Habit shift #14 - Live make-up free
- practical actions that can be taken to fight internalized misogyny
Why: Unprofessional. Unclean. Unhealthy. Just a few of the adjectives used to describe a woman who dares to go out without make-up. Look, really look, at the women you see in the media: they all have painted faces. All the women on instagram share the same made-up face, contoured into the oblivion of all individual specificity. The cosmetic industry feeds us lies all the time: that lighter skin is better, that if you age you’re a disgrace, that no one has pimples or acne, that you too can have that poreless skin if you buy this product and hide your face behind this expensive foundation. Make-up is often touted as a form of art, of self expression, but where is the art in repeating the same declination as all other women? Where is the art in trying to conform to socially imposed canons of beauty? Make-up is instead a tool of control and conformity over women. If you’re spending a large part on your income on make-up, you’re not buying books to learn skills or taking care of your health or just dedicating yourself to your hobbies. If you’re spending a sizeable part of your morning preparation time, and of your evening when you come home, putting on and taking off make-up, you are not getting the sleep you deserve or you are sacrificing your free time. If you’re buying make-up, you’re funneling money into the pockets of old rich men that thrive on your insecurities. By applying make-up, what you are telling yourself and the women you meet all day long is that your face is not good enough, that you have to hide, that you have to be ensnared by a relentless industry. You participate to the continued normalization of make-up as a requirement for public life for women. You keep adding bricks to your own cage.
How: Assess where you stand. Are you so out of touch with your bare, natural face that going make-up free at once would cause you significant distress? If so, gradually reduce your make-up routine. Start by ditching foundation, then blush, do your eyes a little less elaborately and then not at all, don’t put lipstick on. If you feel ready to be more drastic, toss all your make-up. It’s full of questionable chemicals anyway, so don’t bother finishing what products you already own. Stop looking at your face so critically for a while; cover mirrors, don’t take selfies, avoid being your own voyeur in the glasses of street shops. Let your face be just your face, that is the skin covering your skull. Exist, go on with your life. Touch your face, blow your nose, kiss friends on the cheek, wipe your face with your sleeve, enjoy the fact that there’s no transfer, that your skin can breathe. When you see yourself in pictures, treasure the imperfections, the signs of a life well lived in your wrinkles. Use the money you save on treats to yourself, on trips and books and outings to the movies and food. Sleep another thirty minutes instead of rising before dawn. Encourage your friends not to wear make-up too, reassure each other that you have a right to exist in your natural state as women and that you don’t need to go through your lives dolled up. Respond with “That’s misogyny.” when people around you imply that you should be wearing make-up. Enjoy having one less burden in your life.
