I recently discovered the reboot of Queer Eye on Netflix and binge-watched the entire show during the one week span of spring break. If you’re not familiar with Queer Eye, the premise of the show is that a team of five fabulous gay men which include Bobby Berk (interior design), Karamo Brown (culture), Tan France (fashion), Antoni Porowski (food & wine), and Jonathan Van Ness (grooming) give makeovers to people they consider heroes. As experts in their own fields, they are able to use their skills and knowledge to help change these people’s lives for the better.
There are a lot of things that make this show great such as the chemistry between the Fab Five and the heartfelt stories of the heroes. However, I came to realize that the show is more than just what meets the eye. Queer Eye defies the societal ideals and stereotypes of what it means to be a man by challenging and combating the concept of toxic masculinity. Toxic masculinity is the social construct that men must follow and inhabit certain behaviors in order to be considered masculine. In other words, they must align with these traditional gender stereotypes in order to be a man.
Photo Courtesy of ABS-CBN News
With the help of the Fab Five, they are able to encourage and uplift their heroes. When it comes to making over male heroes, they help promote the importance of self-care and self-reflection. By displaying their own brotherly affection and sensitivity, the Fab Five are role models in showing other men that it’s okay to pamper yourself and express your emotions. Bottling up your emotions does not make you more manly just as being sensitive does not make you feminine. These life lessons provided help shatter the belief that men must suppress their emotions or act aggressive in order to be perceived as manly. Because of this, Queer Eye is paving a path for normalizing attitudes and behaviors that aren’t conventionally masculine.
If you have yet to see the show, I definitely recommend it. On top of being a feel good show, it inspires us all to not only better ourselves but also challenge the societal norms that dictate us.