How Feminist are Your Anti-Makeup Slogans?

Often the waters surrounding feminism and makeup are murkier than the water I just cleaned my eyeshadow brushes in. Is wearing makeup the ultimate conformity to the patriarchy? Is it empowering? Do women actually have a choice? Of course, each individual case is different and each person uniquely defines their relationship with makeup, femininity and feminism. But there are certain overarching, problematic themes in the issue, specifically when it comes to body image.

Most quotable is the dogma “You look prettier without makeup.” Variations include “you don’t need that makeup to look beautiful,” or “I prefer you without makeup.” These lines are bounced around by quasi-body image positivity campaigns, often aimed at encouraging men to help women by reassuring them of their beauty. Obviously these comments usually come from a place of good intention, but once you break down these campaigns, they have some pretty harmful undertones.

1. “So therefore… I look bad with makeup?” These poorly thought through comments can often have an immediate backlash, as they suggest negativity about how a person looks with makeup on. If a person truly is insecure about their looks, a backhanded compliment is probably not the way to go.
2. It implies that women wear makeup to please men. When the message comes from individual men, or large corporations, it carries a condescending tone of reassurance that we are still beautiful to men without makeup. Our society is geared towards making women submissive, and just generally secondary to males, so I suppose it’s not surprising that we are told our body image standards should be reliant on their opinions. This concept eradicates possibilities of actual self-love, and denies legitimacy in women’s autonomous choices about their bodies. Rather, it encourages the view that women’s happiness revolves around their sex appeal under a male gaze, which can dehumanise straight women and erase queer women from the social narrative. Sound drastic? It is. Even if you can’t see these dramatic end-game results from your window, the language and behaviours surrounding makeup have a pervasive effect which builds an overall societal attitude. Proof lies in the everyday experiences of women who are simultaneously judged for their lack of makeup, and reassured that they are desirable in the eyes of men.
3. It indicates the patriarchy’s double standard when it comes to women’s body images. For every corny lyric telling us “we don’t know how beautiful we are” or “we don’t need to hide behind that makeup”, there is a flipside where a woman who is confident in her looks and displays her beauty is called a show-off, bitch, slut, whore, etc. Confidently beautiful women are a threat to men because they are not dependent on them for self-esteem, and so cannot be controlled into being content with patriarchal dominance. It serves society better when women are insecure, and can only be saved by a *very masculine* knight in shining armour, because when women find empowerment in femininity, they start speaking up, and that can ruin certain oppressive masterplans.
4. It narrows makeup to be specifically for feminine women. If makeup is worn by women to have their beauty validated by men, then it becomes taboo substance for men or masculine folk. Even teenage boys wearing some concealer to cover acne are considered weird and strange, let alone a man who enjoys wearing a full face of makeup. Following the logic from above, anyone wearing makeup is seen as effeminate, which has direct links to weak, insecure and hopelessly promiscuous, which fuels bullying and discrimination against trans and gender non binary people.

This list is short and definitely incomplete, but addresses a few main areas of a pretty multi-layered topic. There is a strong tendency to make blanket statements about women who wear makeup; that they are inherently insecure, or are willingly giving into men’s expectations. It’s always important to remember that empowerment is personal, and every woman has her own way of being confident in a world that thrives on female anxiety and self-hate. If you are wondering how to comment on someone’s makeup without being problematic, play it by ear. Rather than regurgitating counterproductive slogans, take other factors into account to come to a more accurate conclusion about what a person needs. Do they have other body image issues? Does their behaviour indicate their use of makeup is manifesting their insecurities, or does it help them? Is your input necessary or should you gently encourage them to see a professional? When in doubt, straight up compliments are usually fail-safe!

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Hannah