Men wearing makeup has always been a controversial topic within the Beauty industry wether it be a straight male or a transgender male who was originally female, as a result of this there will always be some people who will frown upon males expressing themselves through makeup. Many people are against men wearing makeup usually the older generation who may not understand that times have changed and the twenty first century is all about acceptance of others and letting people be the best version of themselves. Makeup brands are warming up to the idea of men wearing makeup and have used a range of male models to market their products which can be seen as a positive outlook. Are you not sick and tired of the sexism and discrimination held against men in the beauty community?
My own view on the matter is that people need to open their eyes and look at the bigger picture, today’s society as a whole need to move on with the times and be more open minded instead of being trapped in an era where discrimination shapes who we are as people, by doing this it would give everyone a whole different outlook on the different types of art and creativity that men can also experience as well as women.
Over the last few years men all over the world of all races, religions, sexuality, gender identities and ethnic groups have built themselves a platform all over the media showing off their extraordinary talent and creative makeup looks. Not only are they showing new techniques but a completely new style, coming up with unique makeup looks that have never been done before. And that is the beauty of the wide scoped diversity in the makeup industry, creativity has no limits. To illustrate this point, James Charles is undoubtably one of the most talented and successful makeup artist from New York, famous for his many intriguing and inspiring looks, for instance his ‘blank canvas’ makeup look that captured the attention of millions of people all over the internet, many people were inspired by this and attempted to recreate this look. He has been doing makeup as a hobby since 2014 at the age of fifteen, he then started documenting it on his youtube channel that now has a staggering 12 million subscribers. This exposes the fact that men can in fact be successful within the beauty community, even from such a young age.
At seventeen years old, on the 11th October 2016, James Charles was the first ever male model for CoverGirl, a well known brand within the beauty community, working alongside Katy Perry. This highlights that men can be just as creative as women in the beauty community. We live in an age where many of us are heavily influenced by the stigma that is associated with the typical stereotypes, therefore elucidating the impression that too many people care what others may think of them. Don’t you think it’s time to break the stigma and let people work towards their goals without being criticised for it? From a young age the beauty influencer James Charles kept going with his dreams and pursuing his goals despite the odds against him. Even his parents had their doubts at the start, he chose not to go to college and they were concerned that he might have been making the wrong decisions at that time, but seeing how far he has gotten and all his hard work paying off they are proud of who he has became and we can argue that is through his dedication and passion for makeup.
In recent years James Charles has made many friends and built a huge platform for himself with twelve million subscribers on YouTube, and an outstanding 14.6 million followers on Instagram. He has done numerous meet and greets across the United States and in more recent years he came to the United Kingdom to do a meet and greet for all of his fans there who appreciated it deeply but was heavily criticised due to the nation as a whole for the lack of understanding of his profession and the closed minded individuals who strictly go by the stereotype of men not wearing makeup. People were angered by traffic jams caused that day because the meet and greet. Would he have gotten the same hate if he was a woman?
As a result of this I think the United Kingdom as a nation should hang its head in shame for the lack of respect for the hardworking successful influencer who is a part of the LGBT community who has the right to express himself through makeup despite it being seen as for women. He came out of his way to show his appreciation towards his fans who have been there from the start to support him.
