Men -- Would You Wear Makeup if it were Socially Acceptable?

Geez, guys have it made.... accepted for what they truly look like without the time and money most women invest. Why screw up a deal like that? They don't even grow "old", but "distinguished". Unfair!

Phoenix, I think it's enough that a. I still have my hair, and b. that it's long, not too gray, and naturally curly.

Not on your tintype. Not for a joke, not for just ten seconds.

NO

Probably not for me either. Dying of grey hair has been socially acceptable for men for some time but I don't bother with that either.

I could never wear makeup.

First, I really don't even like it when women wear mascara. The natural look suits females best.

Second, I like the way that I look. Not that I'm as gorgeous as the stunning photo of Jackson, but I happen to think that we were made a certain way and have no right to change that. Except for a few special occasions.

Third, makeup takes too much time to apply and perfect, it can be easily ruined, and it's so damn uncomfortable.

Back in freshman hazing week in high school, there was a day when we had to dress up and be laughed at by the seniors. Yeah, fun all around. I kinda put on some sort of makeup mask around my eyes, and did the best I could to dress up like Cato (Bruce Lee) from The Green Hornet. So I walk into Geography class, and one dude starts laughing and says "We got fags here." I walked up to him slowly, looked him in the eye and said "you know, it doesn't even matter whether I'm gay or not, but you used a derogatory term, and you don't know exactly who you may or may not have insulted in this classroom. I suggest you back off before I get the teacher involved." (Our teacher just happened to be gay, btw) He did back down, and strangely enough, we ended up becoming friends, and he actually turned into a decent bloke. That was the last time I ever wore makeup though.

That's one thing that I really hate these days: the fact that the word 'gay' is now a derogatory term. I think that you are insulting yourself more than others if you use it as an insult.

kirsten, you raise an interesting point -- I'm very curious about where all of this is headed.

The question starts with an impossible premise. Very few things men do are considered Socially Acceptable. Somehow I don't think wearing makeup (or anything else) will stop the criticism and blame.

When people have mostly nice things to say about being male, then perhaps men would get more mileage and appreciation from their appearance. For that to happen, men would have to be desirable for How they are, rather than What they provide.

Being socially acceptable is too much of a shift in our attitude towards men.

Well, Individual, 'fag' was the insulting word there. I don't consider 'gay' insulting at all, but I agree that too many people use it that way.

(CodeBorg?)

Care to expand a bit, PatriUgg? I think to some extent nobody is socially acceptable, but I don't think that men, as a whole, are socially unacceptable while say women are.

Hell, I don't even wear makeup. For the last couple decades some musicians have been wearing makeup onstage (and sometimes off stage).

Without reading the thread...

no.

I've just noticed that when I ask a guy what they like about this or that woman, they usually go on and on about how she is this and how she is that.

When I ask a woman what they like about this or that guy, they have very little to say and it's usually something about what the guy does and provides -- rather than how they are or how they feel.

Makeup is more about expressing how we are, than accomplishing something that people can use. It's just a different basis for being interested in people.

Mrs. cav hates makeup and diamonds. I think I got a pretty sweet deal.

Thanks, PatriUgg. That's not my experience, but I understand what you are saying.

This is part of what I find interesting about the whole idea of makeup expressing who we are, and having that include men.

I personally VERY rarely wear makeup. Since I stopped working, almost never. When I worked (ha! no "k" in there is interesting), I wore lipstick, that's about it.

I know a stay-at-home mom who recently started working for Avon. She never used to wear makeup, and then she started showing up in full mufti. Foundation, lipliner, etc., etc. It was skillfully enough applied, but looked SO unnatural, so not HER. She seemed uncomfortable, too, and the next time I saw her it was toned down several notches.

That said, as an art form/ expression of creativity, I really admire how some people apply makeup.

I think it all depends on the time. Most men would be ridiculed if they tried to wear matching diamond earings or flashy bracelets and necklaces, but wearing jewelry in England was actually reserved only for important male governmental figures. Then women caught on and wearing jewelry eventually became flamboyant for a man and ultimately embarrassing. Same for wearing pink, used to be only for males while blue was for females.

yea, i agree. It really bothers me how people say "thats so gay" like being gay is some horrible thing. the word "fag" offends me alot, too.

It was originally just a cigarette, I wonder what cig and fag have in common? Oh....