Masking the Flaws

I first started wearing make up in seventh grade. I am not sure why I started so young but I remember begging my mom to take me to the store for days in a row. All my friends wore makeup so I guess I wanted to fit in. I wanted to be considered pretty just like the women I saw in the Media.

Wearing makeup has become ideological. Young girls see women wearing makeup constantly, creating a belief from a young age that we are obligated to always have makeup on in order to be considered a lady. The majority of girl’s toys are based around beauty products. I loved playing beauty salon when I was younger; I put on makeup and walked around pretending I was older and pretty. I would always say, “Mommy, look! Don’t I look pretty?” Her responds every time was, “You’re always gorgeous”. At the time I was not aware of what she truly meant by this statement.

It’s depressing when you Google search girl’s makeup toy and pages on top of pages appear of pink makeup tables, eye shadow trays, and lip gloss shimmers.  Girls watch endless amounts of Disney movies with Princesses wearing lip stick, blush, eye shadow and eyeliner, dreaming about the day they can turn into a princess. Then during the teenager years, girls start noticing that only magazine covers portray women who are all done up. Even sport magazines have female athletes painted in makeup instead of the typical workout appearance one would expect. This creates the idea that in order to be a successful and strong woman, we must always have our face done perfectly.

This picture below illustrates a comparison of Disney Princess before and after makeup. Unfortunately, young girls are only exposed to the left hand picture, never the right. 

                                                                       (The Hollywood Gossip)

Barkty argues that a women’s desire to wear makeup is shaped by the social institutions we are exposed to on a daily basis. He states that beauty advertisements suggest to the common women that their body and appearance is not living up to expectations built in society. Unfortunately, women begin to believe this as we are constantly bombarded with images of the ideal appearance through the media (Bartky, 85). Therefore, women spend thousands of dollars throughout their lifetime on all different makeup brands to cover up their flaws and feel more confident and empowered. On average, women spend $15,000 dollars on cosmetics and two weeks of their lives applying all the different kinds of makeup essentials (Bartholomew, 2016). That’s roughly 336 hours I could be spending with my friends and family while drinking 3,000 cups of pumpkin spice lattes I could have bought if I didn’t spend $15,000 on makeup. But yet, there have been multiple occasions when I can walk into a store and 15 minutes later leave with $50 worth of beauty supplies in hand.

The constant need to wear makeup has become materialized in life. Women who wear makeup are more likely to get a job and get promoted faster than women who do not. One study shows that women who wear makeup are more likely to be successful since women who wear makeup are considered more competent, likable, and trustworthy; all of which are qualities needed to move up the career ladder (Louis, 2011). Therefore, if women do not feed into societal expectations of beauty, it is much harder to move through life.

It seems like the world is coming to an end when women do not wear makeup in public. Let’s take Alicia Keys for example, she started a No Makeup Movement this past summer and society is not pleased. She was bare faced at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards in August, The Democratic National Convention, the BET Awards, and even during the TV production of The Voice. She’s stunning, yet she is getting backlash for expressing her natural beauty at public venues where she is supposed to appear as a successful, attractive, and feminine women.  Click here to read an inspiring story about the reasons Alicia Keys stopped wearing makeup.

I would love to say I am a full supporter of this much needed no make revolution, but unfortunately I am not quite there yet. I still become insecure, self-conscious, and shy when I leave the house without makeup. As an athlete that spends the majority of the day in water, I have grown to adjust to not wearing makeup all the time. But this was not an easy task. I am more aware of my blemishes and always want to put make up on as soon as I leave the pool. I am more confident when I am wear cover up since I can mask my flaws from other people. This anxiety and fear only developed when I entered college and slowly turned into an adult.  I felt like I had to present myself in a mature, intelligent and composed way. Society has taught me and many other women that the only way to do this is through cosmetics. I wished I understood what my mom meant when I was younger when she told me I was always gorgeous. She was teaching me that I am a strong, successful, and beautiful woman with or without makeup.  I hope one day all women fell empowered to take of their makeup and embrace their inner beauty.

                                                       (Jamie McCarthy, Getty Images)

References

Bartholomew, Isabel. (2016) The makeup tax: The average women spends $15,000 on cosmetics. Retrieved      from http://bust.com/style/14580-the-makeup-tax-the-average-woman-spends-15-000-on-

cosmetics.html

Bartky, Sandra Lee. (2010). Foucault, Femininity, and the Modernization of Patriarchal Power. In R. Weitz (Ed.), The politics of women’s bodies: Sexuality, appearance, and behavior. (pp. 76-97). Oxford, NY: Oxford University Press

Flinn,Natalie. (2016, August). Alicia keys stopped wearing makeup and the world is still having a hard     time adjusting). Retrieved from http://www.eonline.com/news/790899/alicia-keys-stopped-wearing-makeup-and-the-world-is-still-having-a-hard-time-adjusting

Louis, Catherine Saint. (2011, October). Up the career ladder, lipstick in hand. Retrieved from                 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/13/fashion/makeup-makes-women-appear-more-competent-study.html

Scott, Andy. (2016). The real reason Alicia keys stopped wearing makeup. Retrieved from                 http://www.nickiswift.com/24148/real-reason-alicia-keys-stopped-wearing-makeup/