Men in Makeup

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/boys-in-makeup

For someone with vary limited, mediocre skills and no money to spend, I spend an awful lot of time watching makeup videos on YouTube. It’s been one of my favorite pastimes for several years now. I’ve watched a larger number of beauty influencers over those years. One of my favorite thing to see in recent years is how popular men in makeup have become. Makeup is typically something that is associated with women. It’s marketed towards women and treated as if it is only for women. With these men stepping in and breaking the norms of gender norms, they are also challenging the traditional ideas of what masculinity is.

I posted a link to a short article that addresses some of the comments made toward men that wear makeup. Overall, the theme is that society has socialized us to believe that makeup is a female hobby. Just like how women have a wide variety of interests, so do men. Society is easier on women when they decide to deviate from gender norms. Perhaps that’s because femininity is not as rigid and unforgiving as masculinity is? Men that wear makeup are criticized, told that men shouldn’t wear makeup, and are often asked if they are trying to be women. Society’s equation of makeup to women is just as toxic and damaging as masculinity’s relentless resistance to change and acceptance.