Men Wearing Makeup

Men wearing makeup should come as no surprise to us in today’s society. Men regularly wore makeup back in ancient Egypt, smearing various oils and animal fats on their faces to protect them from the harsh sun and adding eyeliner to add to their mystique. Men have sported makeup in numerous plays, operas and other performances across world history. Nobles regularity sported powdered faces, long wigs and stockings in previous centuries. Men can be seen wearing makeup today: models, fashion designers and celebrities who regularly powder their faces to keep looking pretty for photographers and the cameras.

Men wearing make-up is a questioning of gender roles in society. Modern society still has not fully shaken off the Victorian standard of male masculinity when beforehand men regularly wore what we consider to be androgynous attire without being considered weird or out of place. In fact it was quite normal before the Victorian period. Now that the lingering Victorian ideals are starting to wane, we are seeing more men wearing make-up in all facets of modern society.

Explanations vary as to why men wore powder and blush, but a solid answer is the ideal of paleness that transcended both genders. The incessant need for chalky, white skin was a measure to prove oneself as a genuine aristocrat in European society. 18th century culture devised a stark contrast between rich poor, from the top of the head with wigs to the bottom of the feet with high heels. Men wearing makeup was habit that was exclusively within wealthy circles and made for proper court attire for monarchs and nobles across Western Europe.

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