Naturally

I still remember when Adam Lambert was in American Idol (in 2009!!). We wondered if he was gay when he auditioned and we were elated when he came out. He definitely made an impact. That voice! And I know nothing about tone and pitch and texture and all those things that make a voice great. But I liked HIM. There were rumors they wanted him in the closet. I argued forever that he did not win because conservative media found photos of him kissing a guy and they didn't want a gay American Idol. America was not ready.

Press forward 12 years and he's living his best life. He's toured the world, sold 3 million albums and millions of singles. He sings what he wants to sing and was handpicked to tour with Queen. And he's always been unapologetically himself. Glambert, I think they called him. Because of his penchant for theatricality and.. make up. Coming out did not kill his career. Do you remember who won that season of American Idol? Don't worry. I don't, either. I may have to google it because now I want to know.

Now, if you know anything about me, it is that I don't usually stop and look at the pretty boys, but I think that Lambert is an exception. I think he's got a cool balance of Yin and Yang that I find quite attractive. I know, I usually post about somehow more rugged guys, but I watched his makeup tutorial and was sold on pretty, because I have always found fascinating a man putting on makeup. I could watch five YouTube videos of men doing their makeup in a row. Yes, I have that kind of time.

I think that it is pretty silly that a man putting on makeup could still be a thing to talk about in 2021, but here we are. I know, I know. You barely touch your face with soap once a day, you're the Marlboro man, blah, blah, blah. It's bullshit. If you had his face , you'd probably try some manliner. The thing is, I think that watching a man put on makeup triggers those who still have issues with their masculinity (or femininity). Otherwise, why would they get to worked up? Gender is an internalized sense of what is masculine and/or feminine, dear. It's all in the eye of the beholder. And given that makeup has been assigned to women (they of course, didn't know any Pharaohs) any man putting on makeup is considered feminine. As if that's a crime. Why is it that feminine men trigger all the homophobes? Don't like make up? Don't wear it. (Same applies to abortion and gay marriage). But what is it that gives some men that gut reaction of shutting down anything THEY consider not manly enough? I wanna know. 

I could write three more paragraphs talking about how gender non-conforming is something that we'll probably see much more in the future (not in Smalltown, America. Pop. 1345, but probably in bigger cities) and how the concept of gender, as well as the concepts of gender identity and gender roles will be upset by... progress. But I won't do that. I'm not here to convince you to run to Sephora and get some foundation and eyeshadow. I'm here to tell you that I'm totally into Adam Lambert putting on makeup.

XOXO

Oh, here he's singing one of my fav songs: