Sure, men can wear shorts — but should they?

Dapper dudes in shorts are cropping up everywhere from the runways to the red carpet. Two Posties take on the polarizing trend.

Johnny Oleksinski: Shorts shouldn’t be worn on the job — or on the town

Society cannot allow this horrible behavior to be normalized. We must #resist.

I refer, of course, to men wearing shorts at inappropriate times this summer. During elegant dinners, Broadway shows and in their office cubicles, dudes are baring their gams like unsightly Jessica Rabbits.

And they look ridiculous.

Attention, 99 percent of guys: You’re not Armie Hammer dancing at an outdoor disco in “Call Me By Your Name.” You’re not LeBron James strutting into the NBA Finals. The vast majority of men don’t have the calves — or the swagger — to pull them off.

And yet a headline on GQ.com last week proclaimed “The Daring New Trend in Pants Is . . . Shorts,” lauding the careless look that popped up in recent European runway shows for fashion houses such as Comme des Garçons and Louis Vuitton. Daring? More like scaring.

In more sensible days gone by, shorts were meant just for kids and athletes. Upper-class British boys traditionally wear shorts until about age 8, and 4-year-old Prince George pulls them off with panache. Nevertheless, even George wore trousers — custom-made by Savile Row tailors, natch — to his uncle Harry’s wedding.

Now, in the age of incessant self-expression, a schlub could wear a pair of shorts to Eleven Madison Park, look like a doofus and call himself a style hero.

It’s all part of our obnoxious descent into never-ending casual Friday. “Athleisure” — expensive tracksuits — has become just as acceptable at Christmas dinner as it is at Barry’s Bootcamp.

Thousands of years of conditioning have us doing or not doing a lot of things. You probably don’t eat scrambled eggs for dinner, or introduce yourself to a potential new employer with a high-five. We assign different attire for different occasions partially to collectively recognize the special quality of an event. It’s respectful to those around you, and it feels good, even if your body feels restricted for a couple of hours.

Let’s cut this awful trend short.

Christian Gollayan: Guys shouldn’t be scared to show some skin

Let’s stop it with the shorts shaming.

In the past few years, the fashion industry has embraced and even honored women for baring their legs and more at formal events. Kim Kardashian West — the queen of minidresses and booty-boosting silhouettes — recently walked off with the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s first-ever fashion influencer award. “I’m naked most of the time,” she admitted in her acceptance speech.

If gals can get points for displaying their gams, why can’t guys?

Besides, shorts for men have changed: No longer are they just dumpy cargos or skimpy swimming trunks. Nowadays, Thom Browne and other menswear designers are producing luxe-looking shorts for the likes of LeBron James.

At Men’s fashion week in Paris, streetwear pro Virgil Abloh, the new artistic director for Louis Vuitton menswear, showed a slew of bright-hued shorts paired with sneakers and breezy windbreaker-esque tops. Off the catwalks, fotogs snapped stylish guests such as fashion consultant Nick Wooster and British GQ Style’s editor Luke Jefferson Day on their way to runway shows while rocking, respectively, seersucker and cuffed jean shorts.

Armie Hammer turned up at June’s red-carpet premiere of “Sorry To Bother You” in Brooklyn donning a pair of crisp white shorts, loafers and a lightweight knit sweater. How very “Hamptons” Ken doll! I loved it.

But you don’t have to be a 6-foot-5 Adonis like Armie to liberate your legs at formal events. Take it from my 5-foot-8 self: Just make sure your shorts fall just above the knee, are slim-fit but not skintight and worn with classic staples like a collared shirt, a blazer and leather shoes.

It’s high time to dump those archaic dress codes. Dudes have earned the right to show off their stems!