The Makeup of ManhoodSuppose you need a lighted mirror, bronzer, and a Pentagon-funded green room to face the cameras. Are you the embodiment of masculinity, or maybe it's just Maybelline?In case you missed it, CBS News reported that Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the creation of a makeup studio at the Pentagon. The initial price tag of $40,000, supposedly "scaled back," included a bigger mirror and studio-grade lighting so the secretary could perfect his war-face contour before rattling sabers on cable news. This is coming from the same guy who rails against what he calls a "woke" military and vows to restore a military prepped to fight rather than lead by example. Translation: "real" men pack rifles, not concealer.Unless it's their own.Gilded MasculinityOf course, Hegseth isn't the only one who spends as much time in the mirror as a drag queen. Earlier this year, Vice President JD Vance touted that masculinity was under attack, with an agenda trying to turn everyone into "androgynous idiots"; Vance was mocked, as HuffPost reported, especially from a man who uses an eyeliner pencil (I wonder if that MAC's Eye Kohl) President Trump supposedly gets his natural orange hue from the Swiss-made Bronx Colors, as reported by Vox in 2019. Yes, the same makeup girlie who storms about promising to bring back "masculine jobs." There was no greater champion of these "manly tariffs" than Fox News's own Jesse Watters. The MAGA cheerleader said in early April, "When you sit behind a screen all day, it makes you a woman. Studies have shown thisAnd if you're out working, like building robots like Harold, you're around other guys." Yet, Watterswho sits at a desk in front of the camera (that's a screen, right?)served this flash-frozen machismo with a no-makeup-makeup face.Even one of his cohosts recognized the irony, shouting, "What do you do?"These men sell nostalgia-soaked masculinity, a Rockwell tableau where the only blush is the natural kind earned by chopping wood. But HDTV is cruel, and vanity is bipartisan. The result is a split-screen sitcom: on one half, a blustering sermon about men going soft; on the other, a backstage montage of sitting in the makeup chair complete with mattifying primers, concealer, and setting powders.The irony isn't that men wear makeup; the irony is pretending not to. Makeup isn't an attack on manhood, but insecurity masquerading as swagger is.Actors, newscasters, and Roman emperors all benefited from makeup. Long before Sephora and Fox & Friends, Egyptian pharaohs rimmed their eyes with kohl. French aristocrats who attended Versailles and served on the battlefield powdered their faces a chalky white. Masculinity has always been more rouge than rugged when you follow the pigment trail. The Cultural Battlefield of CosmeticsHowever, in the 2020s culture war, cosmetics have become a coded battleground. If Harry Styles wears polish, it's decadence; if Jesse Watters dabs YSL Touche clat, it's "studio protocol." The product is the same, but the literal and ideological packaging changes.Why so touchy, fellas? Because the performance of masculinity is easier to monetize than the practice of self-confidence. It's why Trump's tariff crusade fetishizes "brawny" factory gigs even while robots replace the brawn. It's why Hegseth blames diversity for military woes yet secretly installs a glam room worthy of Drag Race: UNTUCKED. Masks, whether N95 or NARS, are tools. The problem starts when the mask becomes a measurement of maleness, and they are told they must follow scripts condemning "emasculation" while powdering away pores.Of course, the stakes are bigger than blush. When leaders define manhood as dominance, whether it be economic, military, social, or sexual, they narrow the emotional bandwidth for every boy watching.Vulnerability becomes suspect, care work is seen as "unmanly," and collaboration is a sign you're whipping almond milk lattes at a coastal caf. Meanwhile, the same leaders promote an air-brushed ideal that is impossible without an airbrush. It leaves American men squeezed between two contour sticks: be hyper-masculine yet impeccably camera-ready. No wonder some retreat into angry podcasts and personalities promising six-pack abs and subservient girlfriends.The barbell is heavy; the ring light is extremely harsh. The Call for AuthenticityHere's the real rub (blend lightly, upward, and outward strokes): policing masculinity doesn't just hurt non-conforming men or queer folks. It hurts straight cis guys who'd simply like permission to moisturize without questions about their sexuality or pronouns, though, to be fair, Hegseth and their lot probably wouldn't dare ask the latter. When a power tie becomes more acceptable than an under-eye brightener, we've reduced men to sartorial action figures with their accessories sold separately.Authenticity is the one look that never ceases. Imagine if Hegseth or Vance livestreamed their makeup routine with the fervor they devote to dismantling "wokeness." Picture Trump or Vance hosting a TikTok beauty haul instead of hauling away decades of social and political progress this country has enjoyed. The nation might collapse in giggles, but at least the facade would crack.And, a real conversation could finally breathe.The moral isn't that makeup emasculates men; it's that secrecy does. When power relies on performance, every backstage mirror becomes a funhouse, wrapping self-image until even soup looks suspiciously femme. So if the compact fits, wear it; don't weaponize it. Because the only thing more ironic than bronzed bros' gatekeeping manhood is how much they'd probably feel if they let a little light and highlighter hit their true faces.And that's a smokey-eye truth no blotting paper can hide.Marie-Adlina de la Ferrire is the Community Editor at equalpride, the publisher of Out. Voices is dedicated to featuring a wide range of inspiring personal stories and impactful opinions from the LGBTQ+ community and its allies. Visit out.com/submit to learn more about submission guidelines. We welcome your thoughts and feedback on any of our stories. Email us at voices@equalpride.com. Views expressed in Voices stories are those of the guest writers, columnists and editors, and do not directly represent the views of Out or our parent company, equalpride.