Teacher Is Told He's ‘Confusing’ His Male Students By Giving Out Makeup & Skincare As Classroom Prizes
He pointed out that skincare and makeup don't have a specific gender attached to them.
Max Fischer / Pexels When you think of typical classroom prizes that teachers give students, they usually consist of stickers, medals, or certificates. Still, one teacher has decided to go outside the box with his students.
In a TikTok video, Christian Shearhod, a public school science teacher, shared the collection of classroom prizes that he decided to give out to his students, which caused a bit of an uproar.
Shearhod revealed that he's giving out makeup and skincare as prizes for his students.
Shearhod explained that his girlfriend, Eden, packed him a bag full of things to bring with him to school and suggested that he hand them out to all of his students as prizes for doing good work in the classroom. He admitted that while he usually sticks to candy and stickers, he was overjoyed at being able to give them something else.
"She packed me hundreds of dollars worth of skincare stuff, makeup brushes, little pencil things that I think is for your eyebrows," Shearhod said, showing all the products his girlfriend had given him. The items included face moisturizers, eyeshadow palettes, various brands of face masks, hydrating face mists, eyeshadow glitters, and lipstick.
Shearhod gleefully realized that his students would most likely enjoy these new classroom prizes and would probably never want stickers ever again. However, despite his excitement and passion about the makeup and skincare products, Shearhod received negative comments about how this type of incentive would be harmful to the male students in his class.
He was accused of 'confusing' the young boys by allowing them to wear makeup and receive skincare.
Shearhod animatedly fired back at a comment that claimed he needed to be fired just because he was exposing his male students to makeup and skincare. The ludicrous idea was backed up by the argument that Shearhod was pushing his beliefs onto impressionable boys and would cause them to be confused about their gender identity.
In response, Shearhod pointed out that if boys want to wear makeup and indulge in skincare, they'll do that, with or without his input. "If boys choose to wear makeup, that is okay, and you know what? The boys did want their makeup, for their mom, for their sister, for their girlfriends, for people in their life that they care about."
The outdated belief that things like makeup, skincare, and nail polish are inherently 'feminine' is a reflection of deeply ingrained societal stereotypes and limits self-expression.
There's nothing worse than trying to push ideas of what masculinity looks like onto young boys. They're expected not to nurture the creative parts of themselves because it's seen as "weak" or they're not "manly enough."
Everyone can benefit from skincare; whether you exist on the gender binary or not, whether you're a boy or a girl, it shouldn't matter. Shearhod's classroom prizes aren't hurting anyone, and his students all seem to enjoy them, so why should there be limitations or judgments placed on those who participate in or enjoy such activities?
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.