Jonathan Van Ness has slammed Sean Penn’s recent comments about masculinity.
Last week, the Oscar-winning actor raised eyebrows when he lamented during an interview that men had become “quite feminised”, citing “cowardly genes” as a contributing factor.
“I have these very strong women in my life who do not take masculinity as a sign of oppression toward them,” he told The Independent.
“There are a lot of, I think, cowardly genes that lead to people surrendering their jeans and putting on a skirt.”
Responding to a report in the Mail Online about Sean’s comments, which used a picture of Jonathan to illustrate their point, the Queer Eye star hit back on Twitter.
“First of all I’m non binary,” he wrote. “Second, @SeanPenn your remarks are ignorant, transphobic, and devoid of intelligence.
“My cowardly genes have more strength, resolve, and beauty than you could understand.”
JVN added that “Sean is suffering from toxic masculinity” and could do with watching his new Netflix show Getting Curious to educate himself further.
He also told the Mail Online their “headline and entire story is so tired”.
Jonathan – who uses all gender pronouns to refer to himself – came out as non-binary in 2019.
He said at the time: “Some days I feel like a man, but then other days I feel like a woman.
“I don’t really — I think my energies are really all over the place. Any opportunity I have to break down stereotypes of the binary, I am down for it, I’m here for it.
“I think that a lot of times gender is used to separate and divide. It’s this social construct that I don’t really feel like I fit into the way I used to.
“I always used to think ‘Oh, I’m like a gay man’, but I think any way I can let little boys and little girls know that they can express themselves and they can like be… is really important and exciting.”