Lewis Hamilton Apology Instagram Nephew Dress Comments

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Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton has received a lot of backlash over the past two days after he posted a video of himself seeming to admonish his young nephew for wearing a princess dress on Christmas, BBC reports. The video, which Hamilton has since deleted from his account, was captured and shared on Twitter by at least one social media user.

"I'm so sad right now," Hamilton shared with his 5.7 million followers in an Instagram Story. "Look at my nephew. Why are you wearing a princess dress? Is this what you got for Christmas? Why did you ask for a princess dress for Christmas? Boys don't wear princess dresses!"

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Oh dear Lewis. You’ve just opened a can of worms... pic.twitter.com/fpsiNeOZrd
— Nabeela (@JustNabz) December 25, 2017

The troubling comments disturbed many people, who found it both inappropriate and harmful to shame an adorable, happy little boy for expressing himself and having fun.

So impressed by whoever bought that lovely little kid such an awesome princess dress. So horrified and distressed by Lewis Hamilton’s abusive and toxic reaction. And sharing it with the world? Vile.
— James Rhodes (@JRhodesPianist) December 26, 2017

watching the lewis hamilton vid actually excruciating, that little boy was me at that age, and all i ever heard was grown men like hamilton shouting at me for it. now 18 years on i'm still so conscious of how i behave & present in front of masculine performing men FUCK THAT
— jakk (@jakkhayes) December 26, 2017

This Lewis Hamilton thing just shows us that male fragility is more important than a child’s happiness and ability to express themselves. ??CLOTHING ?? ISNT ?? GENDERED ??
— Lottie L'Amour ☃️ (@Lottie_Lamour) December 26, 2017

Lewis Hamilton literally filmed himself yelling at a tiny child for wearing a dress, and published it to mock said child. The harmful reality of absurd gender norms is they create an inter generational culture of bullying, rigorous conformity to bs rules, and sexist expectations.
— Miriam Brett (@MiriamBrett) December 26, 2017

This conversation extends past Hamilton teasing his relative. For far too long, toxic gender norms have forced people to live in two rigid boxes. For example, gender norms dictate that girls should wear things like the colour pink and frilly dresses, while boys are told that they must never dress up in this kind of attire. These expectations are not only completely antiquated, they're also ridiculous — there's absolutely no reason someone who identifies as a boy can't sport a dress if he wants to.

(To learn more about gender identity, head over to Refinery29's Gender Nation Glossary.)

On Tuesday, the race car driver apologised to fans in a series of tweets, saying that was "playing" with his nephew and "meant no harm and did not mean to offend anyone at all." He also added that he loves that his nephew "feels free to express himself as we all should" and recognized that stereotypes can cause long-lasting damage.

Yesterday I was playing around with my nephew and realised that my words were inappropriate so I removed the post. I meant no harm and did not mean to offend anyone at all. I love that my nephew feels free to express himself as we all should.
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) December 26, 2017

My deepest apologies for my behaviour as I realise it is really not acceptable for anyone, no matter where you are from, to marginalise or stereotype anyone.
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) December 26, 2017

I have always been in support of anyone living their life exactly how they wish and I hope I can be forgiven for this lapse in judgement.
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) December 26, 2017

Though Hamilton's apology may not have been enough to absolve his behaviour, it was an important step in the right direction and demonstrated to his following that our actions and words have consequences. Hopefully, the conversation surrounding Hamilton's video will inspire him and his following to be more mindful, inclusive, and considerate so that we can all feel safer and freer to be our true selves in the year to come.

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