For Non-Binary People, Enjoying Beauty & Makeup Is Hard

Jack Oliver, a recent contestant on BBC Three’s Glow Up (and one of the first openly non-binary participants who uses they/them pronouns), explains that even in 2021, the beauty industry still mostly caters to one gendered group. “A huge chunk of the industry is pushed on one audience,” Oliver says, raising an important point: All non-binary folk are tired of the question, “But you don’t look non-binary?” Similarly, Lauren says that they are not completely androgynous, but it’s what some people tend to believe about being non-binary. “A lot of people say to me, ‘I look at you and I can’t tell [that you’re non-binary] immediately,'” Lauren says. For them, it results in beauty experimentation and trying to get the look “right.” “It’s so people don’t think you’re one way or the other,” they say. “You can never win. Even when I had blue hair last year, there was never any question on people’s minds. We need to get past the idea of ‘I see, so I know the answer’ [in regard to someone’s gender]. I’d rather someone ask than say, ‘Oh, you’ve got pink hair and tits and you’re wearing eyeliner, so you’re obviously female.’ Genetically, yes, but that’s not my identity. I think that’s what people need to separate.”