Make-up and other feminine things
To prepare myself for the Gender Studies Certificate, I've been reading up on various branches of feminism and the topics that interest the. The blog Jezebel has recently become a favorite source of further feminist discussion for me. In the last week the writers have been preoccupied with the fashion industry and NYC fashion week. One topic that perked my interest was make-up. (Here's the article.) It seems nearly impossible for an American or, perhaps more generally, Western woman to escape make-up forever. I'd say that very few women haven't at least tried some on, even if it was just playing with her mom's lipstick as a preschooler. At least in my hometown this was the case. I went to my share of Mary Kay parties and tried on all the pretty shades of eyeshadow only to be disappointed that my favorite colors really didn't look good on me. (Green eyeshadow and my skin tone is just blah. Brown and pink are always best. They make for a nice neutral tone.) Of course, every time I tried to get into make-up I always ended up forgetting about it soon thereafter. I don't have a lot of make-up at the moment. The last time I bought some was for my wedding a year ago. The rest is from the random Mary Kay party in college and all the stuff I bought for prom. (I should probably throw some of it out, but it's just eye shadow and lipstick. I'm convinced that lipstick lasts forever.) The last time I "dolled myself up" was to have my picture taken at the DMV a month ago for my new Illinois license.
The point I want to make with this post is that, despite all the pressure on women to conceal their imperfections, I've never seen the use of make-up. I never wear it unless I am presenting a paper at a conference or taking an oral exam in my best clothes. I've noticed that my female professors don't wear make-up either. It's just not done here. I do have one classmate who wears make-up, but even she has toned it down in the last year. Perhaps it's just my milieu, but make-up is just not on my radar. It never occurred to me that it might be a social requirement for the majority of women in the USA. If I were told to not wear make-up for a week, I'd just shrug my shoulders and continue to groom myself as usual. I can't say whether or not my decision to not wear make-up affects the way society treats me. Luckily I have fairly good skin. Perhaps my genetics have privileged me to make such a decision. I really can't say. Perhaps I should do a challenge to wear make-up for a week and see what happens. Perhaps I will try this some week when I am not hopelessly lazy about washing my face before bed every night.
The point I want to make with this post is that, despite all the pressure on women to conceal their imperfections, I've never seen the use of make-up. I never wear it unless I am presenting a paper at a conference or taking an oral exam in my best clothes. I've noticed that my female professors don't wear make-up either. It's just not done here. I do have one classmate who wears make-up, but even she has toned it down in the last year. Perhaps it's just my milieu, but make-up is just not on my radar. It never occurred to me that it might be a social requirement for the majority of women in the USA. If I were told to not wear make-up for a week, I'd just shrug my shoulders and continue to groom myself as usual. I can't say whether or not my decision to not wear make-up affects the way society treats me. Luckily I have fairly good skin. Perhaps my genetics have privileged me to make such a decision. I really can't say. Perhaps I should do a challenge to wear make-up for a week and see what happens. Perhaps I will try this some week when I am not hopelessly lazy about washing my face before bed every night.