However, I don’t think leaving the home without makeup is making a huge statement these days. I work in an office and only one woman there wears makeup everyday. I certainly don’t.

I also attend uni full time, and see just as many women without makeup as with. Both instructors and students.

However, with that being said, it is very rare to see a woman without her hair done, or her clothes impeccable. While I don’t wear makeup I can’t imagine leaving the house without straightening my hair and I am also very conscious of how I look in my clothes..

And agreed with all the comments about there being tons of vanity products marketed to men — they just are trying to capitalize on the necessity to maintain their sense of masculinity, not on the necessity of ‘being beautiful.’ Men are marginalized + compartmentalized into gender roles through advertising too, just in a very different way than women.

Also, entertained by a lot of the copy there, as pointed out: hammerzied! how manly! and it comes in LARGE and GIANT size, sort of like cars, or maybe penises!

This said, I really wish my $65 Chanel concealer cost 29 cents.

Not many guys I know known that makeup usually means something along “trying to look like a healthy person” rather than “trying to look like a porn star”. Guys are unable to tell if a woman is wearing natural makeup… which, by the way, involves concealer, foundation and/or powder, blush, a brown/beige/pink eyeshadow, brown eyeliner, brown or transparent mascara and gloss or lipstick in nude or pink colors. All of this after scrubbing and hydrating your face and grooming your eyebrows by tweezing and optionally using an eyebrow pencil, of course.

For what is worth, I usually get out of my home with some concealer under the eyes or people start asking me if I’m ill. At least my skin is even enough that I can skip foundation.

better yet: let people look however the hell they want. i’ve no interest in looking like a “manly man” and i have a girlfriend and lead a relatively normal life. i’m comfortable in my masculinity and i do not think that physical appearance is all that important in regards to gender identity.

Please do not confuse specifics valid only to your own culture as biological universal imperatives.

I think you need to rethink that theory.

I’m not saying that personal grooming isn’t important for both sexes, but it’s definitely more of a necessity for women. A man that is too well groomed loses masculinity, and if he doesn’t groom at all he’s only more masculine and rugged. It’s the opposite for women.