As I composed my eyebrow post last week, I remembered paging through a magazine at my cousin’s house about three years ago that ridiculed eyebrow shaping (for men) in one issue but then contradicted itself in the next. Although I don’t have the magazine with me, I remember vividly what I read.
This periodical was primarily geared toward the urban, young Latino male (think Maxim but for Hispanics). At the time, each issue featured a ‘how to’ article and that month’s tutorial was on beard, mustache and sideburn trimming. They had a few pictures showcasing different designs and explained how to achieve each look. What really caught my eye, however, was the last line of the article.
And don’t touch your eyebrows, unless your boyfriend asks you to.
Oh, I got it. Any man who trims or shapes his eyebrows is gay. Which, according to this magazine was something to poke fun at. As if Hispanic men didn’t have enough discrimination to face in society at large, now they had additional grief to endure (from within the community) if they happened to be homosexual and a follower of this mag.
Oops!
Here’s the thing, though. In the Hispanic community, it was (and still is) perfectly acceptable for men to arch their eyebrows. This started in Puerto Rico as a trend several years ago, but quickly gained momentum here in the mainland with both Ricans and other Latinos. I’m willing to bet that this is the biggest reason why I rarely, if ever, catch heat from any of my friends or family about shaping my brows.
They very well may have issued an apology, though I never saw it. Even if I had, reading that one line was enough to turn me off from this publication for good. I refuse to support people who gay bash — even if it’s disguised as jest.
Hypocrite Editor?
In a complete 180 degree turn, the magazine featured an eyebrow shaping tutorial in its very next issue! In it, the writer shared his insight into achieving a clean facial look. In his view, sharp facial hair wasn’t enough if your eyebrows were sloppy.
The article recommended asking your barber to shave them into shape with a razor blade (a common practice) or trying it yourself by following some easy steps. There was no mention of the previous month’s eyebrow joke, quite interesting indeed 
.
As I said, I’ve never again touched this magazine, but my cousin may still have it, so if I come across it one day I’ll be sure to scan it and share. Have you ever encountered something like this, and if so, how did you react? What do you think of this magazine’s ‘faux pas’?
photo credit: bravenewtraveler
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Real interesting Jessica, nice find.
Macho is a word that comes to us all from the Spanish language. One of the characteristics of macho behavior is self-reinforcing belittlement of non-standard, non-macho tendancies. This is not a trend exclusive to Latin societies by any stretch of the imagination. I have thought for a long time that the societies that tend towards machismo are those where the very real power, the private power to effect change really rests with the women of those societies.
Wise Latinas’ have long made an art form of forgiving (and encouraging) public machismo while enforcing a different societal reality in private, where it really counts.
So, what do I think of the magazines faux pas? I think that somebody on the payroll is supressing something that they would be happier trying on for size.
Just one non-macho mans guess… Thanks!
Thanks, Petra. Good guess, perhaps that is what happened there. I was upset with that line, but I wondered why they would write such a thing.
I remember the Sunday paper in my own neck of the woods doing something like this many years back. At the beginning of the year in question, they had a feature (spanning two weekends) which made the contentious claim that, psychologically, men and women would always be different (so much so, in fact, that they may as well have come from different planets*), and that no amount of feminism or social engineering would ever change that. Jump forward to the end of that same year, however, and the same paper is running a gushing article extolling the virtues of the “Sensitive New Age Guy”, who’s wonderfully in tune with his feminine side, not afraid to help out with the housework and raising of his children etc. And, yes, like you with the example you cited, my reaction to this contradiction was pretty much one of WTF?! It seems the media is like that, though – building something up one day, then tearing it down the next; always playing on people’s insecurities, and never allowing them to feel 100% comfortable with themselves. In the specific case you gave, though, I’m wondering if the explanation might have been something a bit more banal: the two articles may have been written by different people (which seems likely), and the editor simply wasn’t paying attention to the fact that one contradicted the other. Just a theory. (On the subject of men’s magazines, I used to be an avid purchaser of one particular title myself (again, one unique to my own part of the world), until I realized one day how much its content had gone down the toilet during the time I’d been purchasing it.)
I was interested to read your remark about eyebrow-shaping being an acceptable grooming practice among Hispanic men; do you know how the trend which made it so itself started? I was also interested to see that you have a Hispanic background yourself. Where does your family come from, if you don’t mind me asking (I’m just curious, geography nerd that I am
)?
*Surprisingly, while this feature turned out to be essentially nothing more than one big promo for a controversial new book, the book in question wasn’t “Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus” (which, incidentally, I’ve always felt should be one of the top contenders for the distinction of “Most Ridiculous Book Title Ever”!). Instead, it was something entitled “Brainsex”, which was pretty much a (very depressing) forerunner of the other book.
Sounds like an interesting find in that paper
. Men’s magazines, unfortunately, tend to devolve like that. I was an avid subscriber to a once great fitness & health magazine that slowly but surely became nothing more than tons of ads sandwiched between articles on how to have one night stands. The fitness parts seemed to dwindle so I decided to start reading another fitness magazine, which is much, much better.
You’re probably right about the editor not noticing, though it’s hilarious that these articles were in back to back issues. I wonder if he still has a job, that lazy hack
. My last name comes from Spain originally then through Puerto Rico.
As far as the eyebrow trend in Puerto Rico, it probably just started in the barbershops. Many guys, especially the hip hop crowd, tend to get very sharp and clean haircuts with very precise edging and many shave all their facial hair off. The bushy eyebrows left behind probably detracted from the whole ‘clean’ look and that’s most likely how the shaping started.
Thanks so much for your comment
> unless your boyfriend asks you to
“Say what, girlfriend?” [insert knowing-look-to-camera here]
It’s a bit of a dodgy gag, but the thing with macho – indeed any extreme as I believe Mr Izzard pointed out – is that if you are not careful, you can go full circle. A fiercly body proud young gent with the ‘no bother’ crew cut and waxed chest. How much difference is there between him and a muscle guy from a gay venue?
At the local barbers, one of the staff asks every customer – above the age of 25 – if they’d like their eyebrows trimmed. I don’t take her up on the offer as I don’t need any more shape.
Hah, that’s a good one from Eddie.
That’s pretty cool that your barber trims up people’s eyebrows, wonder if she charges extra?