Men… wearing makeup?

Be honest with me, what is the first thing you think of when you her about men wearing nail varnish and makeup? No fabrication of deception- just be true to yourself and from there we can clarify discrepancies in judgement.

The most common response is probably “gay” or “feminine”. But underneath that, there is a belittling discernment- judging a person as “weak”, “inappropriate”, or even “disgusting”.

Am I surprised that this is the general consensus however- no- I am not.

When one chooses to describe genderless endeavours such as painting nails and wearing makeup as feminine, they are exposing their wilfully ignorant conservative mindset- engineered by the patriarchy we live in today where masculine virtues are regarded as vital to male survival. This idea of a male facade to protect oneself from emasculation isn’t true however, and the quicker society makes this decision to normalise these activities in men and accept all people regardless of gender expression, the faster we will move to a more tolerant and less noxious world ridden with irrational hate and discrimination.

Moreover, it also unveils a perspective corrupted with internalised misogyny, where one views women wearing makeup and nail varnish as socially acceptable- solely on the basis that men throughout humanity have regarded themselves as socially superior to women, and objectified them for personal gratification.

For centuries, women have been objectified as blank canvases, prisoners to the crude male artist painting an image of idealistic femininity through a lens of sexual desire and lust, yet if a male acts as the blank canvas, the ignorant artist throws the palette of expression and identity down to the floor in an impulsive reaction of irrational hate and exposure of their fragile masculinity complex.

Frankly, the latter is abhorrent and adds yet another poisonous layer of bandage to the infected wound of the patriarchy that we as a collective society have fallen victim to so blindly.

Why is it that girls are allowed to wear makeup and nail varnish in schools, however when a male student does the same, it is deemed as inappropriate by those too uninformed to acknowledge their own internalised homophobia which has enslaved them with cruel morality in the male-dominated foundations the world stands upon- foundations that we are striving to crush today?

We are not in the 1950s anymore, times have changed, we all know that whether we choose to accept it or not.

So, if one holds these destructive opinions about men wearing makeup and nail varnish, then fine, go ahead, but they should be prepared to be left behind in a prosperous world rapidly changing with optimistic progression in gender equality, whilst remain shackled in a virulent existence shrouded by fear.

In December of last year, a Texas high-school student, Trevor Wilkinson, was issued an in-school suspension for, you guessed it, wearing nail varnish.

When I read this article, I was absolutely appalled.

Quite rightly, he started a petition to campaign for the right for male students to be allowed to wear nail varnish, which gained rapid traction with over 35,000 signatures in two days. Reading this did put a smile on my face however, as it gave me a glimpse of hope that, slowly but surely, we are uprooting the “negative stigma”, a phrase that trivialises the institutionalised sexism and homophobia that has plagued us most in recent centuries.

Society changes with what it deems acceptable in the public eye- it is ALL entirely due to a matter of opinion and normality. For example, in the way that pink was deemed as a masculine and powerful colour in the 1920s, and so was used in male clothing, whilst blue on the other hand was perceived as passive and forgiving- and so rendered it more suitable to female clothing under a more overtly traditionalistic period of time. 

Overall, this just transparently shows that together, we can break these ruinous gender stereotypes that have been cemented into society by unprogressive leadership and parenting, only if we are willing to accept that there are more important things in life than a man choosing to wear a radiant shade of tangerine nail varnish.

You be the change- don’t wait idly.

(Cover image via Chanel ©)