American cosmetics brand CoverGirl has recently announced its first ever male spokesperson, 17-year-old James Charles. The high school senior from Bethlehem, New York has gathered around 563,000 followers on Instagram and 81,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel where he shares his gorgeous makeup creations with the world.
You may remember James as the boy who retook his senior photos because his highlighter just wasn’t beaming in the original photos. He posted his shoot on social media and soon got a repost from the multi-talented flawlessness that is Zendaya Coleman, who commented, “You win.” And now, James has followed Zendaya’s footsteps by joining the CoverGirl family alongside Katy Perry. This selection is not only a huge deal for the brand, it’s groundbreaking in the makeup industry and for our society as well.
Recently, we’ve seen prime examples of toxic masculinity courtesy of Donald Trump and everyone else who let him get away with his crude behaviour. Dismissing confessions of sexual assault as “locker room talk” and defining characteristics of an “alpha male” are exactly the problem with what is conventionally viewed and rewarded as masculine. With James as CoverGirl’s latest ambassador, the act will challenge notions of traditional gender boundaries in our society as well as help those who are affected by and actively fight against the gender normative social order.
It’s also a timely announcement, coming fresh off the heels of the #nomakeup movement driven by celebrities such as Alicia Keys and Kim Kardashian. Now, you’re probably wondering how they’re similar. If you think about it, they both share the same goal. The significance of the two is that they’re advocates of doing what makes you feel comfortable and confident, which means you can be whoever you want to because you can do just that with makeup or lack thereof. So do what you want to your face and get out there and slay.
Main Image: @covergirl
