Armando Martinez believes he is “the man” that fashion journalism needs.
2018 appears to be the year of breaking major mainstream stigmas, especially from millennials like Armando Martinez.
To his family and friends he is known to push himself beyond expectation and being the middle child of five siblings he says it can be hard to stand up for what you believe in but not in his household.
His parents, a chemical engineer and therapist, fully advocate for all their children to fully express their thoughts and feelings.
This outspoken and ambitious 17-year-old from Passaic High School believes that he is the “support system” the fashion journalism industry has long needed.
Such empowerment came to him after watching an interview with Andre Leon Talley, the former editor for Vogue, who discussed being a straight male in the fashion industry.
This came as a shock to Martinez who originally grew up believing that Talley was a gay male and that that was the reason for working at Vogue.
Martinez, a straight male, wants to break the stereotype that males who are in fashion industry are gay.
What better way for Martinez to address masculinity in the fashion industry than to work towards becoming a fashion marketer?
As he thought of ways to pursue his dream he saw no better way than to enhance and grow his writing skills by joining his school’s newspaper.
“I joined my high school’s newspaper and that made me wonder, “Is this making me less of a man?”
Even walking into the “press room” of his high school he felt the stigma and he questioned how people would view him. Martinez, being straight, feared they would think he was gay because of his involvement with the paper.
That’s another reason why he wants to change how masculinity is presented in the media.
Martinez doesn’t try to hide the fact that his personal agenda is going to be a long and challenging road but he also knows he will reap the rewards when his effort pays off.
Helping those men and women who feel different is Martinez’s main task and knowing how outspoken and creative he is, it will be no challenge for him to accomplish his tasks.
He plans on attending a college where he can expand his dream of writing for the fashion industry and figure out where exactly this path is going to lead him.
“There isn’t a definition to masculinity and femininity,” Martinez said. “Men and women don’t have to act a certain way to represent their gender, their sex, or their nationality. It’s just them.”
