For all of time, women have had to express their gender in a way that society approves. Women are supposed to cover our flaws with makeup, shave our body hair, and make ourselves look “presentable,” whatever that means. The feminist movement a few decades ago was all about burning bras and rejecting these ideas of femininity. The feminist movement in the past few years has been about reclaiming femininity and practicing “choice feminism,” which essentially means wearing makeup and looking nice for yourself, not for others. Is one of these philosophies more feminist than the other?
The feminist movement in the United States constantly shifts and evolves, and right now we are in a stage where we are really focusing on celebrating women and their femininity. I think this is amazing, because for so long, traditionally feminine personality traits have always been considered to be negative. Feminism is all about allowing women to have a choice. In this case, we want women to have the choice to wear makeup, wear pink, and still be respected as a human being and not an airheaded object. I have always lauded Legally Blonde as an incredible feminist movie because Elle Woods is as feminine as they come: blonde, obsessed with pink, glamorous, and in a sorority. Yet, she graduates from Harvard Law as valedictorian of her class. This was the first movie I had seen where a woman could be both hyper-feminine and powerful. Before watching Legally Blonde, I avoided anything that could be considered “basic.” I thought that nobody would respect me if i didn’t reject conventional femininity. I thought that if people saw me as too girly, they would think I was unintelligent. So in this sense, wearing makeup and performing femininity in the traditional way can be a feminist act. The world needs to see that femininity and strength are not mutually exclusive. Little girls need to know that they can play with Barbies and run for president one day.
The question is, how much of a choice do we really have to wear makeup? We can say it’s a choice all we want, and we can preach that we are doing it for ourselves, but we don’t exist in a vacuum. We constantly try to project a positive image of ourselves so that others deem us respectable or attractive. We are constantly performing. Think about the “no-makeup makeup” look. It takes at least 3 products to get this look, yet that’s our idea of what a woman should look like without makeup. I know countless women who feel the need to perfect their flaws before going outside. In fact, I used to be one of these women. I thought that it was “just for me” and just to help my confidence, but our confidence often comes from others’ perception of us. The truth is that I was worried how I was going to be perceived by society. If I stopped performing femininity “correctly” at any point, people would think I was weird or ugly. Quite frankly, we should have the right to go outside looking like trash. Men aren’t expected to have perfect, airbrushed skin, so why should women be held to that standard? It feels like women only exist to be looked at by others, and that can really mess with our heads. Feminine, conventionally attractive white women get more opportunities and respect than any other kind of woman. While I love that Elle Woods shattered stereotypes, she got into Harvard based on a video of her in a bikini. If she hadn’t had white privilege or “pretty privilege,” she never would have gotten into law school, despite her qualifications.
So, what we really need to consider is why we do the things that we do. Obviously it’s not a bad thing to want to look good, and makeup can be really fun. And you can call yourself a feminist no matter what you wear. But I think it’s important to deconstruct these ideas and decide whether you are making a choice for yourself or for society. Even if the choice is for yourself, think about why you feel more comfortable with makeup on. The reason may not be about empowerment at all. That being said, there are many serious issues that women face, particularly by trans women and women of color. In the grand scheme of things, choosing whether or not to wear makeup really doesn’t matter. What matters is analyzing everything we view as a “choice” and realizing that sometimes society already made that choice for us. We have been conditioned to believe that a woman’s value lies in her beauty, but it doesn’t. So please do what makes YOU happy, and understand that you don’t have to look good to expect respect from others.
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