Makeup is a weird industry. Many campaigns, it seems, are taking the insecurities of people, telling them how bad they look, and then showing them a product that will make them beautiful. This isn't saying makeup is bad, by any means, but it's terrible to me that people feel forced to buy makeup, because otherwise they are seen as ugly. You're not ugly if you wear makeup or if you don't wear it, and I think that's an important thing for people to realize. The reason I wear it isn't because I think I'm ugly if I don't, it's because I think makeup can be fun. If I'm having a busy day, though, you can bet that I'll be skipping the makeup routine in the morning.
However, if a girl doesn't wear makeup, she's seen a 'lazy' or 'not trying hard enough'. Then, if she does decide to wear makeup, she's 'trying too hard', or (a huge pet peeve of mine), she's only doing it 'to get noticed'. I hate these thought processes, because they assume that a girl has to do everything they do for the sake of everyone else. If a girl wants to wear makeup to get noticed, great! If she's wearing it because she thinks she looks prettier, great! If she's not wearing makeup because she doesn't feel like it, great! Pretty much, if a girl wants to wear it or doesn't want to wear it, it shouldn't matter.
I feel like it's almost expected for women to wear at least a little bit of makeup, but they can't wear too much or else they're being a 'tramp'. People always say they prefer the natural look girls, but that look isn't 'natural' in the way they think of it--the natural look is eyeliner and mascara and foundation a variety of other things. If they don't do this, people ask if they're sick, or if something's wrong because they look tired. In a professional setting, I imagine this happens a lot, because if you go a day without makeup you're seen as not caring about yourself or how others see you, apparently. This comic is a great example:
I love that last panel.
But my real issue with makeup is the fact that guys can't wear it. When I say they 'can't' wear it, I don't mean that their face will explode if they put on some foundation. I mean that as a society we have seen it as a bad thing for guys to wear makeup because it is feminine, so only girls are have the expectation to wear enough makeup but not wear too much makeup. I've heard guys say that girls have an advantage because they can hide zits and other marks under makeup. Guys can wear it too though, and people need to realize that! Guys can wear makeup for fun, like girls, or wear it because it make them more comfortable, or wear it because they like how it make them look. Since we as a society are still holding girls up to the double standard of, "wear makeup but don't wear too much," though, I don't think things are going to change any time soon, but we can dream of a judgement free future.
As random closing note: It's not 'guy-liner', its eyeliner. It's not a 'man-bun', it's just a bun. Can we stop changing things just because a different gender begins to use a fashion?
