15 votes

A short history of manly beauty products for masculine men

6 comments

  1. [4]
    PathOfTheProkopton
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    Upon finisging the article and being in the military, I don't care what kind of advertisment gets guys to clean themselves, I just want to be able to be near them withouth holding my breath. Also...

    Upon finisging the article and being in the military, I don't care what kind of advertisment gets guys to clean themselves, I just want to be able to be near them withouth holding my breath.

    Also I think that a message saying, "be a good man", is far better than a message saying, "at least you're not a girl".

    3 votes
    1. [3]
      NaraVara
      Link Parent
      Honestly I don't understand why we ever gendered hygiene in the first place. Before we get to the status quo where men are anxious about trying female coded products, we need to wonder why basic...

      Honestly I don't understand why we ever gendered hygiene in the first place. Before we get to the status quo where men are anxious about trying female coded products, we need to wonder why basic lifestyle stuff got coded as "feminine" in the first place.

      These products got pink-washed long before they're now being camo-printed and gunmetal packaged. Plenty of societies in the past have associated masculinity with appreciation of "fine things." Lots of victorian era "masculine" props like pipe lighters and snuff boxes are delicately filigreed and ornamented. Dudes used to wear wigs dusted with scented powder and even powdered their faces to look more fair. Where did that all go? How did we decide "peak masculinity" involves being a slob who doesn't care about his appearance? It's not like the guys in frock coats and scented wigs were feminists or anything.

      6 votes
      1. [2]
        Gaywallet
        Link Parent
        I don't think we ever did. We just didn't differentiate between someone who is a slob and someone who isn't. Or when we did, it was in some context that separated the idea of masculinity from that...

        How did we decide "peak masculinity" involves being a slob who doesn't care about his appearance?

        I don't think we ever did. We just didn't differentiate between someone who is a slob and someone who isn't. Or when we did, it was in some context that separated the idea of masculinity from that of appearance.

        For example, James Bond, was always well dressed. But that's because he was a spy and had to seduce women.

        1 vote
        1. NaraVara
          Link Parent
          But how do people think a guy gets well dressed without caring about his appearance? There's a respect for the ends but not the means there. Though I guess that's true of women as well. Being seen...

          For example, James Bond, was always well dressed. But that's because he was a spy and had to seduce women.

          But how do people think a guy gets well dressed without caring about his appearance? There's a respect for the ends but not the means there.

          Though I guess that's true of women as well. Being seen to care about putting on makeup is frivolous and silly, but failing to do so means you can't be bothered to maintain yourself.

          3 votes
  2. [2]
    Comment deleted by author
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    1. NaraVara
      Link Parent
      Until recently, they were much less likely to be directly marketed to, and the things that were marketed directly to them were geared towards making them fit in with White standards of beauty,...

      Are black.men less susceptible to machismo and less prone to buying male codified things?

      Until recently, they were much less likely to be directly marketed to, and the things that were marketed directly to them were geared towards making them fit in with White standards of beauty, such as skin lighteners and hair straighteners.

      You still see lots of Black guys who have trouble finding razors that don't give them problems with ingrown hairs because what's out there is all marketed to caucasian hair types. And it only ever goes one way. Black barbers are perfectly fine with knowing how to cut straight hair, but White barbers are usually terrible at knowing what to do with kinky hair unless they have a largely Black clientele.

      3 votes