Makeup.

It has been around since practically the start of mankind. It originally was used to symbolize one's social status; predominantly of women. However, as the centuries passed, it became more of a symbol of beauty than of wealth and class.

For the past few centuries, it has been drilled into us women's minds that we are only beautiful and feminine if we coat our faces with these cosmetic concoctions.

Mothers teach their daughters as soon as they're old enough to walk how to use makeup, and they encourage them to wear it as they get older. While I think makeup is a great way for a young girl to express herself, it should be because she wants to, not because she feels forced. Why not teach your daughters how to feel beautiful just as they are?

The issue I'm discussing today surrounds the societal rules placed on women regarding their appearance.

If we aren't nit-picked enough for our bodies, lifestyles, clothing, etc, our cosmetic beauty choices really bring it home. If a woman doesn't want to wear makeup, she is often looked down upon as "unfeminine" and is assumed to not care about her appearance. Many suppose she must be sad, lonely, or "an extreme feminist wanting to bring down the patriarchy through going against the beauty standards that the patriarchy placed on them in the first place"

It has been ingrained in us from such a young age that makeup=beauty.

Makeup = popularity.

Makeup = love.

Makeup = societal benefits.

And so on.

This is all bull crap if you ask me.

Why should women feel forced to put makeup on? Why are we conditioned to believe that we aren't beautiful or ready for the day without it?

Men, of course, don't deal with these issues, as they've never been told they need to cover up their natural faces with paint and chemicals.

Us women, we basically are made to feel ugly and worthless if we go outside "bare-faced." In high school, girls feel pressured to look "perfect," so they begin experimenting with makeup to fit-in. Many get teased and made fun of if they choose not to wear makeup, so they cake it on to appear likable. However, one's beauty preferences should not indicate their value as a person.

This cycle unfortunately never ends, and it carries on throughout college and well into the real world. Women who wear makeup are typically "favored" more than women who don't.

This is completely unfair and very shallow if you ask me.

Personally, I used to freak out if was seen without makeup. However, as I've gotten older I've learned that beauty doesn't have one set definition.

It has taken me a while to break the toxic, self-deprecating habit of basically putting my face on each day. Now, I feel just as confident and beautiful without makeup as I do with it.

Those who only have negative opinions of women who choose to go bare-faced are shallow and fake. I and all women for that matter are in no way less worthy, less attractive, or less desirable if we forego makeup. It's just another way that society has put us down for wanting to be our true selves.

I'm not trying to say that makeup is bad. What I'm saying is that many women wear it for the wrong reasons. It shouldn't be a way to hide or replace confidence/beauty. It should only be a way to enhance it. A woman should wear makeup because she enjoys it, not because she feels that she has to in order to be accepted, loved, favored, etc.

It's time we end this outdated stigma and teach our fellow women, young and old, that we are beautiful and empowered both fresh-faced and dolled up. That it is just as acceptable to go out without makeup as it is with it. That beauty beams from within.

Makeup is simply that: make-up.

You shouldn't be using makeup to make-up for anything.