While several makeup brands like to use hyperbole when describing their image, CoverGirl’s latest move lived up to its claim of providing boundary-breaking role models.
While the usual faces of CoverGirl campaigns are often famous females, the current model didn’t earn his blue verification check on Instagram and Twitter from acting in films or on television but instead from his superior makeup skills, which have gone viral across social media .
That’s right — he. James Charles, 17, is the first male face of CoverGirl.
Charles began to flaunt his beauty artistry over a year ago with his first Instagram post in August 2015.
Charles’s Instagram quickly went from photos of women who he’d done makeup on to being his own model for each and every look.
Just from scrolling through his photos, one can easily see his progress and how advanced his beauty skills are now.
Charles’s looks have transformed from simple smoky eyes to creative pixelated lips, a Mad-Hatter-inspired look and comic book, pop art face make-up.
While Charles has over 700,000 followers on Instagram who were thrilled to see him take on his new role as a CoverGirl, unsurprisingly, there were a fair number of people who weren’t so excited about this change in the makeup industry.
The harshest of comments were made on a photo of Charles modeling for CoverGirl that was circulating on all platforms of social media.
One Facebook user commented on a picture of Charles, “This is repulsive and disgusting. I’m ashamed of this generation and the pathetic excuse for men that are resulting from it.”
Another user commented, “Just one more step toward making men less than what they should be. Born and bred to be tough, strong, providers to their family.”
What is the most concerning about these types of comments is the superficial understanding of what defines gender.
These comments imply that wearing makeup makes Charles less of a man.
And in turn, these comments raise the question, is a man supposed to be defined by liking sports and acting tough?
It’s not like this is the first time a male has ever worn makeup in public.
Actors on every film and television set are caked in foundation and other products.
While comments accuse Charles of lacking masculinity, there is something much bigger and more important that Charles is doing than refusing to conform to the gender roles society has created.
Charles is being brave enough to not let gender roles define him and his passions. His makeup creations are nothing shy of masterpieces.
While many people live in fear of pursuing their dreams and goals, as a senior in high school, Charles inspires his followers to not let the opinions of others control their future.
CoverGirl and James Charles are making moves to show that objects don’t have a gender, and that items like makeup shouldn’t be limited to women just because society associates them with femininity.
According to Merriam-Webster, gender identity is defined as “a person’s internal sense of being male, female, some combination of male and female, or neither male or female.”
Makeup doesn’t define one’s gender. Whether one follows societal norms or opinions doesn’t define one’s gender.
It’s only “a person’s internal sense” that ultimately defines how one identifies.
