I love anything body-pride related, and men have so few role models in this department!
There are a modern beauty standards that almost everyone in our culture who thinks at all about their appearance observes:
1. Women should not have mustaches.
2. Men should not have “boobs”.
3. Neither should have a unibrow.
These three things are universally accepted, and those whose bodies naturally offer these variances from what society deems “attractive” are often shamed, told they are ugly, and/or told to change themselves. It’s sad, I know women who repeatedly burn themselves waxing their own upper lips, and men who never feel comfortable removing their shirts. We’ve had a couple of guys admirably write about their gynecomastia here at GMP, and it’s awesome that we’re willing to talk about all the different ways in which we’re taught to be ashamed of who we are, and how we don’t want to be ashamed any longer.
One of these beauty taboos, the unibrow, is generally pretty easy to be rid of—a simple swipe of the razor usually does the trick. But one awesome young man, Anthony Davis, who also happens to be a hot draft pick for the NBA this week (maybe even #1), has decided not only to not shave the unibrow, but to embrace it. He and his family have even trademarked it!
While Davis was playing college basketball in Kentucky, the university was forced to send “half a dozen cease-and-desist letters” to people selling brow-themed merch, says a rep. “But towards the end of the season, people were getting really creative.” Now Davis has media representation and is advertising for Sprint.
What do you think of Davis’ trademark? Should he have the right to “own” the image of the unibrow? It’s not like he’s the first guy whose eyebrows formed a bridge between them…
Would Bert from Sesame Street allowed to keep his signature unibrow? Maybe he’ll be “grandfathered” in.
How about this aspect of reclaiming what society has told us is unattractive? Will Davis bring unibrows into fashion, freeing men across the nation from their razors or at-home waxing kits?
Lead Photo: AP
Bert: Sesame Street