Tuesday, June 5, 2007

You wear the pants and I'll wear the MAC

OK, every now and then I hear of certain trends that just disturb me. This article notes a trend that just keeps becoming popular- men who choose to wear make-up.

I'm not talking about Prince or your heavy-metal rock bands or even some news broadcasters. I'm talking about the average Joe who lives around the block.

Men are supposedly becoming more comfortable with foundation and bronzer.

I barely work with foundation and bronzer and I prefer to date men who aren't aware of its existence.

We are entering dangerous territory here. In a minute, guys will be pulling the "no, you'll mess up my make-up" crap. I've already met a guy who was worried about sweating out his relaxer after recently getting it done. So not sexy.

I personally draw the line at men getting manicures and pedicures and that's mainly because I can't stand ugly feet.

As for the foundation, bronzer, lipstick and blush, I will willingly take on that burden in the relationship instead of my guy. Nothing about make-up equates masculinity- at least not to me.


Could you date a guy who wore make-up? Is there a point where you would draw the line? Would you look at your guy differently if he wore make-up?

8 comments:

BeckiLG said...

Funny to get online and see this posted. I just went and saw Pirates of the Carribean 3 today and spent a good bit after the movie gushing about how good Orlando Bloom looked at the end...noting the eyeliner. Some guys can pull it off, some can't!

The opportunity to date a guy who wore makeup has never presented itself to me, but I'd like to think I would be OK with it. If I can wear makeup, why can't he!?

Anonymous said...

Vain, self -absorbed, and just plain strange. Men are losing their masculinity at an alarming rate. I know men that shave their bodies of all hair. This isn't an evolution but a sad consequence of todays men being raised up in homes without strong male role models. Single mothers cannot raise young boys into manhood.

Anonymous said...

I prefer a man who wants to take personal care of himself. Pedicures and manicures and no back hair are a definate plus in the visual department !

Anonymous said...

Who said that these men were raised by single mothers? Most single mothers would be too busy raising their kids and providing for them to be any source of vanity.

Perhaps, it's more of an off-shoot of our society placing so high a price on appearance that men are now under the same pressure as women to look like a GQ model. I'm guessing, if you looked at health studies, you will also find more men with eating disorders, too.

By the way, I am a woman who doesn't wear make-up. And it's not because I was raised by a single father.

Anonymous said...

The only makeup I wear is eyeshadow and eyeliner. I don't think that I would really be interested in dating a guy who wore more makeup than I do! I've met guys that wear it, and it just seems a little weird to me. But I agree with anon #3 that the trend probably has more to do with GQ than with being raised by a single mom!

Anonymous said...

anon #1- what the hell?

anon #3- you're probably right.

also, "guyliner" has become incredibly popular, and is easing its way into the mainstream.

a guy i used to date, did take on the "guyliner" and mascara for awhile. it was weird at first, but i grew accustomed to it. i think it might have been easier for me to accept because i'd already been dating him awhile when that happened.

women are always praised for embracing their masculine side, and we often encourage men to bring out more of their feminine side, so it is pretty upsetting that this is that controversial. i'm sure we wouldn't hesitate to say, "he's cute, but he has bad skin," so i don't understand why we're surprised that "he" would try to fix it.

BeckiLG said...

Anon #1... so you're OK with women being "vain, self-absorbed, and just plain strange"?

I know plenty of strong male role models who were raised without a father in the home. In fact, I would consider some of them stronger men for what they have learned. You make a pretty bold statement by saying men are losing their masculinity by being raised by single mothers.

Anonymous said...

Guyliner! Ha! Wow, fantastic. I love witty names for things.

Anyway, though I can't imagine ever wearing make-up myself (or dating a woman who wore a lot of it herself), the heart of this is the same question about the socialization of the genders as a woman wearing a pants-suit or having a "man's job". A guy might be uncomfortable with his lady speaking for herself, ordering for herself, not being barefoot and pregnant, but that doesn't really matter -- his a reaction borne of his rearing.

While it might appear to merely be a matter of preference to you women, if a guy wanted to wear make-up or not, it's really a question about how ready we are to accept that gender differences are largely articial.

That said, I'm not going to wear make-up and if any of my guy friends do, I'll make fun of them. It's a sign of affection, after all.