Hop onto X and find a Twink lamenting his desires for a “6 ft bilingual latino with a goatee mustache combo.” Scroll further and you’ll find a “6 foot” latino boasting how much he loves his mother while attaching a selfie boasting his “mustache goatee combo.” Not even women are “safe.”
save me tall skinny Latino boy w mustache goatee combo save me ….
— frankie ♡.°⑅. • (@fictitiousfag) December 25, 2023
The latest trend in men’s facial hair has intrinsic ties to colonization of Latin America, but is also, admittedly, just hot. The refined, well-trimmed, sparsely speckled mustache sits atop the lips as a patch of loose hair cascades from the greasy chin of your local Papi Chulo.
While there is still great disparities in Latino representation in the media, Latinos are generally having a huge moment in American media. From Pedro Pascal to “goatee mustache combo” champion, Omar Apollo, the internet is loving them some Latino boys.
@iamizaiahhh Like fr Latino Men really are starting to become the MOMENT (even tho they’ve always been imo) in the Gay Community and I’m LOVING IT! Its so KÜNT! 😭😭😭 #lmfao #gay #bi #lgbt #fyp ♬ original sound – Isaiah R
TikTok user @iamizaiahhh discusses, Latino boys are having a moment in the gay dating scene, though the trend can be seen in heterosexual dating trends as well. If you search “goatee mustache combo,” you’ll find just as many women thirsting after these mustached men as queer people.
As TikTok user @Gold comment showcases: “The Latin Lover has returned with a VENGEANCE.”
But what makes this current iteration different is the everyman approach: rather than providing an alluring fantasy of the “Latin Lover” for wide audiences to project onto, the masses are projecting these standards onto each other and themselves. The “mustache goatee combo” filter has accumulated over 12 million uses (and counting) on TikTok alone and, though many uses are from women mocking the trend, the filter has undoubtedly made its rounds.
However, the trend iteslf indicates something far deeper than the hottest “male makeup” trend.
While facial hair has had an uptick in interest (Ryan Gosling, you were saved), the full, tapered beard is slowly fading out of popularity as people are favoring the more refined, minimal approach. Although a relatively recent trend, the positioning of the hair on Latino men’s faces is a direct result of Spanish colonization. The lack of substantial facial hair results in the “conquistador beard,” a facial hair shape that is primarily focused near the mouth.
The scaled-back appearance is synonymous with Latino figures, featured prominently on the popular, LA-based comic character series, Homies.
While Latinidad comes in many shapes and forms, the “idealized” version is that of a caramel-toned man, fit but not thin, mustached but virtually hairless. Its feminine counterpart also lives somewhere in the middle: thin but voluptuous, dark features but midtoned skin. This “ideal” dates back centuries, but especially seen in the Golden Age of Hollywood with actors like Mexican actor Dolores del Río, or the Italian-born Rudolph Valentino.
@jupiters_aphrodite0 They be to so fine 🥴 #mexicanmen #fyp #mustache #goatee #viral #funny #fypシ ♬ Se Encendio el Beeper – Oro Solido
This idealization of the Latino appearance goes hand in hand with the deconditioning of men and their ideas of “masculinity” and what makes a man a man. As more men utilize selfcare and hygiene practices in recent years (Thank God), we tend to see more prominent displays of “Sassy men” not being “manly enough.”
TikTok sensation and leader of “Pookie Nation,” Prayag Mishra, is admittedly “on the frontlines” of the sassy man movement, which self-expression takes a forefront in men’s approaches to life. Along with a push for more male self-expression, the full-bearded comic influencer ushered in with him the “Sassy Man Apocalypse.”
A response to these developments in male expression, the “Sassy Man Apocalypse” aims to critique the expressions of men, covertly dismantling the work of men and feminists in the movement to break free of gender norms. The regression is rampant, but subtle—arguably, the most dangerous. Why do you want men to take care of themselves, only to critique the most rudimentary form of selfcare—self-expression?
Cries to “Bring back our men!” or sentiments like “Men used to fight in wars” accompany feelings that male behavior has somehow degraded or devolved when in actuality, widespread development has never been better recorded. Even artists like Lay Bankz notes the “sassy man apocalypse” in her hypercritical (albeit, boppy) song, “Ick.” “Lady boner gone,” she groans when lamenting her playdate’s flawed appearance, gait and overall personality, though his descriptions are not entirely in line with the “sassy man” traits; he’s just actually gross.
But while the “self-expressive male” movement is considered a fresh development, the roots of debinarizing gender roles predates colonization. In broader Latin American culture, there were many indigenous groups who initially (and continuously) recognized the existence of egalitarian societies and “two-spirit” people, a concept similar to nonbinary identities, though not equal. Men, women, two-spirits and others would participate in social settings that were not gendered, or at least not as structured as the social norms introduced, popularized and forced upon them by European settlers. The same can be said for many African societies, pre-Transatlantic Slave Trade.
However, the “mustache goatee combo” goes far beyond aesthetics, presenting a persona behind the optics. The facial hair must accompany traits like height, ability, financial security, familial relations—the list goes on, piling like cushions on a pea.
@theyluvv.deahLike girl…😂♬ Ghetto & Ratchet – Remy Ma Remix – Connie Diiamond & Remy Ma
A trending TikTok audio features lyrics from Remy Ma’s verse on “Ghetto and Ratchet,” detailing how she likes “hood n—s and drug dealers/And gang members with tattoos.” Some of the top videos use the sound with the caption “when you ask the quiet girl her type.” The audio listing a man who partakes in violence and the uptick in criticism over “sassy men”communicate an uptrend in the romanticization of the hypermasculine—a man who doesn’t sass back; a man who looks like a man; a man who does his manly things and doesn’t reach beyond those bounds.
But the romanticization of the hyper-masculine can only take you so far. While the “Masc4Masc” and “No fems or fats” is a longstanding concept in the queer community, the re-implementation in heterosexual dating remains cyclical.
Didn’t Americans learn anything from “I’m Just Ken”?
This nuanced facet of heterosexual dating trends is reductive. Gay and queer men emphasis on their desire for the hypermasculine are, notably, just as guilty. By binarizing further and further, the constraints on women and their roles in relationships are further refined, pushing us all back socially by decades and decades.
Though beauty trends and constraints placed on women and femme bodies are long and date far back, there is no point in tossing the hot potato by applying the pressure onto men.
This idea that the “sassy man movement” is apocalyptic hyperbolizes a subtle and sinister sentiment that men are simply overcorrecting after millenia of misplaced and troubled personae.
@ferlyp if he’s too sassy for you, please give him my number and let him know i’m single 😤 #sassyman #sassymanapocalypse ♬ original sound – ferlyp
Should this critique continue, as TikTok user @Ferlyp puts it: “We will never be free.”
On the one hand, the hyperfocus on the physical display of these Latino men and boys is flawed. But what’s fascinating is the resulting boost in confidence from young Latino men around the world, boasting their power due to their gift of colonizer-framed lips. In a world where Latino features were ridiculed (see: Edgars), the celebration of Latino features is a refreshing turnaround.
Hair growing serums, dermarollers for facial hair, even the repopularization of perms points point to a jarring hyperfocus on physical appearance over morals and values.
Even the presence of barber influencers has increased, showcasing their transformative work in fantastic and drastic ways. While a marvel to witness objectively and a perfect transition of social network power to the free commerce sphere, the trend still points to a social emphasis on the presentation of an aesthetic versus genuine transformation.
These transformations are akin to the “Extreme Makeover”s and “The Swan“s of the 2000s, likening physical transformation to overall betterment.
What the trends do is, resulting in a hyperfocus on physical appearance, transforming duds of dudes into the idealized Latino figure, burst mullet fade and all. But what is underneath? At the end of the day, the boy with a fresh fade is still as cringe as before. Only now, he feels a breeze under his faux mullet.
Optics are a primary motivator for people to “better” themselves, which can be celebrated but is a movement that ultimately falls flat.
In a world of cores, everyone remains hollow.
Coquette, Twee, Siren, Sade Girl—all of these “cores” have one thing in common: they mean absolutely nothing. Creators and normies alike are more interested in crafting a persona than exploring the idea of developing a personality. The uptrend of workwear in style and fashion design (especially by white people) is a byproduct of the working class and blue-collar cosplay when most wearers couldn’t drill a screw into plywood. Wearing double-knee, flannel lined will only do you so well at the gastropub. Aesthetically, the finely structured details and presentation of a “rugged” nature are imitable.
But what’s a Twink doing wearing Carhartts?
In place of presenting a personality, follow the roots of the “goatee mustache combo” and “sassy man movement”—embrace yourself. Individuality is a multifaceted, evergreen trend. By attempting to close doors that were opened by self-expression and self-acceptance, we only regress.
The latest trend: get a personality.
