If someone asked you to take your makeup off in the middle of your busy school or work day, what would you say?
Over the last 2 weeks, Megan Zeddies, Lorena Abad, and Meredith Nee performed a series of social experiments on campus in order to begin to understand why women wear makeup and what perceptions surround the use of makeup as a tool for physical enhancement.
Fascinated by this experiment, I asked Megan to sit down with me and tell me a bit more about her project and the conclusions her group came to about makeup in American society.
(above: two women removing their makeup on campus)
To give some background, Megan, Lorena, and Meredith are all currently taking "Reading Feminism", a Junior Cornerstone that explores modern feminism through essays, novels, and current events.
They were assigned a project that explores an issue with feminism, which is how they landed on a project that examines women's relationship with makeup.
When asked what made her want to explore this particular angle, Megan explained that she sees makeup and beauty are both valued highly. Megan, rhetorically, asked, "Why do women feel so compelled to wear makeup?"
Below is an excerpt from the conversation Megan and I had about her incredible experience with this experiment.
(above: a participant before removing her makeup)
Why does the world need feminism?
Seeing everyone as equals regardless of gender or sex or race is essential to a functioning society.
Why do you wear makeup?
It's like a reflex. I get up in the morning and start putting on my makeup before I even realize what I'm doing. And then when I started thinking about why I was doing it, I realized that I felt like I needed to cover my imperfections to feel confident. But, after observing women on campus take their makeup off, I realized that these imperfections aren't as obvious as I convince myself. It's certainly a major perk that, in this society, it's completely acceptable for women to cover up imperfections on their face.
How did most women respond to your request to remove their makeup?
About two thirds agreed. Most of the women who didn't usually said they had somewhere to be later that day, like work or a presentation, so they didn't want to go in with a bare face (even though that was kind of the point).
What was the consensus about why women wear makeup?
Confidence. In our survey, we asked what made people feel confident. There are three rough categories that all reasons seem to fit into: affirmation, physical, and non-physical. Affirmation was the highest. What seems sad to me, is that non-physical was the lowest; Intelligence is the least likely to make a woman feel confident.
Before doing this experiment, would you have consented to removing your makeup in the middle of the day?
I want to say yes, but it would probably depend on the day. Now, I would definitely say yes. I've realized how little it matters, and how people don't really notice anyway. It's such a trivial thing.
How does this campaign relate to the overall cause of gender equality?
For me, it really emphasizes the fact that women feel compelled to do a lot more to impress men than men do to impress women, which sucks. In order for us to be equal, we have to hold each other to the same standards.
What do you hope people take away from this campaign?
I want people to know how beautiful they naturally are. You don't need makeup, or anything else, to be beautiful. You're already enough.
(above: a participant after removing her makeup)
Gender equality has been an issue that I have been passionate about since I first came to understand how deep the divide runs.
Watching Megan's campaign develop over the last several weeks has reminded me of why it is so important that women constantly support and affirm each other for being kind, intelligent, and brave.
Beauty originates from a place so much deeper than skin, and can certainly not be found in your perfect shade of stay-all-day foundation or waterproof mascara.
*Megan, Lorena, and Meredith will be releasing their full photo campaign on Tumblr on April 28th where you can see the project in its full intensity.
