All opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Her Campus Falmouth.
BBC3 have been broadcasting a show called Snog Marry Avoid since 2008. This humorous, cringe-worthy, yet light-hearted documentary is on a two-way street of morality. Is it okay to publicly exploit people on national television? To tell them they look disgusting, change them, and then soak up the glory? Or is it a public service because 90-100% of the people surveyed say they would avoid these girls pre “make-under”?
Natural beauty is important, real, and in 100% of us no matter who we are and what we look like. The beauty industry has tarnished that with ways of “enhancing” our beauty, which strips us of our natural element; this is a given, you can’t deny it. But somehow “fakery” is a glamorous cover up that doesn’t just strip you of your natural beauty, but also of your identity. However, there is a difference between wearing make-up, and wearing “fake-up”.
There’s the excuse, sorry, “reason” that a lot of girls use to get away with wearing all of this stuff: that it’s to cover up, so they feel more confident. It’s all about insecurity and how to hide it; although ironically, half the girls on this show aren’t covering much with anything that’s not fake tan. The problem with these girls, weirdly enough, isn’t actually what they’re wearing. What they’re wearing and portraying themselves as is a result of an even bigger problem: what the beauty industry does, the extent of its spectrum and how it makes girls feel. Who on earth decided that to look “good” you have to be blonde-haired, big-boobed, tanned, and skinny? But there’s someone who is deciding all of this for us. What those girls are trying to preach is a message: “This is me, this is who I am, this is the impression I want to give people, and if it goes unaccepted, then at least I’m happy with who I am.” To that, I say fair enough. It’s not my place, even as a fashion student, to judge people on how they look.
We can all preach an opinion on fakery, and how it makes these deeply insecure girls and boys feel. But it’s a result of rebellion to being told what to wear and how to do so, which can be deeply intimidating and quite tricky to keep up with. Trend forecasting is a huge part of the fashion industry. Specialists can predict what’s going to be “cool” years in advance, but does that mean everyone should agree?
We’re in a society that is constantly contradicting itself. “Be yourself”, that’s all these girls are doing. “Actually, no, you need to look this way.” To that they rebel, because they’re more comfortable with themselves. Don’t get me wrong, there have been tragic cases of girls trying too hard to be “feminine”, for example going OUTSIDE wearing a crotch-less lace cat suit with peep holes for nipples. This girl has luckily been shown the light by the brutally honest POD (Personal Overhaul Device), but it’s still going back to the same insecurity: “I’m not feminine/beautiful/pretty enough.” The sad part is that dressing themselves up in this fakery has proved to have done them no favours because pre make-under, these girls are avoided. Post-make under they’re snogged or married.
So why bother with the fakery? This show is just proving that natural beauty will get you noticed more. Do I even need to remind you that beauty is in the eye of the beholder? Most men (and that’s not ruling out gay girls either) prefer a woman to be natural. Yeah a bit of lipstick never hurt anyone, but I can’t think of anyone who actually finds gluing fake eyelashes onto your eyelids all that attractive. I know guys who literally freak out at the thought of fake nails. I don’t think I know anyone who wants to be in bed with a girl who will leave orange streaks on the sheets from her heavy fake tan. So why do people do it? Why are girls hiding a perfectly beautiful version of themselves, to look ugly in fakery? Whatever makes them happy, yeah, but come on!
But then is all make up ruining our natural beauty? In perfect honesty I think when it’s done right; when you look classy, and not clown-like it’s fine; beautiful in fact. There’s something quite fun and feminine about it. We (should) all know we’re beautiful, but in the positive light we get to enhance that, with shiny gloop and glittery powder. But there’s the art of subtlety. There’s putting on make-up, and defacing yourself with “fake-up”. Some of these girls take up to six hours a day to get ready! How early do they wake up!? Being subtle requires minimal effort. In fact, in an article I read about staying classy (a totally underrated quality if you ask me), it said “it shouldn’t take you more than ten minutes to do your make up, and you should always know how to do it properly.” I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve spent watching make-up tips on YouTube videos from beauty bloggers; I find it so fun! All the do’s and don’ts are quite interesting, keeping your skin healthy and glowing. Fakery isn’t classy though is it? It’s quite honestly extremely tacky in my opinion!
So I set myself a challenge. Usually when I go out clubbing, I’m in a slinky dress, make-up and hair done nicely. I rarely wear foundation on a daily basis, but when I do there’s a noticeable difference (and I literally only use a fingertip amount) but I feel good; confident, like I’ll get a good amount of attention. I won’t lie to you, the attention I got, in reality, was from sleazy men who wanted only one thing: sex. Call me confident, but I’m worth a little more than that. So I went out in boots, leggings, a higher cut top, and a jacket (which I took off for the purpose of not melting into the sticky club floor). I applied minimal makeup, and my hair was tied up in a bun. The attention I got was amazing! Because I felt so relaxed, more like myself, and honestly care-free, it wasn’t the clothes that got me the attention, it was my attitude.
When I go out dressed up, I feel like I have to throw on this disguise, I have to live up to acting like the “glamorous” girl I appear to be. Which means I have to speak, act, dance, and behave in a different way (despite the alcohol). But when I was dressed “down”, it was amazing how much more fun I had. Although it’s not all about getting attention, I felt like people were looking at me, not at my legs or cleavage. It does work. So maybe that’s just it. These girls are hiding behind bulged boobs and inches of foundation, eyelashes that stick together when they blink and hair extensions longer than their knees because they don’t want people to see them; they’re legitimately hiding behind it. I went out to see whether I find myself hiding behind fashion and beauty regimes, and it’s not just me, but I found myself doing it.
Natural beauty is important, and we all have it. So despite the slightly brutal treatment POD gives those girls, most of them barely give it a chance, and they should; it works.