appearing on ready-to-wear runways ever since, from JW Anderson's to Acne's. While the style is more commonly worn today by femmes, it's already been adopted by queers for decades, including queer men, much to the straight man's dismay.

Truthfully, the style is undeniably cute and works great on all body types, regardless of gender, and especially during scorching summer heat. But the RompHim and ReeRomp collectively underline our cultural fear of queerness and femininity--a global plague that's kept women and LGBTQ's beneath straight men for centuries.

By all means, we'll invest in few essential rompers this season--which we'll proudly label "rompers"--but we'll never cave into a cultural phenomena that needs to rename a classic for fear of it ending with the sound of "her." Amen, Aquaria: