Are you cringing right now because you’ve done it? Don’t worry; most of us probably have. Sometimes it just slips out in the midst of small talk.
Yet, when it happens to you, you realize how unflattering and uncomfortable it is. You immediately feel unworthy to be in any public setting and proceed to explain why it is you are bombarding everyone’s space with your unruly presence.
90 percent of the time, when someone tells a woman she “looks tired,” it’s because she isn’t wearing makeup. And this on its own really bothers me.
Women do not have a duty to wear makeup. It is an OPTIONAL set of beauty products that we can use simply if we feel like it. Some women wear makeup for comfort; some view it as an art form; some wear it every day; some wear it twice a month. Everyone uses makeup differently, but it should never, ever be expected. Even if a woman wears heavy makeup every single day and doesn’t one time, she should not be told she “looks tired” because of it.
Personally, I don’t wear a lot of makeup. I do usually wear some, though, and every time I’ve been told I look tired, I haven’t been wearing an ounce of makeup. I have never had a problem being seen without makeup, and it saddens me that so many women are uncomfortable with this. Maybe it’s because they’ve been told too many times that they look tired without it…because nothing makes you painfully self-conscious like another person blatantly pointing out the lackluster condition of your face.
Honestly though, the makeup factor put aside, when is it ever productive to a situation to let someone know that they’re clearly looking inadequate that day? If a woman looks tired, she probably is–and you just made her long day a little bit worse. Everyone has days that they don’t look or feel their best. She’s dealing with it; she’s pushing through, and she definitely doesn’t need you to let her know she looks tired that day.