On Friday, rock critic and Good Men Project contributor Steve Almond wrote a piece for Salon in which he admitted to using concealer to cover the dark circles under his eyes:
Here’s a confession I’ll probably regret: I recently used my wife’s concealer to cover up the dark circles under my eyes. I was slated to read at a special event, in front of 200 people, and it occurred to me, not for the first time, that these circles made me look really old. In my defense, I didn’t know it was called concealer; I thought it was foundation.
As so often happens when you give in to the tug of your own insecurity, this means I’ve become part of a bona-fide mainstream media trend.
Almond attributes the trend toward male vanity, which we addressed recently in the magazine, to men’s lost “sense of economic authority,” and a “cultural permission to primp.”
I’d like to remind our friend Steve—who, as a rock critic, really ought to know this—that just because the culture gives you permission, doesn’t mean you should take the culture up on it. It’s only a trend because men are actually starting to wear makeup.
Concealer, foundation—doesn’t matter, man, it’s still makeup. (And if you’re not dressed in drag, you shouldn’t be wearing it.)
Steve has done a brave thing by admitting he has a problem. The next step? Getting help.
Steve is one of the original contributors of The Good Men Project: Real Stories from the Front Lines of Modern Manhood. When he’s not writing for us, Steve is a rock critic; check out Steve’s breakdown of Toto’s “Africa” in Diversions.
You are better than this, Henry. For shame. For shame.
Thank God for GMP for letting me know that even superficial things like wearing concealer will make me less of a good man.
I guess it’s a damn good thing I’m not a TV anchor, rock star, actor, model or sportscaster.
It’s also good to know that if something is associated more with females, it probably means that doing it would make me a bad man. Cuz women = weak, vain and stupid.
Thanks GMP for the great tip!
Wow, I’d just added the Good Men Project to my RSS Reader and almost instantly a post that makes me want to remove it. Why “shouldn’t” men be wearing make up? How does wanting to look one’s best make one less of a man? Are you that insecure in your sexuality that you must denigrate anything vaguely “feminine”? There is nothing inherently wrong with men wearing make up (you could make an argument about societal pressures which force BOTH sexes to strive for an unrealistic level of attractiveness, I’d disagree but at least the argument would be a valid one)… Read more »