Jonathan Van Ness, one of the stars of the Netflix show “Queer Eye,” leaned towards his camera in order to show students, faculty and staff at Syracuse University the best way to cut their own bangs. 

“Oh my god, I feel like a YouTuber,” Van Ness said as he reminded viewers to not — under any circumstances — cut bangs with hair from the side of their head.

With a freshly blow-dried head of hair and a cocktail in hand, Van Ness spoke to SU students in a Zoom webinar Saturday organized by University Union. Titled “A Conversation with Jonathan Van Ness,” the event was moderated by comedian Michelle Buteau. Annelise Hackett, the director of public relations at University Union, said that several hundred viewers tuned into the event. 

Van Ness and Buteau chatted about his life during quarantine, his cats, how to deal with bullies, crop tops, aloe vera hair treatments and everything in between. 

A hairdresser from Illinois, Van Ness rose to stardom for his role giving haircuts and life advice in the television show “Queer Eye,” in which five gay men help individuals give their lives a physical, emotional and spiritual makeover. Van Ness is also a New York Times bestselling author for his book “Over the Top: My Story,” which details his struggle with alcohol and drug addiction and his journey to find his identity. 

During the conversation, Van Ness revealed to viewers that he is quarantining in Texas instead of at his home in New York City. He said that the “Queer Eye” cast and crew had arrived in Texas to film season six of the series just when the pandemic started to hit, and instead of going through the hectic process of traveling with his four cats back to New York, he decided to stay in Texas. 

Van Ness also spoke about his concerns for the people who have been displaced by the pandemic and those forced to return to unaccepting living situations. He added that experiencing something like this would have been difficult for him since college was a time he used to discover his identity away from home. 

“Having something like this happen, we were all moving so fast and then everything grinded to a complete halt,” Van Ness said. 

Although Van Ness said he is enjoying the time to slow down and focus on self-care, he got emotional when expressing the difficulty he faced when his aunt died and his family was unable to have an in-person service for her because of the pandemic.

 

Jonathan Van Ness is a hairdresser from Illinois known for his role giving haircuts and life advice on the Netflix show “Queer Eye.” Courtesy of University Union

Buteau, who opened for Van Ness on his stand-up comedy world tour “Road to Beijing,” also expressed how scary the world is right now during the coronavirus. 

“When you say goodbye, and when you say hello, and when you check in with someone and say how are you, I hope we mean it,” she said. 

At the end of the event, Buteau asked Van Ness questions from audience members. When asked about his decision to come out as nonbinary he shared how he uses all variations of pronouns, because he doesn’t want to spend time making other people comfortable about his gender. He is comfortable with his gender identity, he said, and therefore he is comfortable with all pronouns. 

Van Ness also encouraged SU students to continue to celebrate pride month and support the LGBTQ+ community even if the country is still in quarantine. The youth in the LGBTQ+ community are vulnerable to homelessness, depression, discrimination and lack of food, he said, and people should donate to causes that help them if they have the ability. 

“The things that help all of those challenges are sharing it and be vulnerable,” he said. 

To finish out his talk, Van Ness opened up about people’s perception of him as someone who seems to consistently have a positive outlook on life. He reminded viewers that everyone experiences moments of sadness and anxiety and deals with darkness. 

He said he often turns to meditation and exercise in order to improve his mood. Most importantly, he said he uses compassion in order to acknowledge his anxiety but then let the positivity back into his life. 

“How you feel is so important,” Van Ness said. “My stepdad always said: no matter where you go, there you are.”

Published on April 26, 2020 at 1:58 am

Contact Sydney: sabergan@syr.edu