How to skew element but keep text normal (unskewed)

Here is a fiddle for use across different browsers - I created in a couple of minutes.

Try playing with the arguments, I used :before and :after to do this.

https://jsfiddle.net/DTBAE/

You can use the transform: skew(X, Y) property to achieve this. Creating a skewed outer container, then skew the opposite amount on an inner container to skew the text back to being straight. See this fiddle for example;

http://jsfiddle.net/UZ6HL/4/

From what you have said, I believe this is what you want, if not please clarify when the item should display the background.

skew a parent element (LI) and inverse skew it's children elements

nav ul {
  padding: 0;
  display: flex;
  list-style: none;
}
nav li {
  transition: background 0.3s, color 0.3s;
  transform: skew(20deg); /* SKEW */
}

nav li a {
  display: block; /* block or inline-block is needed */
  text-decoration: none;
  padding: 5px 10px;
  font: 30px/1 sans-serif;
  transform: skew(-20deg); /* UNSKEW */
  color: inherit;
}

nav li.active,
nav li:hover {
  background: #000;
  color: #fff;
}

<nav>
  <ul>
    <li><a href="#">Home</a></li>
    <li class="active"><a href="#">Products</a></li>
    <li><a href="#">Contact</a></li>
  </ul>
</nav>