Newsflash, Patriarchy: I Don’t Wear My Makeup for You!

I’ll admit it – I’m a feminist and I love makeup. I actually didn’t get into makeup until college, though. All throughout high school, I wore – at the most – foundation, mascara, and if I was going to homecoming or prom, eye-shadow and eyeliner. Most weeks, I wouldn’t wear makeup at all, because I didn’t feel like I needed it (and honestly, I didn’t care). Now, I’m a hair and skin care junkie – I do face masks and conditioning treatments once or twice a week and I usually find them to be quite relaxing. If I have an extra half hour in my morning routine, I wear makeup almost everyday. I love walking into Sephora and looking at the newest eye shadow palettes and lipstick colors from my favorite brands, and I think it’s so much fun to apply and experiment with different colors and techniques. I follow several makeup artists on Instagram, and thoroughly enjoy learning about new products and trends, and getting ideas for my own makeup from them.

The other day, I didn’t apply my makeup before going to my part-time job because I didn’t have time, and one of my coworkers told me, “Honey, you look so much prettier without all of that makeup on!” I knew she didn’t mean any ill will with her comment, but nonetheless, it still got under my skin a little bit. As a body positivist and feminist, I think everybody should be able to look and dress in any way that makes them feel confident, cool, and/or comfortable – no matter what society dictates you should look like. Even though makeup is traditionally geared toward women, many of my favorite makeup artists actually identify as men – and they are extremely talented artists. They are a constant reminder that makeup is for people of all shapes, sizes, genders, and races; beauty doesn’t discriminate.

From a young age, society pressures girls and women to look a certain way if they want to be accepted by others. Beauty advertisements sell us products with pictures of perfectly manicured women who practically scream, “This product will make you look like me! This is what you should look like!” So, when a woman wears a full face of makeup, everyone automatically assumes she’s doing it to impress someone, or adhere to social standards of beauty.

On the other hand, though, when a woman does wears makeup, we are also quick to shame her for being shallow or narcissistic, or outright accuse her of being fake. There was a meme going around the internet a little while ago, making a joke about women who wear a lot of makeup – basically, it said you should take a woman swimming on the first date to see what she actually looks like. This cultural commentary identifies exactly what is wrong with the way we view many beauty practices – that women are lying, in a way, when they wear makeup, and doing it for someone else instead of for their own personal enjoyment.

So, what? Maybe I look better to someone without makeup. But I’m sure there’s another person who thinks I look better with makeup. Frankly, I don’t care what either of them think. Makeup is my creative outlet, my stress relief, and a fun hobby. I’ll continue to wear it because I want to, not because I need to or feel like I have to.

#blog #feminism