For years, society has set impossible beauty standards and expectations for women. Especially with the growing impact and prevalence of social media, the pressure to conform to unrealistic beauty ideals is greater than ever. But recently emerging alongside these beauty standards is the hypocritical trend of “makeup shaming,” or shaming women for wearing makeup to hide the so-called “truth” (aka imperfections and flaws that everyone deals with).
So not only are women shamed for not fitting society’s definition of beautiful, but they are also shamed when using makeup to try to fulfill these very expectations. Somewhere along the way, the very false notion was created that women who don’t wear makeup are somehow more honest and pure than those who do. Sadly, this type of ridiculous ignorance can be found in great abundance, propagated by both men and women alike.
For women, it’s so easy to give into a moment of jealousy or prejudice and judge a woman for the amount of makeup she wears. Men are prone to saying they prefer “natural” women who don’t wear too much makeup, as though wearing makeup somehow functions as a dictator of personality and character.
Many people seem to come to the assumption that women wear makeup to impress others or to fool others into believing that they are beautiful. Social media sharing sites, such as Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube, have fueled the fire by giving Internet trolls the power to leave nasty comments and opinions about how women look with makeup versus how they look without it. Phrases such as “makeup is why I have trust issues” have gained popularity and wrongful traction.
As a makeup-wearer myself, it can be a hurtful and confusing experience to navigate a world that sends mixed signals about true beauty and the ways we should go about attaining it. For me, makeup is a confidence booster, but it is also a creative outlet and a hobby. It is a personal decision and means of expression that should in no way dictate something about my character. It seems odd that a choice as simple and insignificant as deciding to wear a little makeup can allow people to make mean, degrading, and offensive judgments about someone.
True beauty should not be defined by a full face of makeup or a bare one. The kind of beauty that matters is the type that cannot be defined by one’s exterior. If wearing makeup makes one feel beautiful, than who is to say that she is wrong for doing what makes her feel good about herself? True beauty is loving the person who we are on the inside, which has nothing to do with the amount of time we take to get ready in the morning.
