If you saw Ariana Grande on the cover of VOGUE, you probably raised your eyebrows. I know I did.
She was sporting a natural, light makeup, slightly disheveled look, which is uncharacteristic both for her and any woman in the spotlight today. We've gotten accustomed to the full-face contoured and highlighted look, so an understated look is a little strange. Though it's surprising, this trend isn't new, as Buzzfeed author Bim Adewunmi eloquently mapped in her article.
It's time for something actually new.
We're coming off the "Instagram baddie" trend, which I admit I tried to get into. Who doesn't want to look like a glittery goddess with Angelina Jolie cheekbones? Makeup is an art form and a skill, and it can be marketed as confidence in a tube. Anybody who's been paying attention has seen the surge in the culture around makeup, with girls boasting "eyeliner sharp enough to kill a man," and highlights brighter than the moon.
And honestly, this trend is fascinating. It is incredible what YouTube MUAs can do with a brush, and makeup artistry is a skill that should absolutely be celebrated. However, the trend has bred this expectation that women always have their eyeshadow perfectly buffed and blended, highlights poppin', and brows immaculate. Well-done makeup is equated with strength, and that's an issue.
It's crazy that women are expected to wear makeup at all. Completely altering the shape and color of your face every morning? That's wild! Most women would be mortified if a coworker saw them without makeup, and women who usually do their makeup are met with shock when they go barefaced. If I had a dollar for every time a makeup-free friend was asked if she was sick, I could probably afford a Naked palette. Which leads me to another facet of this issue.
Makeup is expensive! The average woman will spend $13,000 on makeup in her lifetime. To put that in perspective, here's a BuzzFeed listicle of other things that cost $13,000. Hint: one of the items on that list is 39 iPad minis.
How blatantly classist is it to place heavy importance on good looking makeup when it takes so much time and money to achieve? A woman who makes a lot of money and has time can look infinitely more acceptable than a woman who needs to work a couple jobs to get by.
Every time we have this conversation, women who like wearing makeup argue that it's a personal choice, and gives them confidence and power. Hi ladies, I'm glad you have something you enjoy. But now I have a few questions for you.
Do you treat a woman who chooses not to wear makeup the same way you treat one who does? Does society treat those two women the same way? Does wearing makeup give you some advantage in the world over women who don't? In a job interview, if you and a woman who has chosen to go without makeup have the exact same credentials, are equally as good in the interview, and equally qualified, does your choice to wear makeup put you ahead anyway? I'm here to tell you it does.
Women who wear more makeup get paid more than those who wear less, according to a study from The Journal of Social Stratification and Mobility by Jaclyn Wong and Andrew Penner. According to another study by Dr. Viktoria Mileva, women who wear full makeup to job interviews are seen as "prestigious" by men and "dominant" by women. So, depending on whether you're being interviewed by a man or a woman, your makeup will reflect differently on your character.
So how much choice do we really have? Everyone wants to look polished and professional for a job interview, but finding the amount of makeup that will please the right people can be a challenging balancing act. A man interviewing for that same job won't have to worry about this in the same way.
I've mentioned men, so let's consider what some have to say about the issue. Typically, you'll hear men say that women look better without makeup anyway. Most of them do not know what they're talking about.
The same men who have said things like this to me have asked if I was sick when I went without makeup. When they say they want a "natural" look, they really mean they want a perfectly blended full face of makeup that looks like it could be natural, but actually took 30 products to produce. They think this is natural, because as a society, we have been socialized to accept blemishes in male faces, but not in female ones. If you don't believe me, ladies put on any amount of makeup and ask a man you don't live with how much they think you're wearing.
My big, core question here is this: Why do we have to be pretty at all?
All kinds of stories have this moral that beauty is only skin-deep, beauty is as beauty does, and first impressions are often wrong. But we just can't seem to get it through our thick skulls! Where does my value lie, if not in my appearance? Really, someone tell me because I feel like most of my inner value is ignored if my outer beauty is not in place first.
Lots of girls feel like their appearance is doomed. They have birthmarks or stretchmarks, asymmetry in their faces, uncontrollable hair, what have you. One response I've seen to that is the attempt to beautify those traits. People have started saying stretchmarks are beautiful, frizz is beautiful, fat is beautiful. That's very nice of everyone to say, but I think it's the wrong way to fix this problem.
We don't tell men their hairy legs are beautiful, and men still don't seem to have a problem wearing shorts. Why isn't it the same with other physical traits? My body doesn't have to be beautiful just to exist without shame. I have weird redness on my arms. That doesn't have to be attractive for me to go without sleeves. I'm a little chubby. That doesn't have to be sexy, I can just be chubby and exist. I shouldn't have to feel beautiful to feel worth something.
Rather than expanding the list of traits that women can feel attractive for having, let's stop placing so much value on being attractive.
Yes, reader, that is easier said than done, but it absolutely can be done. I'm doing my part by forgoing makeup for the foreseeable future. I'm going to keep taking care of myself, washing my face, brushing my hair, etc., but I shouldn't have to alter my appearance to get respect, so I won't.
My hope is that women who don't particularly like wearing makeup will feel like they can go without it, and as more and more women do this, a bare face will be more acceptable.
Here's my face, world! Dark circles, big pores, weird eyebrows, and all.
What do you think?
