Boy Beat

First of all, HAPPY SUMMER! I recently celebrated my birthday, Juneteenth and Pride Month all in one short month. Between those happenings and just trying to enjoy the warmer days, there hasn’t been much time to write. I also don’t subscribe to putting things out on a rolling basis. When I post a Substack, it’s because I have something to SAY! So here we are. Welcome to my brain dump ahead.

Somewhere along the way people started treating identity like a costume rack. Pick something cute, try it on somebody else, and walk away feeling like you did the work. One of the most common little costumes I get handed is the word diva. To be clear, my friend Scot Louie coined it lovingly for the gworls, the chosen family, the people who already know how to hold each other with care. In that space, the word can be playful, even protective, a wink that says I see you and I celebrate you.

Happy Pride Month! I spent Memorial Day weekend in DC for Black Gay Pride, and from the jump I wanted the trip to feel elevated. I checked into The LINE DC because I needed somewhere fab to rest my head, get ready, and reset between events. If you are ever in the area, do yourself a favor and stay there. That’s first + foremost. The Boy Beat is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Chile, here we are talking about Emma Greedy again. This lady recently said she does not invest in first-time founders unless she sees something extraordinary about the proposition, using Ami Colé as an example of what she did not see. The Boy Beat is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. That is not a neutral statement. It is a public dismissal. It is a framing choice.

Thank the LAWD — we’ve finally made it to SPRING! I am genuinely glad the warmer weather is on the way, because this winter felt a little hellish and heavy in every sense. Now I want a reset that feels doable, the kind that starts with small details and builds momentum. The Boy Beat is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This season, I am treating beauty like re-invention, not overhaul.

Sorry toots, but there’s no such thing as an “it girl” anymore. Not the way we used to mean it, anyway. “It girl” used to signal a cultural lightning strike. A person with a point of view so specific the rest of the world started orbiting it. Not just someone who looked good in a photo, but someone who changed the temperature of the room. Someone who made taste feel like a force, not a filter. The Boy Beat is a reader-supported publication.

Beauty is often spoken about as if it comes with a default audience, a default body and a default set of interests. That assumption shows up everywhere, from product copy to store layouts to the way brands decide who is invited to events, who gets offered services and who is expected to care. De-gendering beauty is not about swapping labels or creating a new box. It is about removing the box entirely.

I’m putting this out into the universe: I am manifesting my role as a beauty director at large. This is about creating space for a perspective that has been missing from beauty media for far too long. I’ve already been a beauty editor and writer on staff, so I know what it takes to shape coverage, build relationships with brands and tell compelling stories. But now, we need something more.

This post contains frank discussion about male anatomy, sexual health and cosmetic genital procedures. Reader discretion is advised. If you’re uncomfortable with open conversations about penile enhancement, erectile function or male sexuality, this might not be the post for you. Proceed with caution and an open mind. Let’s talk about #PenisTox. For those unfamiliar, it’s a cosmetic procedure designed for men seeking enhanced penile girth or solutions for erectile dysfunction.

As a collective, Black people have committed to a long-haul boycott of Target, and I stand by that decision without reservation. Our power lies in our purchasing choices, and we’ve made ours clear. But this principled stance raises a critical question that keeps me up at night: where does this leave our Black-owned beauty brands that are retailed there? These are brands we’ve championed, brands created by our own community, brands that have fought for shelf space in mainstream retail.