I don’t know if you saw my tweet yesterday but I found a really interesting article on UK newspaper site, www.guardian.co.uk, in which feminist journalist Julie Bindel asserted that she had never worn make-up. “When I heard women talk about putting their face on, I would just think to myself, ‘I’m already wearing mine’”.
More controversially though she went on to reveal that her face is left naked, as she doesn’t feel the need to “dress up for male approval”.
This sentiment really got me thinking. Is that why woman like us wear make-up? Subconsciously, despite all of the talk of doing it for ourselves – enjoying the fun and frivolity of make-up – are we indeed masking an uglier truth: that we’re wearing it to be more attractive to men?
I can’t say this crosses my mind when I slick on my orange lippy of a morning – for one thing, the general consensus amongst my guy mates is that it’s “weird” – yet I have to admit, I do feel more attractive when I have make-up on. But I don’t feel that I’m betraying some kind of sisterhood by saying so. I wouldn’t berate anyone for not wearing make-up and I don’t expect anyone to criticise me for choosing to wear it.
Bindel talks of the absurdity that “every single inch of us is supposed to be plucked, coloured and hidden beneath cosmetics” or else we face the wrath of those around us for ‘daring to bare’ our naked faces.
Yet I often arrive in the office, stripped of make-up, having run late, and I always make a point of giving my skin a rest on weekend days which of course means that I wear it every other day. I mean obviously, I love it, it’s my job. Yet I guess it still comes down to the underlying question, are we pressured to wear it? I’ll leave this one for you to discuss ladies…
Who do you wear make-up for? What do you think about Bindel’s points?
Image credit: style.com
