I chose this advertisement because it is very simple yet it challenges traditional gender stereotypes. Traditionally, makeup has been seen as something that is only for women, but as gender politics become more progressive, more men have been becoming makeup consumers. James Charles is a teenager who has a makeup channel on Youtube and has recently become the first male Covergirl. I found this ad interesting because is it one of the first times the public is seeing a man be a spokesperson for makeup. In Fashion and Cultural Studies, Susan B. Kaiser points out that “most fashion subjects are fairly emphatic about who they are or do not want to look like” mainly due to society’s homogeneity. I like this ad because it is doing the complete opposite of what most ads do, which is conformity. The ad is subtle but powerful because just by placing a young man under the word Covergirl, which obviously contains the word “girl” in it, it is making a powerful statement that Covergirl just isn’t for girls anymore. A more subtle detail is that the font is purple, which is the combination of red/pink and blue, the colors that society has dubbed the female and male signifying colors. For James Charles, this makeup look is more simple, with his exposed freckles and neutral color palette choices, but it is still evident that he is wearing makeup. I think this could be viewed as a message regarding visibility. Men have been experimenting with makeup for a long time now, but it only has recently come to the surface where people are noticing and there is a discussion about it. Even with recent awareness and conversation, the visibility for men wearing makeup in society is still quiet. This advertisement is a huge step in men who want to try makeup achieving public visibility. Hopefully this advertisement can inspire other people who may feel like society has told them not to experiment with makeup, and make them want to experiment and feel good about it.
