Sean Penn tells interviewer men have become 'quite feminised' and 'cowardly genes' lead them to wear skirts

Sean Penn doubled down in an interview with The Independent on his belief that "men have become quite feminised."

The two-time Oscar winner generated headlines earlier this month after telling one newspaper, "I am in the club that believes that men in American culture have become wildly feminised."

He continued, "I don't think that being a brute or having insensitivity or disrespect for women is anything to do with masculinity, or ever did. But I don't think that [in order] to be fair to women, we should become them."

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When asked by The Independent to clarify these comments, Penn said, "I think that men have, in my view, become quite feminised. I have these very strong women in my life who do not take masculinity as a sign of oppression toward them."

"There are a lot of, I think, cowardly genes that lead to people surrendering their jeans and putting on a skirt," he added.

Penn was being interviewed by The Independent alongside his daughter, Dylan Penn, to promote their drama film Flag Day. The publication made note that Penn's comments on men becoming "quite feminised" left his daughter "quiet, staring into space."

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Penn most recently starred as a William Holden-inspired actor in Paul Thomas Anderson's Licorice Pizza. His directorial effort, Flag Day, world premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last May and opened to a muted response by MGM last August. The drama earned under $900K at the worldwide box office.

Next up for Penn is Gaslit, the Starz original drama series set to arrive later this year. The Watergate scandal show is based on Leon Neyfakh's podcast of the same name. Penn stars opposite Julia Roberts, Dan Stevens, Betty Gilpin, Shea Whigham and Darby Camp. Starz has not yet announced a specific release date.

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