Contents
This trend mainly concerns residents of big cities: a shelf in a bachelor’s bathroom is decorated with several varieties of toilet water, and sometimes a jar of cream. Men’s cosmetics – a tribute to fashion or a necessity?
A well-groomed appearance gives a man new competitive advantages, whether it be career or personal life – this is precisely the underlying rationale contained in most advertising slogans that encourage men to use cosmetics. In today’s society, where so much importance is attached to social status and its external attributes, this is a very powerful motivation.
However, cosmetic boutiques still do not besiege crowds eager to purchase the most effective new products. What prevents men from using cosmetics as actively as women do?
Public stereotypes
“First, there are social stereotypes of masculinity,” explains social psychologist Yulia Fedotova. – It is generally accepted that a woman is valued for her beauty, and a man is valued for his deeds. A man who is engaged in war, hunting or hard work is unlikely to look well-groomed – the public consciousness interprets this as the fact that a well-groomed man is not capable of “male” work. Or he is not a man at all, but presumably gay.”
In Russia, these stereotypes are especially tenacious. “In principle, male aristocrats did not neglect their appearance, they did manicures,” Yulia Fedotova continues. – In the course of well-known historical events, representatives of the social elite in our country were destroyed as a class. For a Soviet man, it was considered shameful (and unsafe) to “be a well-groomed bum.” The unconscious conviction that some “wrong” men are addicted to self-care is still alive.”
Psychological differences
When buying cosmetics for themselves, men and women have completely different motivations – this fact, established by marketers of cosmetic companies, is also confirmed by psychologists.
“There is nothing more natural for a woman than to invest effort and money in her own appearance,” says Yulia Fedotova. “Because in the past she was dependent on a man who had to be first attracted, then kept. Appearance was her most important asset, with which the future is directly connected.
A man does not consider his face or body as capital. The exception is artists, representatives of public professions. And he begins to think about his appearance only when grooming becomes a condition for success.
A man will not specifically look for information about care products – as a rule, he is not interested in it
For women, tactile, olfactory sensations, pleasure from the process of applying cream or makeup are very important. The man is result oriented.
“The main thing for him is the effect,” continues Yulia Fedotova. – For example, I know for sure that many sailors use chapstick. Because they know from experience that heavily weathered, cracked to blood lips are too unpleasant. And any considerations about the unmasculinity of this gesture simply disappear against the backdrop of practical necessity.
By the way, advertising, although it causes irritation among many, has an important function of education. A man will not specifically look for information about care products – as a rule, he is not interested in it. But if you tell him about some innovation (for example, a new razor) and he is convinced that it really makes life easier, then he will use it with pleasure.
Great skin
Even if men allow themselves to use their skin care products as casually as women do, their beauty routine will still be very different due to physiological differences. First of all, because of shaving, around which all the other stages of “grooming” are built (for example, from the English. To groom – “take care of horses”, – men’s cosmetic procedures are called in glossy magazines).
But men’s skin has some other features, in addition to the bristles, which have to be disposed of: for example, the stratum corneum is on average 16-22% denser than in women, which allows the skin to better resist the aggression of the external environment. On the other hand, it makes it difficult for cosmetic products to penetrate.
Another difference is that male sex hormones have an effect on the sebaceous glands: as a rule, male skin is more oily, with noticeable pores. Some dermatological problems are associated with overactive sebaceous glands, such as redness and inflammation on the wings of the nose and eyebrows (seborrheic dermatitis). This problem, just like excessive dryness of the skin, can be overcome – if a man gives himself the trouble to reach a beautician.
“Among my clients, no more than 10% of men,” comments dermatologist-cosmetologist Elena Fuflygina. – Unlike women who often come for prevention and pleasure, men are focused on solving a specific problem. They are much more accurate and pedantic patients, carefully and regularly fulfill all prescriptions. And often achieve even better results than women.
No hint of homosexuality
Why is a heterosexual so afraid of being caught wearing makeup and being labeled a homosexual?
Men are so sensitive to such assessments because of the persistent social perceptions that have evolved over thousands of years. Gay – a man who does not create a couple with a woman and does not have offspring – has no value in terms of preserving humanity as a biological species – these ideas are firmly rooted in the public mind.
By sex
There are several other exclusively “male” aspects of self-care. For example, baldness: under the influence of androgen hormones, the collagen of the hair follicle hardens and hair falls out.
“When this process has just begun, hair loss can be stopped,” explains Elena Fuflygina. – For example, with the help of mesotherapy. There are antiandrogen drugs that do a good job with this problem.
Another feature is low-growing stubble: where the shirt collar touches the neck, irritation and ingrown hairs form. “This problem can be solved once and for all by resorting to photoepilation in this area,” continues Elena Fuflygina. “This procedure is often resorted to by men from business circles.”
According to the law of the market, what is now considered a sign of luxury will become attractive to a wider male population. To use cosmetics when necessary, without sacrificing oneself to the brand, but fairly counting on the result – perhaps these purely masculine principles of self-care should be adopted by women as well?
New male culture
History knows several periods when men freely used cosmetics. “Perhaps we are now living at the turn of one of them,” suggests culturologist Olga Vainshtein.
“Recall, for example, the XNUMXth century, the Rococo era, – in French aristocratic circles, the use of powder, lipstick, wigs, flies was mandatory. In England at that time, a special type of dandy, called “macaroni”, was widespread, using make-up very actively. This fashion largely grew out of the culture of gays, the attitude towards which at that time was very tolerant. Of course, this is directly related to the general mood in society, because the XNUMXth century was the era of libertinage, Voltairianism, and freethinking at all levels.
Later, tangible changes took place in society: in the 30s of the XNUMXth century, a division into men’s and women’s perfumes appeared in perfumery. It is already indecent for men to use cosmetics and smell fragrant with flowers, the smells of tobacco, moss, juniper, leather and wood are now considered masculine. At the same time, when men’s fragrances become more strict, color leaves the men’s suit: from now on, gray, blue, black dominate in the range of men’s colors. Brightness gives way to a more restrained palette. And quite simultaneously, there are changes in the diet: spices go out of fashion.
So, we see that the same pattern works in different areas – the attitude towards restraint. In England, the Victorian era begins, with a special emphasis on moral rigor. The development of liberal values, democratic tendencies in society not only allow a person to more freely realize their preferences regarding appearance, cosmetics and clothing, but also go hand in hand with the development of the market, which, in turn, is looking for new consumers. That is why the emergence of a special type of modern man – the “metrosexual” – also has an economic basis.
Our society is characterized by the polarization of gender roles: a woman often perceives herself first of all as a sexual object and uses appropriate attributes – high heels, tight-fitting, shape-enhancing clothes. This also explains the fact that our women, on average, use decorative cosmetics more than Western ladies. And our men, on the contrary, use cosmetics and body care products less often than Europeans. This is one of the components of the domestic cultural construct of masculinity: not paying attention to one’s appearance, a minimum of self-care, a touch of brutality.
Hence the talk of “retrosexuals”. However, in westernized business circles, it is customary to take care of your appearance, use not only hygienic cosmetics, but also skin care products, visit a beauty salon, and do a manicure. It’s becoming a new cultural norm.”