Where Will I Fit In Beauty When I Am an Older Gay Man?
Vanity is as vanity does.
Aging is something that is inevitable. Surely as we are all born, we will age — these are the facts of life. However, for Black gay men, there is an exception.
For the Gay community in general, many of us rest on the laurels of our youth for quite some time until the day comes when we look in the mirror and can visibly see the fine lines, the wrinkles, the stress — oh, the drama of it all. In today’s society, for those with a healthy coin purse, they have access to all of the cosmetic advancements one can find to prolong the signs of nature’s time. There’s botox, HA injectables, beauty supplements, the works! Now, at the tender age of 32, the cloak of my “Peter Pan Syndrome” is starting wear off and I’m realizing the shade of it all and the burning reality is that as we get older, where is our place in the beauty industry?
As far as those who are older within the entertainment space, we have Don Lemon, RuPaul, Lee Daniels and Billy Porter, Miss J, Derek J and Miss Lawrence but only five of these gentleman are beauty adjacent and two are A-list celebs. This realization left me wondering, where does the LadyBoy go when he’s no longer 25? Even Lil Nas X won’t be in his 20s forever. Will he still be scoring YSL Beauty Campaigns at age 33 or 43?
RuPaul scored MAC’s Viva La Glam campaign in 1994 when she was 34 which was hella progressive for the beauty and entertainment space in the ‘90s putting Ru and MAC light years ahead of the game, but since then who else has collab’d with the gworls? Where is Billy Porter’s contracts? We see him constantly on red carpets sporting some of the most iconic beauty looks during “award szn” but have yet to see him profiled as talent for heritage and Indie brands who most likely would gain a great deal from such linkup.
In the realm of content creation, numerous women in their late 30s to 50s are making significant strides. However, the presence of queer men seems to be less prominent. Noteworthy figures such as Miss J, Derek J and Miss Lawrence have been pioneers, serving as personal inspirations for my own journey towards unapologetic authenticity. Yet, their contributions have largely gone unrecognized. This oversight represents a significant missed opportunity for beauty brands. These men, who have dedicated their lives to beauty and the industry, have been largely overlooked.
As I get older and dive deeper into creating content for brands and growing my byline in an editoral manner, these thoughts come across my mind more often than not. There aren’t many men who look like me in these spaces and my constant fear is that one day outside of myself and a few others, there won’t be anyone speaking to this matter, leaving Black men’s stories yet untold.
There’s still much work to be done — and damnit, I don’t mind doing it.
And that’s on period.
Great article. Love the perspective and never thought about it till now