I like wearing make up. It’s a fact. If you’ve met me, you know it. Only on the hottest and my laziest summer days do I forgo make up and even then I’ll usually throw on some mascara or concealer. Even if I’m not seeing anybody! What a waste, right? Not to mention how…un-feminist?
Over the years, I’ve heard a lot of arguments about how to be a “good” feminist. You have to not be angry because then your argument comes across as irrational and is thus dismissed. You have to choose the right major and act as a trailblazer for women everywhere. And you have to not wear make up (or shave).
Which, while it seems bizarre, makes sense. Because more often than not, when we get all “dolled up” and paint our faces a-la-Mulan style, we’re more often than not playing into the traditional ideas of what femininity is and what it’s “supposed” to look like. Which is also ridiculous, because there shouldn’t be a beauty standard really, and the fact that there is, is still appalling. And if you’re not appalled you should be.
So how do I defend my love of face paints and powders when I’m trying to be an honest feminist? There are a couple ways:
The idea that by wearing make up or putting any labor into our beauty routine or shaving our underarms suddenly makes as a pawn of patriarchy is ridiculous to me. Not because I don’t recognize some merit in the theory, but because in some way, shape, or form I’ve heard the same argument made about the opposite as well. To use a very specific example, I remember one Friday last Spring I wasn’t feel too well and didn’t go to class and spent the whole day in bed. Some friends called me up last minute asking if I wanted to go to dinner with them and I said yes out of the assumption that I would go home directly afterwards. I threw on some sweats, an oversized sweater, and pulled my hair into a messy bun with the hair band I usually only use when I’m washing my face. Instead of going home directly after dinner that night, I wound up at that friends house hanging out and some of her neighbors came by. Including a mutual guy friend of ours who sidled up next to me and whispered in his best come on voice, “I think it’s so hot when a girl embraces her natural beauty and doesn’t waste time with all that make up.”
First off, that was both a creepy and unwelcome comment, but second off, what the hell? Either I wear make up or I don’t, but apparently either way I should be validated in that decision only if a guy likes it? I throw up my arms in protest, I tell you!
But that’s only one argument. To carry on: I don’t think that a woman’s choice to wear make up should imply any direct or indirect assumption about her character. Whether it’s a man policing her decisions, or another woman, (slut) shaming women for their (beauty) choices goes directly against my understanding of what feminism is all about.
There’s also the fact that, as I said in my opening statement, I like wearing make up. Whether I’m seeing anybody else or not, it makes me personally feel confident and comfortable which is really what all women should feel like. Should a woman feel like she has to wear said make up to get that sensation? Absolutely not. And just like nobody should shame a woman for wearing make up, nobody should shame a woman for not wearing any either.
On the other end of this argument, we can’t ignore that make up and beauty has been politicized. When female politicians travel the world for official US foreign policy and are asked what designer they’re wearing, you can’t simply ignore that. When every female celebrity is photographed not wearing their make up and splashed across the tabloids as though they’ve suddenly become hideous, you have to stand up and say that’s wrong.
If you want to critique the social construction of femininity – and through that, the use of make up to reinforce society’s understanding of what it “should” be and how it associates being a woman with being weak – then do so! Argue for your beliefs! Fight for the better world of tomorrow! But do so without critiquing the individual’s decisions about their own personal beauty standards.
ShoutOut! James Madison University 
I really like the conclusion that you draw in this post, that as long as it is your choice (to wear make up or not wear make up) it is okay, but if you are wearing it to meet standards that have nothing to do with your personal preference than something is wrong.
I came to a similar conclusion regarding periods when I wrote this post https://jmuwomensstudentcaucus.wordpress.com/2011/03/27/dont-period/ a little over a year ago. I was inspired by all the commericals advertising birth controls that offer fewer or shorter periods (Nuva Ring, Seasonale, Yaz) and my male friend’s opinion that periods are “gross” and we “shouldn’t have them. Period.” After much debate, and actually trying some of these birth controls myself, I came to the conclusion that as long as you are doing it for YOU and not society or some guy then you are doing the right thing. And this goes for anything body related – makeup, shaving, clothing choices, hair, etc.
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I am SO happy you decided to write about this! I have always struggled with the idea of makeup and beauty in my young adult/ teen years. Recently I’ve started to really enjoy the art behind makeup and hair and am starting to see it as a form of expression. In the past I tried to look as natural as possible in fear of being judged for “feeling insecure” or “conforming to beauty standards”. After a lot of thought I’ve come to the conclusion that I love doing makeup because it allows me to express myself not cover myself up. I’m not doing my makeup to feel more attractive to men or to look like a flawless human being. I have flaws and plenty of them. I find enjoyment in dying my hair and putting on some eyeliner or red lipstick. My hair dresser once said to me “if you don’t feel like your hair represents your style or fits who you are, then you won’t feel confident.” I agree 100 %. Confidence is beautiful.
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I would agree that women didn’t wear make up as a result to comply with a beauty standard or to mask insecurities caused by said standard if women didn’t wear foundation or concealer. That’s not being artistic, that’s merely covering “flaws” so you can better adhere to the image of how a “beautiful woman” is supposed to look. It’s telling that most guys don’t bother with make up but most women do. There’s no equality in that, and to deny beauty conditioning in society is to be hopelessly ignorant.
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I see where you’re coming from about beauty conditioning in our society. As I pointed out at the end of my post, there’s no denying that what’s defined as “beautiful” in our lives has become politicized. There will always be people who judge other’s for their choices — but I would also argue that flatly dismissing make up as nothing more than a reaction to that conditioning is also detrimental to people. Women — and some men — wear make up. Not all women (and men), and not all the time, but they do. To claim that each and every one of them is actively putting that effort into their appearance solely to conform to the beauty standards is denying each person their own growth and person experiences.
When I was in high school, I was friends with a boy who was a major contributor to the theatre department. He acted in all of our school plays and musicals (and was often the lead) and has since gone on to University to study Opera. He learned how to apply stage make up and how to wear it and after a while he would sometimes wear it during the day. I will never forget the day that my father saw my friend wearing eyeliner and later confronted me about being friends with him. He made the assumption my friend was gay (he wasn’t) and thought that by wearing make up he was effeminate and unmanly and that there was something wrong with my friend. The truth, of course, is that there was really something wrong with my dad for ever reaching that conclusion.
Make up is a vehicle to help one express their own style like thatlavenderblonde2 said or to feel confident like I do. To me, putting on make up that I like is the same as pulling on my favorite pair of jeans. It’s all about the intent behind the decision to put it on in the first place — and if it’s for one’s own personal gain, then I don’t see any fault in that.
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