You have to see this radically honest YouTube docu-series about race, gender, sexualities, and more

I was introduced to StyleLikeU.com as a media platform producing “radically honest docu-style videos that give voice to role models of all body-types, ages, races, genders, sexualities, and abilities, who stand proudly outside of norms and are comfortable in their skin, disentangling style from fashion in the process.” Um, yes please. This required further investigation since it sounded like something we should all be seeing. I was absolutely not disappointed.

StyleLikeU was founded by mother-daughter duo, Elisa Goodkind & Lily Mandelbaum. Between the two of them, they had seen and dealt with all types of conformity and increasingly formulaic ideals of beauty. In creating StyleLikeU, they were attempting to confront the status quo. In scoping out their YouTube series, I encountered diverse humans peeling back the layers of gender, “prettiness” in Hollywood, the colonial gaze, windows into everyday life that we don’t often see, and most recently, the path of self-acceptance for a genderqueer creative consultant and activist from Berlin, Mic Oala.

In this episode of the series, Mic explores the challenges of single parenting and exploring their queer identity. For instance, attending school events as a single mom was a place where they felt a lot of pressure to conform to traditional gender roles due to how surprisingly (or not?) conservative a community like that can be. Here’s the video so you can hear Mic firsthand…

StyleLikeU features a whole lineup of vids that will capture your mind and hold up a mirror to ourselves and those who aren’t shown in traditional media. It’s fascinating. Check out their YouTube channel here and their Instagram to make sure you’re getting updates on new vids.

Here’s a playlist if you’re jonesing for MORE…

About the Author: Catherine Clark

@enidjcoleslaw @bijouxandbits @bijouxandbits

Catherine Clark loiters at her local library, makes art, watches movies en masse, plays video and tabletop games, poorly cooks healthy things, cuddles with her feline fur babies, and blogs at BijouxandBits.com.