The cosmetic giant Maybelline has become the next company to utilize a male makeup-wearing model to help sell its products.
25-year-old Manny Gutierrez, also known as Manny Mua, has three million followers on Instagram, as well as over two million subscribers on YouTube, where he conducts tutorials on “boy beauty.”
“I believe makeup is GenderLESS and has no rules!” he writes in the description section of his YouTube page. “Honestly I believe that men can wear makeup, teach makeup, and vlog about it just as much as girls can and I am fighting for that equality with my channel.”
On Jan. 3, Maybelline rolled out two advertisements for its “Boss Life” campaign featuring Gutierrez and beauty blogger Shayla Mitchell. Together, they promote Maybelline’s Big Shot mascara, in the first video applying it to their lashes to get “bossed up.” At the end of the advertisement, the two find a male in the room who wants a tube of mascara for himself.
The second video shows Gutierrez and Mitchell helping a girl they meet in a cab get “bossed up” with Big Shot.
The first video currently has over 80,000 views, and second has over 27,000.
“Start the new year off like a boss. Secret project revealed! Watch @mannymua733 + @makeupshayla star in the new #bigshotmascara campaign,” Maybelline wrote on social media in promotion of the video.
It also said of Gutierrez in a post on Saturday, “@mannymua733 was never as confident in his natural lashes as he was on set of the #bigshotmasacara campaign. … He was SHOOK once he tried the mascara, amazed by his lashes and as a result—so confident on set. He really did boss up.” The post has generated over 34,000 likes as of press time.
As previously reported, in October, CoverGirl made a similar move as it introduced male makeup artist James Charles of Bethlehem, N.Y.
“Meet @JCharlesBeauty: makeup artist, boundary breaker, and the newest COVERGIRL!” the company wrote. “Spread the word by regramming using #COVERGIRLJames.”
Reaction to Maybelline’s promotion featuring Gutierrez has been mixed. Some have opined that the development is simply part of the “species progression.”
“This man has over a million followers not to mention his numbers on Instagram, Twitter, etc. He was chosen for his popularity and his talent with makeup,” one commenter wrote. “Also, by the way, men have been wearing makeup as far back as the Egyptians, so really this is nothing new, and you all should get over your Puritan views.”
“That’s right, haters. You’ll never be able to force humanity to act and think the way you personally want them all to act and think. The world does not revolve around you, and our species progression will never stop,” another stated.
But others have stated that promoting men wearing makeup contributes to the erosion of masculinity in society.
“My grandfather’s generation was fighting Hitler; the Millennial men are experimenting with makeup,” one commenter remarked.
“Women are supposed to be women, and men are supposed to be men! Equality doesn’t mean what they think it means,” another exclaimed. “Why on earth do men want to look like women now? Women do not find that attractive! I’m so sickened by all of this.”