Defying the Norms of Makeup and Gender: Electra Snow’s Rainbow Eyes and Strive for Equality
When it comes to the topic of beauty and cosmetics, there are two opposing viewpoints that surround the purpose of makeup. The more traditional, conservative view has it that makeup is suited for women and that its purpose is to satisfy the eyes of men. This is a reasonable assumption in that from the twentieth century, cosmetic products have been marketed as a tool for the female gender to enhance existing features of their faces. Many associate this with the fact that women have been objectified throughout history and judged based on their physical attributes. As I entered my teenage years and got introduced to makeup, my conservative mother would tell me it is to make me look more mature and “womanly” on the outside. Never had I imagined cosmetics straying away from the female part of the gender spectrum. The societal pressures on women to be physically attractive have no doubt influenced the target consumers of the cosmetic market, and are probably the reason that makeup is often seen as something heteronormative and single-handedly linked to the female gender.
The contrasting view, although many are not aware of it, is that makeup does not conform to gender. In fact, makeup was initially a genderless art form used by both men and women in the ancient times. In ancient Egypt, men used black pigment to create thick cat-eyes and applied red ochre to their lips and cheeks. Similarly, in Rome, men of higher status used pigment to add vitality to their faces and powder on their skin to lighten it up. In the Tudor era, makeup was popular among men as they achieved ghost-white skin with white lead powder.[1] It is not until the 1800s that makeup was dismissed as vulgar on men by Queen Victoria I and the Church of England and began to be associated with the female gender. Further religious pressures pervaded from then on, and by the twentieth century, makeup was seen as a “girls-only pursuit” (Montell, 2017).
Now, wearing makeup has become more of a necessity than a luxury for women. Makeup products come in countless forms and wide range of prices, making them accessible to people of all ages and social classes. The growing ubiquity of makeup has been a cause for the genderless, artistic side of makeup being overshadowed by the aesthetic, refining function it serves on our faces in everyday life. Nonetheless, in the entertainment industry, including film, theater, and modeling, makeup still plays a critical role as an art medium. Makeup tutorials, videos that show us how particular looks are achieved in a step-by-step basis, take up significant portion of social media like Youtube. Some beauty Youtubers, such as Michelle Phan and Jaclyn Hill, have launched their own cosmetic brands and makeup lines, showing the world that market for makeup in social media is proliferating.
In recent decades, the call for LGBT+ rights has also become widespread around the world, with a large population becoming visible with their sexual orientations. Internet media has played a massive role in such social movements as a platform for advocating for the acceptance of LGBT+ identities. One example of such effort and the focal point of this essay is Electra Snow’s “Rainbow Glitter Eyes: Boy to Girl Transformation” makeup tutorial. Snow is a genderqueer Youtube makeup artist, or, colloquially, a “makeup guru” who has over 5,000 subscribers on his channel. He was assigned male at birth but considers himself genderfluid and gender-variant, meaning he moves between genders depending on his mood rather than being attached to a single identity.[2] The concept of disidentification can be applied to Electra Snow. In his book Disidentifications: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics (1999), José Esteban Muñoz defines disidentification as “recycling and rethinking encoded meaning,” where one “scrambles and reconstructs the encoded message of a cultural text in a fashion that both exposes the encoded message’s universalizing and exclusionary machinations and recircuits its workings to…include, and empower minority identities and identifications” (31). In other words, disidentification is when we are placed in a situation where we are both within or excluded from a specific classification of identity. It is to process what we take out of an identification that is dominated by the majority and using it to support the minority. Disidentification is different from counteridentification, where one essentially ejects an entire category of identity. Snow disidentifies with gender in that he considers himself male in certain situations and female in others, not conforming to a single gender under cis-normative standards. He then utilizes this to promote the rights of the people of LGBT+ identities — the minority — that are often regarded as inferior by dominant culture.
The look in Snow’s video was created in June 2017 to celebrate the forthcoming Pride London, an annual festival in the summer for the queer community in the United Kingdom. The video has gained over 2,000 views and shows the sequence of steps Snow takes to achieve his final look, which consists of vivid, polychromatic eyes with a clean, matte face and muted lips. Through the video, Snow shows that makeup is a versatile art form that can be utilized by people of all sexualities, challenging the societal norm that it is something made for the female gender. Each element of the look also carries symbolic meaning, contributing a more substantial message Snow seems to be conveying: his call for the acceptance of gender minorities as well as the understanding and embracement of diversity.
The finished look of the rainbow eyes tutorial is undoubtedly different from the more neutral makeup looks that we may encounter on a daily basis. The key characteristic of Snow’s makeup look is the colorful eyeshadow, comprising practically all components of the color wheel. He applied layers of light purple eyeshadow over his lids, using deeper shades of purple for his crease to create definition. This step was followed by putting red along the outer corner of the bottom lashline, then yellow at the inner part of the bottom lashline, creating a gradation from red, orange, to yellow. Bright green eyeshadow was applied at the inner corners of his eyes, along with a hint of turquoise on top of the green. At first sight, this rainbow-like arrangement of colors is reminiscent of the pride flag. The pride flag is widely used as a symbol of LGBT+ social movements and the promotion of diversity and openness. By using the colors of the pride flag that many are already familiar with, Snow addresses a wider range of audience and effectively inculcates a positive mindset on his viewers to be more open to people of difference.
In addition to the rainbow colors in his eye makeup, Snow applied liberal amounts of glitter on top of the eyeshadow and on his eyebrows and put on long, voluminous false lashes to further accentuate the eye makeup. The shiny and reflective nature of glitter and the large, fluttery lashes make the eye makeup more attention-seeking. Under heteronormative ideals, glitter and long lashes are representative of femininity, which Snow intends to break away from by having such features as a cis-male. Through this, he promotes self-expression and dignity on the part of the queer community. He also used a dark, black eyeliner to create a winged cat-like line extending from his upper lashline towards the edge of his eyebrows. Eyeliners alter the size of the eyes dramatically and the cat-like shape of the line produces a sharp, almost intimidating presence to the look. While adding boldness and audacity, the black color of the eyeliner complements the adjacent rainbow colors of the pride flag and ultimately helps to strengthen Snow’s promotion of equality rights for gender minorities.
Besides the eye makeup, other parts of the face play a critical role in Snow’s effort to champion the embracement of diversity. Prior to the eye makeup, Snow applied thick layers of foundation and powder to make his face matte and oil-free. He also laid on a slight amount of bronzer below his cheekbones to create definition. No blush or highlighter was used that might put emphasis on the skin. The liquid lipstick he used at the end of the tutorial is a toned down, reddish brown color and does not grab much attention. His clean, matte face and muted lips are in stark contrast to his colorful, striking eye makeup. The combination of strong and subtle has been a trend in makeup for years. The heavy-handed application of conspicuous rainbow colors on the eyes while down-playing other areas of the face with neutral shades bring more attention to the colorful feature of the face, further emphasizing Snow’s support of sexual diversity and acceptance of non-heterosexual identities.
Although generally more accepted in recent years through vast political activism, the LGBT+ community is still a marginalized group of people and discriminated against on the grounds of sexual orientation. The makeup enables Snow to build solidarity amongst the queer community and take a positive stance against the discrimination often faced by its members. Youtube, being one of the most accessed websites on the Internet, is also an appropriate forum to connect with a large group of people and call out for the cause of valuing diversity.
However, becoming visible with his queerness through this video could be met with criticism from those with conservative mindsets and oppose LGBT+ rights. In severe cases, he could be personally violated with negative comments and mockery, which people of LGBT+ identities generally face more often than people who adhere to heterosexual and cis-sexual norms (Meyer). Additionally, Youtube provides anonymity to its viewers, making uploaders of videos more vulnerable to attack than in real life. This is because anonymity guards persecutors’ identities and holds them unaccountable for the actions they take.
Snow’s video highlights that makeup can be used as an artistic medium for expressing one’s identity and embedding meaning into each of its elements. It is not merely a tool for concealing our insecurities and improving our facial features. Snow also challenges the notion that makeup is only for women. Makeup is a versatile art form, meaning it does not conform to a single gender despite its current branded image as a tool made only for females. Queer and non-heterosexual identities are becoming more widely accepted in the world thanks to extensive LGBT+ social movements. Snow’s makeup video is an example of such political effort, aiming to instill an open mind towards people with different sexual identities, as well as to provide confidence and an empathy platform to those people.
[1] Pale skin was an indication of wealth and privilege, as they believed people of lower status were tan from working on farmlands.
[2] Snow does not mind to be called by either he/him/his or she/her/hers pronouns, and thus will be called by the he/him/his pronouns for disambiguity.
Works Cited
“Disidentification.” Queer Rhetoric, Enculturation, enculturation.net/files/QueerRhetoric/queerarchive/disid.html.
Meyer, Doug. Violence against Queer People: Race, Class, Gender, and the Persistence of Anti-LGBT Discrimination. Rutgers University Press, 2015.
Montell, Amanda. “From 4000 BC to Today: The Fascinating History of Men and Makeup.” Byrdie, Who What Wear, 1 Feb. 2017, www.byrdie.com/history-makeup-gender/.
Muñoz, José Esteban. Disidentifications: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics. Vol. 2, University of Minnesota Press, 1999.
“Rainbow Glitter Eyes — Boy to Girl Transformation | Electra Snow.” Youtube, 1 Aug. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGwHJaAIrck.
