The Newest Outlet for Makeup Shaming is Here! Here’s Why it’s a Problem.

Remember that meme that floated around 2015? Something like:

Yeah.

In case you didn’t hear, the world hasn’t progressed at all (*surprised face*), and back in mid-2017, we were introduced to MakeApp, which allows “you” (aka: the insecure men in your life) to add or remove makeup from any picture.

Yes, this is a real thing. Yes, it was created by a man, Ashot Gabrelyanov. Yes, he denies any claims that the app was intended to shame women.

“We built MakeApp as an experiment and released it into the wild a few months ago and unfortunately the media coverage solely focused on the makeup removal function of the app and characterized it as a bunch of ‘tech bros’ trying to hurt women, which is just so far from the truth,” he told BuzzFeed.

@Gabrelyanov if the focus of the app isn’t the makeup removing feature, then why do your tweets publicize only that feature?? Just saying.

News platforms have attacked him left and right for the feature, naming it “sexist” and “misogynistic” for obvious reasons. It reinforces the longstanding notion that women wear makeup to hide their face and not be who they “truly are”, hanging men out to dry when it comes to judging a woman on her appearance. What if they’re only attracted to the woman when she looks like her “made up” self? What if she wears makeup all the time in the first few months of dating and eventually he falls in love with her but he’s never seen her without makeup and they move in together and one day she walks out of the shower completely barefaced looking like an absolute atrocity and he suddenly feels as though he’s been tricked all along by this foundation façade? Shame.

According to Huffington Post, a 2017 YouGov survey revealed that an astounding 63 percent of men believe that women wear makeup to “trick” them. 63% of men still believe that makeup is about them.

Now, devil’s advocate says it’s true. I know I like to paint a little concealer under my eyes and throw on some sparkly shadow when going on a first date. I get it. Girls are constantly pressured to look and act according to social standards of beauty, and that’s a hard mountain to climb. However, when I bust out my Tarteist Pro Glow palette to chisel my cheeks, my Kat Von D Tattoo liquid eyeliner to flick out that wing, or my MAC lip liner and lipstick in “brick” to achieve that perfectly painted pout, SURPRISE: it has nothing to do with you, insecure men of the world.

Nowadays, in this 2018 era, women are embracing, and being encouraged to embrace, their natural selves more than ever before. They are more confident, willing to chase their dreams and follow their passions. For some, that passion is makeup, and it has nothing to do with hiding away their honest selves. Women don’t hide behind rose gold highlighter. They use it as a microphone.

Makeup is also broadening its perspective to be for women and men, it is becoming an art form rather than a mask. Check out Manny Mua, Patrick Starr, Jeffree Star, James Charles, and more. They are called makeup artists for a reason. It is simply impossible to discount makeup as just a veil.

Women are done veiling, done hiding and being shamed. Guys, no one is trying to trick you or trap you or lure you in with false pretenses, and you have to stop thinking that way. Ladies, if your guy can’t look at you the same way when you’re out at a fancy restaurant as when you just rolled out of bed in the morning, he’s not the guy for you.

So, take her swimming on the first date. Swipe off her makeup with MakeApp. See what happens.

Source Links:

Gifs via giphy.com

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/makeup-removal-app-makeapp-contr…

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/makeapp-makeup-removal-app_us_5a0c5…

• beauty
• makeup
• makeup shaming
• shaming
• social media
• women