It is absolutely tragic that while women are still severely oppressed in some parts of the world, and still disadvantaged in others, that our supposed idols, our leaders in feminism, are so bitterly caught up in the technicalities of feminism. Equality and freedom is about choice. Equality, in my eyes, does not truly exist without freedom. Hell, and that includes the right to choose to wear lipstick - bright red, orange purple or black. Not for one sex to feel pressured to wear a full face of makeup from society and the media, or to not wear any from so called feminists. It is for both sexes to feel able to decide, for themselves, what, if any, makeup to wear. And if that means seeing men in bright red lipstick, then so be it! All in the name of equality.
Did you know that lipsticks were thought to be the "incarnation of the devil" and banned by the church in medieval Europe? Prostitutes were the only women to sport a bold lip during the time. Fast forward a few hundred years cosmetics became popular among
actresses, but were still not acceptable for everyday day women. There was even a proposed law that a woman's marriage could be annulled if she wore cosmetics before her wedding day.
I remember a story of women in taliban controlled Afghanistan who would meet in secret to have makeup parties, after it was forbidden for them to wear cosmetics or paint their nails. The risks were real - there were instances of women having their fingers cut off for having coloured nails. The strong desire by certain segments of society to control women's sexuality never fails to amaze me, and sadly it continues in pockets all over the world even today.
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| The right to ROCK a bold lip! |
However, as females have slowly gained more and more equality, our rights to wear makeup have increased experientially. In fact, women are now presented, in some aspects, with the opposite problem faced by past women. These days perfected images saturate our everyday. Ads with women plastered with makeup sell us everything from a new perfume to a promise of happiness. There is increasing pressure for women to project a million conflicting qualities. Beauty, but not vanity. Grace, but not high maintenance Intelligence, but not too much. Confidence, but not arrogance. Independence, but once again not too much. Competency but not un-needing. Loving, but not overbearing - and the list goes on.
And unfortunately, this ideal image created by society dictates that women not only act the part, but that they look it too - at
all times. I used to work as a receptionist at a real estate office. It was open to the public, so was not entirely casual. I was one of two women working there, greatly outnumbered by men. While it was never directly stated by the boss, it became increasingly obvious that I was required to wear a full face of makeup at work. It is sad that as women advance in relation to being able to control their appearance, society is pushing us backward through dictating, in a less obvious and direct manner than the taliban, how we should look and present ourselves.
However, just to make and incredibly complex situation even more complicated, many modern radical feminists reject makeup, and expect all women to follow suit. They believe altering ones appearance to 'please' the opposite gender and society is wrong and degrading to all women. Now I happen to LOVE mascara. I wear it daily, in fact if I could somehow sleep in it and never have to take it off, I would! But that is for me - no one sees me on a lazy day studying at home. So it upsets and angers me that some feminists are, in the name of equality and freedom, not only telling me that wearing makeup is wrong, but wanting me to stop.
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| I just had to include this - a DIOR ad. We definitely need more like this! |
