This week, Covergirl announced their first ever male spokesperson (hold for applause). At only 17 years old, James Charles will join powerful, beautiful women, such as Katy Perry, Ellen DeGeneres, Sofia Vergara, and Janelle Monet, in representing the CoverGirl brand. This new addition to the team is sure to be just as groundbreaking as the women who came before him. Charles will be featured in the release of Covergirl’s new mascara, “So Lashy.” The mascara itself is being marketed as “all-inclusive.” What better way to show inclusiveness than by including a group who has always been excluded from the makeup market: the entire male gender. This is a huge step in allowing self-expression, as well as breaking down rigid male stereotypes.
Sidebar: Can we just talk about his eyebrows for a second? The boy is taking “eyebrows on fleek” to an entirely new level.
Charles is a popular Youtuber and aspiring makeup artist who became wildly popular after releasing his senior pictures on Twitter. Charles brought his own ring light to his senior picture retakes because he was displeased with his original shot. He took the pictures to Twitter saying, “so I retook my senior photos & brought my ring light with me so my highlight would be poppin. I love being extra.” Of course, Twitter absolutely loved it; It was even retweeted by singer/actress/model Zendaya Coleman. Charles’ Instagram account has over 430,000 followers and his YouTube channel, where he posts makeup tutorials, has about 70,000 subscribers. These numbers are sure to rise in upcoming weeks as the word spreads about his new campaign. Anyone can tell by his videos and pictures that he is extremely talented and is an absolutely wonderful addition to the Covergirl family.
While many of us found this news to be fantastic and progressive, others were not so pleased. Countless people took to Twitter to bash the 17-year-old saying things like, “Why do we praise people like this? I’m so confused. F***ing pathetic,” and, “This is honestly sick, you were made a boy for a reason.” Supporters of Covergirl’s decision quickly shut down these negative comments and the response was mainly positive. Another negative criticism was that a white, homosexual male is not groundbreaking enough. Some argue that Covergirl should’ve chosen someone who represents a minority group or a member of the transgender community. While this is definitely something to fight for in the future, the fact that a male has joined the Covergirl team is incredibly groundbreaking in itself. People often forget just how long it takes for change to occur and for now, society needs to appreciate this very large step not only for the LGBTQ community, but for breaking down gender stereotypes as a whole. A young boy's dream just came true; give him his moment to shine (just like his highlight).
This is a major milestone in breaking down that ever-present gender binary. James Charles will surely become a well-known name as he breaks down the rigid walls of male stereotypes, while simultaneously looking absolutely fabulous. This is a significant step towards allowing men to feel comfortable expressing themselves through makeup, as well as various other art forms. Makeup has been viewed as solely a feminine product for so long and it will be interesting to see how this all unfolds. Will other makeup companies jump on this train, or is this just a one time thing?
What do you think about CoverGirl’s decision?
