By Temitope Ojo

Actor and fashion stylist, Denola Grey has responded to the constant comments from people who say he acts feminine.

The media personality said in a series of tweets that he used to feel offended when people tell him he acts like a girl or like a woman but he doesn’t anymore because he has come to accept that he is half female (his mother, or the X chromosome in the male XY sex chromosome).

He wrote: “You act like a girl” “you act like a woman.” That used to get to me, until I realised that taking it as an offence was a huge problem as well. Why would I be offended because my mannerism fit the script of something I am half of?

“Furthermore, the use of my mannerisms being feminine, as an insult further perpetuates and feeds into heteronormative patriarchal ideals where women are seen as less-than, weaker or possessing qualities that men should not aspire to.

“Along the journey of trying to blend in and fit into the jigsaw puzzle of what masculinity should be, I got to the end and found that ultimately it was empty. I had only found fragments of myself in there… not the full picture.”