So, surprise again! I really do like makeup. I like that on a sour day when I'm not feeling 100%, I can play dress-up in the bathroom mirror anywhere from ten minutes to an hour. I play with the plethora of colours that eye shadow and lipstick comes in. I blend and blend and blend. That doesn't mean that I need to hide my face under all of these cosmetics. Quite the contrary, I like to use them to enhance what God and my exceptional genes have blessed me with. A little bit of eyeliner and a dash of dark purple eyeshadow in that crease part above my eye, and my green eyes pop. I look damn fly. It is a confidence booster, for sure.
Makeup isn't the root of my confidence. I think it is truly sad when girls say things like "I can't go out of the house without putting my face on." or "I look disgusting without makeup." Really, ladies? Really? That kind of negative self talk just turns my stomach. But who can blame girls for thinking like that? The media is completely against us. Makeup advertising campaigns play off of our insecurities so that we will feel obligated to spend more money on their products.
(Et tu, Ellen? )
Ok, maybe I'm mistaken, or maybe it is just Ellen Degeneres always making me laugh, but that didn't seem so bad. That is pretty straight forward marketing saying exactly what they are selling and why it is worthwhile to have. You know, if you have wrinkles that is.
Maybe Cover Girl is just very good with their advertising because this one doesn't seem so bad either. It presents the product in a very honest way, I think. "This mascara is going to thicken your lashes. What were you expecting?" Good job, Christie Brinkley. I can't help but feeling that as women, we are misplacing our outrage. How dare some corporation tell me what I need in my life and on my face to be happy, successful and beautiful. They should be petting me on the back and telling me what a good job I'm doing. Isn't that how advertising works? The point of ad campaigns isn't to make you feel bad about yourself, it is to make their product seem desirable and necessary.
I don't blame media. In order for consumerism to function properly, there needs to be a demand to meet the supply. Girls want this stuff in their bathrooms and on their face. But why? It isn't that complicated, ladies want to look better to have an easier time attracting a potential mate. There are ques on your face that speak to your potential partner, and if a little bit of blush makes my potential betrothed assume I am healthy, who am I to argue with nature? I can throw down a few bucks, have the cheekbones of an athlete and sit right here eating cupcakes all day. Yes please.
It has been quite a few years since I've picked up a 'girly' magazine (unless you count Popular Science and aren't gender-biased) so maybe things have changed since my last issue of 'Cosmopolitan' but I don't feel like the ads are hurting me at all. Hell, nothing in that magazine hurts me, regardless of what certain feminists tell me. In any magazine you pick up, there are topic-central ads bursting from the pages and 'girly' magazines are just the same, focusing heavily on makeup, fashion, beauty tips or what have you. This isn't some huge media conspiracy, this is -once again- supply and demand. If we didn't want these things in these magazines, they wouldn't be there. Sales would drop and the editors -who are virtually all women themselves- would need to rethink their game plans. 'Cosmo' isn't trying to turn us women into painted up, over-sexed airheads because we're doing it to ourselves. Our insecurities come from elsewhere and it isn't right to attack those who are just cashing in on it. They aren't telling you what to wear or how to paint your face. they are a glossy 'what's trending' feed.
Makeup isn't evil. makeup isn't superficial. Makeup isn't patriarchal oppression. A bare face isn't rebellion. Inner beauty will always outweigh your physical appearance. Makeup is just a product that you can either enjoy or avoid. It is a few ounces of coloured powder, it isn't a ball and chain. First and foremost, before you can be beautiful with makeup on, you have to come to the terms with your own natural, unique beauty regardless of age, race or body shape.
