Okay, right off the bat – no, I’m not talking about Logan Paul (or any Logan Paul-types). First of all, can’t be sexist against men; second, he’s not a beauty YouTuber; and third, he is trash and that’s all. I’m talking about the self-made makeup gurus on YouTube who are creating content that people of color, LGBT people, people who don’t have access to someone who can ‘teach’ them makeup, and/or people who are disabled can use to better themselves and increase their artistic skill. For real world examples; Nicole Guerriero (my personal fave), Nitraa B, Michelle Phan, Wayne Goss, Carli Bybel, Patricia Bright, Damilola Adejonwo, Jen Chae, Julie Vu, Rica Salomon, Jordan Bone, etc.
So why does it matter whether or not you hate them? How is sexism behind finding their content useless and boring? What’s the difference between disliking beauty YouTubers, and disliking any TV show? Look, I understand the fact that some YouTube beauty tutorials can be boring and repetitive. A lot of YouTubers have a ‘look’ that they consistently stick to. But when it comes to thinking their content is useless, or thinking their content is boring because it’s about makeup, the fact is that thought is probably coming from a place of sexism. Why is makeup and skin care “stupid” in your eyes? Is it maybe because beauty and makeup is seen as typically ‘feminine’ things to care about? And obviously if it’s feminine, it’s stupid, right?
If makeup and skin care were perceived as ‘masculine,’ we would be celebrating these YouTubers for their entrepreneurship. They all took this service that is available to everyone (for free), and created a fan base through that service, and are now providing products and content for that fan base, while being given money for their efforts. And not only are they making content and products to people who want it, but they are providing useful information (that is in demand) for free. How many transgender people are trying to figure out how to do makeup, and don’t have any comprehensive tutorials outside of YouTube? How many disabled people were left stuck and unsure of how to apply their makeup successfully before YouTube? How many people avoided makeup entirely, because they didn’t know how, or where to start?
I understand that YouTube isn’t everyone’s ‘thing’ – I am not some crazy YouTube fan who goes to meet-ups, and has a book of signatures like a 5-year-old on their first trip to Disneyland (not that there is any shame in that or anything wrong with doing that!! More power to you). And that’s fine! You don’t have to love YouTube or makeup or any of these specific people in order to respect what they do. These people are not doing something easy – if you’ve ever tried to edit a video you know that it takes hours, and it takes even longer to film. These people work hard, and they do incredible work for their fans and for themselves. They are self-made in the truest sense of the word. They built their brand from the ground up, and are thriving in ways that a lot of us could never understand. So the next time someone mentions YouTube or beauty gurus and you start to groan or rant about how pointless their videos are, take a minute to really assess where those feelings and thoughts are coming from, and check yourself if they’re coming from the fact that you think makeup is ‘dumb.’ And, truthfully, don’t knock it ’till you try it.