Image via @spxncxrx
Men and women are NOT treated equally, whether it’s in the workplace or in day to day living. That said, I would agree with the idea that males do have the upper hand in society. But one thing some people don’t bother to consider are the things males “can’t do” or in more correct terms, feel uncomfortable doing and looked down upon for due to gender roles. Specifically, boys are looked down upon for choosing to wear makeup, those who do get often are called ‘gay’ or ‘unnatural’. For example, just reference the hateful replies to this tweet of images posted by a girl of her brother defying gender roles:
They say makeup isn’t for boys, and that he’s gay for choosing to wear it. And those who believe in the importance of following gender role would be driven to agree. After all, makeup is for girls. But in truth, some male celebrities do wear makeup, including Mathew Perry, Naveen Andrews, and Harry Styles. According to Robert Bolanos, 50% of male celebrities wear makeup to public appearances.
But contrary to common belief, males wearing makeup isn’t a new trend—it’s existed for centuries. In fact, the Romans painted their heads to hide premature baldness, and Ancient Brit warriors daubed their faces in blue woad, later becoming known to the Romans as the Picts. In Ancient Egypt, male aristocrats wore makeup. What did you think those thick lines on King Tut’s eyes were?
Clearly, it’s been going on for quite a while—so why is it such a shock now?
Part of it is the idea in western society that women dress nice or wear makeup to attract the attention of males. Therefore, if that’s the only reason women wear makeup, then men who wear makeup surely must be doing it for the same reason. And so all men who wear makeup must be gay, or sick in the head, right?
Wrong. Just like women, men who wear makeup wear it because they like the way they look with it on–and in order to live in a fair society, we must give people room to do what makes them happy, as long as they aren’t hurting anyone else.Together, we can work towards a more positive society, starting with allowing children to make their own choices about what they want, rather than choosing for them based on gender roles. We should do whatever we can to allow gender difference to be just a difference in what gender we identify as, rather than a societal difference. We should try to curb our pre-conceived notions about what someone should be like based on gender.
And at the end of the day, if you don’t like men (or women) defying gender roles, too bad. It isn’t any of your business anyway.
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