I suppose that everyone should be given choice, and in the area of make-up that the choices are there for men to take advantage of as well as women. Society tells us that it's somehow not acceptable for men to wear make-up, though let's take a look at some of the things that society see as acceptable in order to try and get the argument into some kind of perspective.

*Women should use make-up to enhance their features.
*Women should dye their hair
*Women should rip their excess body hair out by the roots.
*Women should use anti aging products

So let's turn this argument the other way and look at how these expectations are compared with expectations we have of men.

*Men should use deodorant
*Men should use aftershave
*Men should shave
*Men should mature naturally

Looks a little out of balance doesn't it ? Men have society strongly on their side in that a man that looks older has that Mature look, whereas women that look older just look old. To redress the balance, society also accept that make-up and anti aging products are for women because of society's expectations of them.

Men, on the other hand do use beauty products, though they don't call them the same kind of names as those which apply to women. Shaving foam is seen as a necessity rather than a cosmetic product. After shave is seen as an enhancement, rather than as a perfume. The image that human beings have of men don't actually sit very well with the idea that men should wear make-up.

Let's look at the make-up available in society and it's uses :

*Lipstick
*Blusher
*Foundation
*Eye liner
*Eye shadow

Lipstick is used to enhance the curve of a woman's lips. Do we as a society really want men to enhance their look ? I somehow feel that lipstick would actually look silly on a man unless used for filming purposes or unusual circumstances such as in a public performance, and certainly the idea of a man using lipstick is a little abhorrent.

Blusher is used to give the face a little color. Could men use it ? Perhaps, though in the case of men, I would imagine that there are better alternatives that would look better, and certainly a tanned skin would look far better than pink cheeks.

Foundation is used to obliterate those flaws in a woman's skin. Used wisely and in small proportions, what's to say that men may not be able to use it to hide flaws ? I am not suggesting that they cover their whole face area, although there would appear to be a market for stop foundation

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