Zac Efron (there, two High School Musical references in a day–my life’s work is done) does it. So does John Mayer, Ryan Seacrest and any CEO who has ever spent time under the hot glare of TV lights.
So would you, gentlemen, wear men’s makeup for work?
Nah, says this article by Kibun Kim in Salon today. It cites:
A GQ survey in 2005 reported that “92 percent of men would not wear makeup even if it guaranteed them a more fulfilling sex life.”
It wasn’t always this way.
Male makeup has a long history, starting with the Egyptians, whose men applied thick eyeliner to ward off the “evil eye.” Roman men used chalk-based foundation to brighten their complexions, and, in the 18th century, Louis XV and his court made it vogue for men to put on gobs of toxic lead-based makeup and rouge. Interest in men’s grooming ebbed in the 20th century, and more recent examples of men wearing makeup, like Kiss and David Bowie, have been either garish or intentionally provocative.
But even in the age of unabashed male grooming, makeup is still a hard sell.
The aforementioned GQ survey found that 65 percent of men thought plastic surgery acceptable but that only 14 percent would consider using makeup for a 25 percent salary increase. It seems men would rather go under the knife than get paid to put on some makeup to cover up wrinkles.
So let me get this straight. Eighty-six percent of men wouldn’t wear a dab of the mancake for a 25% raise? Are you all nuts? Is your antiquated notion of masculinity so fragile you’d forfeit a fortnight in Paris, a nicer apartment or whatever else you’d do with a 25% raise?
Maybe we women should threaten to toss the mascara and lipstick unless the boss gives us more pay. That oughtta scare them good.