FashionLore: The African Beauty Contest Where Men Wear Make-up

At the edge of the Sahel, close to the dry season, young men sit before small mirrors and spend hours on their faces. They line their eyes with kohl, brush yellow powder across their cheeks and draw a thin pale line down their noses. Then they line up and dance while young women decide who is the most beautiful.

This is the Gerewol, and it overturns nearly everything the world assumes about makeup.

What Is the Gerewol Festival?

The Gerewol is an annual courtship festival held by the Wodaabe people. It usually happens towards the end of the rainy season in September. Families scattered across the Sahel for most of the year travel long distances to gather for a week of dancing, socialising and matchmaking.

The centrepiece is the Yaake, a dance in which men stand shoulder to shoulder and perform for an audience of women. It is often described as an African beauty contest for men, and the description is fair. The men are judged on their looks, their charm and their stamina.

Who Are the Wodaabe People?

The Wodaabe are a nomadic subgroup of the Fulani who herd cattle across Niger, Chad, Nigeria, Cameroon and neighbouring countries. Their name is often translated as “people of the taboo.” This is an affirmation of their strict code of conduct and self-restraint, known as pulaaku.

Wodaabe culture prizes modesty and composure in daily life. The Gerewol is one of the few moments when the rules loosen and men are expected to openly show off.

How Wodaabe Men Prepare for the Yaake Dance

Preparation takes hours. Men use red ochre or yellow powder to brighten the skin, which is believed to give the face a radiant glow. Kohl outlines the eyes, and a pale line down the nose makes it look longer and straighter.

For the dressing, men wear layered beads, cowrie shells, amulets, ostrich feathers and tall turbans. Many carry a small mirror to keep correcting their faces. Every detail is chosen to be seen from a distance.

What Do Wodaabe Men Consider Beautiful?

Wodaabe beauty ideals include tall height, a long straight nose, white teeth and bright white eyes. These features are prized.

This is why dancers roll their eyes and flash their teeth for long stretches, sometimes rising onto tiptoe to look taller.

Physical traits are also involved. A man must hold a smile, control his eyes and keep his body steady through a long dance. Beauty here is something you work at and then prove in public.

Why Women Choose the Winners in the Gerewol

The judges are young unmarried women, and their opinions are final. They walk along the line of dancers, study each man closely and pick the ones they find most attractive.

The winners gain admiration and a possible romantic interest. The festival is also where many relationships begin.

In most beauty contests, women are the ones being evaluated. At the Gerewol, the roles are reversed. The men do the preparing, the posing and the waiting, while the women hold the power of choice.

Men Wearing Makeup Is Not New

The idea that makeup belongs only to women is a more recent thought. Ancient Egyptians of every gender wore kohl. European aristocratic men powdered their faces and wore rouge for centuries.

Across the world, cosmetics have served status, protection, ritual and attraction for whoever wanted them.

The Wodaabe belong to this long history. A man who takes care over his appearance is being serious about courtship, and his effort is read as confidence.

What the Gerewol Teaches Us About African Beauty Standards

Every society decides who is allowed to be decorative. Modern men’s grooming trends, from skincare routines to full makeup looks, are often treated as bold new territory. The Wodaabe have been doing it openly for generations.

It also matters who controls the story. Earlier in this series, we looked atthe Congolese women sold as “Ubangi Savages” in a 1930 circus act andthe neck rings of South Africa and the myth around them, both cases where African adornment was turned into spectacle by outsiders. At the Gerewol, the Wodaabe set the rules, the audience and the judges themselves.

The next time someone says makeup is only for women, remember the men of the Gerewol, mirrors in hand, waiting for their moment to be seen.