Second Year Winner: Homme Improvement

WRIT 2004, Writing in Digital Cultures. CD: Andrea McKenzie.

Abstract

With this seriously funny piece of writing, Gil Segev provides an insightful primer on the social construction of gender in a witty proposal for a blog site that examines the relationship between men and makeup and the attitudes that colour the way we perceive and react to them individually and in combination. No powder puff piece this, the proposal builds a firm foundation for the existence of a site that refuses to gloss over the serious aspects of the topic, highlighting key issues and various perspectives - social, political, economic, historical  - waiting to be explored by an intelligent, polished writer whose command of tone, sense of style and flawless wordplay brighten the page, enlighten our understanding, and reflect the concerns of the those who recognize that while social change must be more than cosmetic, cosmetics help us to define not only who we are, but what we most want to be.