Makeup
- TeenToTeen
- Jan 20, 2021
- 3 min read
Makeup was always something that was very foreign to me. I remember when my friends tried makeup for the first time in seventh grade, experimenting with different kinds of eyeshadow and shades of foundation, but I claimed that I was completely uninterested. At the time, I believed that wearing makeup was changing oneself to appear how others wanted you to look. For the next couple of years, even through high school, I held firm with this belief, with the exception of letting my friends experiment on me a couple of times.
But this year, as I’m sure many did, I got really bored during quarantine. As I was picking something up at my local drugstore, I decided on a whim to buy some mascara. Later that day, standing in the bathroom, I was shocked at how confusing it seemed to be. I was petrified to poke my eye out, and ended up getting mascara all over the sink. I retreated, once more, to no longer wearing makeup -- once again claiming that it was because I didn’t want to change the way I looked. Over the past few months, though, as I’ve watched social media creators and others use makeup to express themselves, their identity, and the confidence that it instills in others, my opinions began to change.
Makeup, for many, can be freeing. It’s an act of self expression. It can be fun, serious, subtle, or drastic. For many, makeup is one way that they express their style and their taste. It was only through looking at social media and other platforms that I realized how much fun it could be. To be honest, I’ve wanted to try makeup for a while as I watched others do the same. But I tried so hard not to conform to societal norms of makeup and femininity that I ended up changing myself in the process -- which is exactly what I was claiming to avoid. These past couple months I’ve decided that makeup works for me -- it’s fun, it’s exciting, and it adds something new to my day. As I write this, I’m wearing some sparkly eyeshadow for no apparent reason except that it excited me to put it on this morning.
There are many more reasons that people wear makeup than just excitement, though. A study in 2016 found that women considered to be socially “attractive” outearned their peers by 20% (1). The business world, and many other worlds, often expect women to put a serious amount of work into their appearances, and the consequences if you don’t, whether conscious or not, can be drastic. Makeup is expected--but not too much makeup. Many might feel as if they are not able to opt out of this makeup culture within the workplace, or outside of it. To add to the double standard, another study found that if women appear to be putting too much work into how they appear they are often seen as inauthentic, to the extent to which employers even described them as “untrustworthy” (1). And so the double standard continues. It seems an impossible line to walk: what’s the difference between enough work in appearance and too much work?
Makeup is a multifaceted issue, for sure. There are so many dimensions to why people choose to wear makeup, if people have money to afford it, and how they use it to express themselves. The makeup industry as a whole needs to have a serious confrontation with how they’ve upheld euro-centric, racist beauty standards (more on this in the articles below). There is also a history of animal cruelty and abuse. Makeup culture can create a serious double standard for plenty of women, both in business and in daily life. My story with makeup and how I came around to wearing it is different than it is for many. Right now I find makeup exciting. But I want to make sure to keep asking myself that in the future.
If you’re interested in reading more about makeup culture and the makeup industry, I’d suggest these articles for further reading:
Sources:
https://www.fastcompany.com/90400807/the-real-cost-of-not-wearing-makeup-at-the-office
Name: Brisa Kane
Editor: Claire Ottenstein
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