There are many reasons a person might want to ban glitter. Like, they happened to brush against a drag queen at a party one night, and now their bed is covered in glitter, they keep finding it in their eyebrows, and bits of it continue cropping up for weeks despite serious efforts to eradicate the sparkle infestation.
Now, an environmental anthropologist at Massey University is calling for all the glamour to be gone: She wants glitter to go the way of the Dodo and Dorian Corey.
āI think all glitter should be banned,ā Dr. Trisia Farrelly tellsĀ The Independent. āBecause itās microplastic.ā
The small size of its plastic particulars makes it a āpotential ecological hazard,āĀ The IndependentĀ reports.
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A ban on microbeads will begin in the UK next year since plastic waste puts āmarine wildlife under serious threat,ā says Environmental Secretary Michael Gove.
Related:Ā Inspiring āGlitterboyā photo project challenges notions of black masculinity and sexuality
āWhen people think about glitter they think of party and dress-up glitter,ā Dr. Farrelly says. āBut glitter includes cosmetic glitters as well, the more everyday kind that people donāt think about as much.ā
āNo one knows that glitter is made of plastic,ā says Noemi Lamma, a co-founder of Eco Glitter Fun, an āeco-friendly glitter distributor.
āWe were heartbroken when we found out.ā
Banning cosmetic glitter and microbeads is a āno-brainer,ā according to Dr. Ferrelly.
āIām sick and tired of consumers being held responsible for trying to avoid this stuff,ā she says. āI mean itās literally impossible to. Producers need to be responsible. They need to use safer, non-toxic, durable alternatives.ā
Whatās your take on glitter? Should it be banned for good, or does that mean the partyās over? Sound off in the comments below!
RIGay
Let the glitter trolls erupt.
Was never a fan.
Blackceo
“Quintessential gay accessory”???? Who said that?
JerseyMike
Exactly!! I’m guessing some gay men and 6 year old girls have a lot in common!!???
Creamsicle
Yeah I thought it was going to be poppers.
Kangol
Non-coated paper glitter wouldn’t work?
Gay Scottish Guy
I think the title on this one is slightly misleading. It somewhat gives off the idea that scientists want to ban it because itās a āquintessential gay accessoryā, though Iām sure thatās not intentional.
Brian
And the people in the interviews aren’t even scientists.
Bfrenz
God I hate glitter sooooo much. Ban that thing already.
GayEGO
I just love sparkly glitter, especially at Christmastime!
EdHusky
Ban it.
mossolbtraf
This is why I find Queerty painful. I want to see stories of interest to the gay community, which are unfortunately interspersed with this tripe. Why do you insist on reinforcing gay stereotypes?
OzJosh
I’m going to be generous here and assume Queerty was trying to put a light-hearted spin on this in order to engage readers with a serious problem. But a little more detail and depth would have helped. The problem here is these tiny plastic particles get washed into rivers and oceans and consumed by all kinds of living creatures. In some cases it eventually kills them, if only because filling up on plastic means they’re not getting proper nutrition. Moreover, the much of the seafood you eat (especially seafood that filters water, like mussels) is now full of these plastic particles – and nobody knows just what damage they could do to humans.
Mr-DJ
“Gay Accessory”? I’m a guy, that likes guys. That’s what makes me Gay. Glitter has nothing to do with it. It’s a quintessential tween-aged girl’s accessory.
baggins435
Someone needs to get out more if they think glitter is a “quintessential gay accessory” just because some drag queens and effeminate twinks think it’s “kewl.” Grade school and middle school girls like glitter. My nieces gave it up before high school at the latest. Gay MEN have nothing to do with it. Queerty is becoming less and less relevant to me as a gay man. Just come out already and admit you’re by and for twinks and effeminate boys in “guyliner”, glitter, and skinny jeans with no room for a man’s junk.
ridgelineranger
A friend once said that glitter is the herpes of the craft world….It never goes away.
ham
Bam your editors! Really bad titles
jay_kay
Ban sham , it what make us sparkle , keep on glittering .
phallictomato
Seeing how glitter is literally a micro plastic and how it’s destroying the ocean’s creatures, I think it needs to go. As much as I love glitter, if it doesn’t disintegrate and isn’t environmentally friendly, I can live without it. I’m sure someone, somewhere, will be able to come up with a sparkly alternative that disintegrates and would be safe even if accidentally swallowed. I mean we have 7+ billion people in the world. I’m actually surprised there hasn’t been an environmentally safe glitter alternative already… better yet, make the alternative glitter edible too.
Glitterati
Hey! an alternative does exist http://www.ecoglitterfun.com
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Berthulf
https://uk.lush.com/article/all-glitters
Nuff Sed.