Man Fulfils Wholesome Promise To Wear Same Dress as Sister to Graduation

Reddit user @Frekkenstein made a promise to his sister to motivate her through her college experience—that he'd wear matching dresses to her graduation if she graduated with honors. After carrying through with the deal, he shared the results in a now-viral post.

Dennis Martin shared the image of him and his sister in matching rockabilly-style dresses to Reddit on May 13 in the "Funny" Subreddit. In the 10 hours since it was uploaded, the post has received over 65,000 upvotes on the platform.

Martin told Newsweek the promise was made after his sister spotted two girls in matching dresses during her associate's degree graduation: "I told her I would next time as a joke. She told me 'well, we're probably never doing this again, I'm so tired of school'. I told her, 'Fine. If you get your bachelor's I'll wear a matching dress. But you have to do it with honors.'"

"Yesterday before graduation she said there were a few times when everything became overwhelming and she just wanted to put her degree on hold for a semester and keep going when things settled down. The idea of watching me walk around the ceremony in a dress is what kept her going," says Martin.

After graduating from her bachelor's in public health, they attended her graduation ceremony at the Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, college graduations are returning to in-person events this year, after most 2020 ceremonies were held virtually.

"I did not realize she was doing her undergrad at such a big school when I agreed to this," jokes Martin.

According to comments left by Martin the dress was picked by his sister online before being sent to him. "Shopping in dress sizes is hard. They make no sense," he wrote. "My leg wouldn't have even fit in hers. I was claustrophobic getting into mine."

On the whole experience, he added, "We're in Texas so although social distancing was in place, there were a lot of people there. Lots of funny looks and laughs. An older lady came to ask the story and took a picture."

Although the fulfilled promise is a novelty on one level, the Reddit user also had a more thought-provoking take on it too, pointing out that the funny looks would be just a fraction of what those who dress out of gender norms receive.

"No direct harassment except for my old ambulance partner who happened to be there. The rest was odd looks and laughs as I walked by. Kind of made me realize why so many people who are uncomfortable in their own body have a hard time coming out. I'm sure there's a lot more that goes into it, but this was just like walking a mile in their shoes," he wrote.

"If I had any other motive other than being there for my sis, it would be that a guy wearing a dress doesn't hurt anyone and anyone who witnesses it should mind their own business and go about their day instead of making judgment about that guy or his lifestyle," he continued in the post.

Users on Reddit applauded Martin for both going through with the promise and his reflections, with one user commenting: "Props to you for not only doing something awesome for your sister, but for taking a moment in the middle of paying up on your silly bet to realize you could relate and understand just a little bit more to people who generally don't always encounter all that much empathy in their day to day."

"I wanted to post it to Reddit because I feel we need some wholesome in our world right now. I wanted to give people something to laugh at. I did expect it to get a decent response, but nothing like what I woke up to," told Martin to Newsweek. "The comments on Reddit have been overall positive. Apparently red is my color.