When David Beckham’s bulging Armani
advert was posted on billboards and busses earlier this year it caused quite a
stir. Some complained it was gratuitous while others just delighted
in the spectacle of it all. But a quick glance at magazines and TV screen shows
that there was really nothing unusual about a toned man displaying muscles to shift a few units for the sponsors. Yes, the male body has been
commercialised.
The advertising of men’s grooming products is on the up and only
the finest specimens are chosen to advertise them. Even skin tone, defined
muscles, chizzled jaw’s, intense eyes and a heavy brow are the common features that men are seeing every day. And it’s not just in models and
movies, news readers, TV presenters, politicians, rock stars and footballers
are all do a stint in the make-up chair before making public appearances. With
the increase in the quality of our TV screens anyone who stands in front the
camera stands to have every imperfection exposed.
If it is true that celebrity trends trickle down to the increasingly
primped and pruned masses, then in coming years we are likely to see generations of men incorporate the application of make-up into
their daily routine.
By Mimi Haddon Getty Images
The men’s cosmetic industry is thriving; companies like Clinique
and L’Oreal have finally struck gold on a hereto untapped market and it’s an
easy transition for them to make. To a large degree, the ground-work has been
laid. For over 100 years cosmetics companies have employed the finest
scientists and experts to brew potions and lotions to suit a wide variety of
skin types and individual feature needs. It’s a simple rebrand, repackage,
change of marketing strategy and hey presto it’s ready to roll out.
Many men rebut projections for the future of the sex. Some argue
that because the male ideal physique is traditionally rugged and burly that
these marketers cynical play on male vanity will not work. But they would be missing
the point - the aim is to convince that these qualities will be enhanced,
making them more striking, more sexually appealing and more affirming of masculinity.
There is an art in applying make-up and its greatest successes are
the most subtle. No one is suggesting that men will start utilising the rainbow
of eyeshades to match their manbags any time soon. Men’s cosmetics are more
tactful; it is about covering up blemishes and the use of shadow to
highlight the contours of the face. The product ranges of the most popular
men’s lines like Calvin Klein and Clinique are all geared towards shine correction,
concealment and enhancement. They have not yet dipped into the more decorative
items.
The state of play is changing,
but perhaps, not as quickly as cosmetics companies would like. The men’s fashion industry
in the UK is now worth more than €25bn a year and rising; men’s cosmetics in the
region of €870m.
The main buyers of ‘guy-liner’ and ‘manscara’ are the under 24’s
and the market is expanding. Beauticians
are increasingly offering their services to men, there are hundreds of YouTube
tutorials of how to achieve the no make-up look and – in short men are plugged
into the beauty trade.
As fourth generation feminists continue the battle over
unrealistic depiction of perfection having a distorting effect on young women’s
body image – the question is what effect are these paradigms of manhood having
on young impressionable men?
The simple answer would be - it’s making them more conscious and
concerned about their appearance. Not such a bad thing really, well not yet
anyway. The industry has not yet reached the destructive proportions that
marketing to women has had but the method of delivery is the same. Convince you
that your appearance is inadequate and offer you a quick-fix solution.
The question becomes are men somehow immune to the influence that
the exposure to images of perfection that populate the media? How will men fair
when their insecurities are turned against them and the pressure to look a certain way becomes the norm?
One of the areas where it will really hit is when it comes to
employment. When men start to lose out
on the jobs front because they are not aesthetically up to scratch, how will
they react? There are host of recent surveys by recruitment companies that say
a clean shaven, well groomed candidates is far more likely to gain employment than
one that is not. The pressure increases when you suspect you are suffering personally from societies' ugly side.
When we talk about pressure that is put on us to look a
certain way, it is worth remembering that much of the pressure is self
inflicted. While
personal hygiene and general grooming are always welcomed and style and self-confidence
celebrated, there is no pride in falling prey to astute marketing and
succumbing to the pressures of insecurity and vanity that has been assimilated
into ‘femininity’. It is hard to detach,
but it is not impossible and the result can be more rewarding.
Nothing is constant and just as femininity has changed and adapted
through generations, so too will masculinity. But this time, what it is
to be a man is being reshaped to fit in with our evolving cultural values in a
context where most of the major pitfalls of marketing influence are as obvious
as the billboards that promote it.
First published in Seamus Magazine June 2012
First published in Seamus Magazine June 2012
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