Is it non-feminist to wear make-up?

Hmmm, interesting posts.

Thinking about it, I would say that sometimes wearing make feels like putting on a mask which gives me more confidence (than if I wasn't wearing it, I mean). War paint, if you like.

Does that make sense?

I have wondered about this too. My instinct is that, yes, it is for the reasons suggested by Germaine Greer.

However, current notions of masculinity and femininity are almost as constrictive for men as they can be for women (I wouldn't go so far as to say they are equally as constricting).

So I think it would be great if men felt as free to wear cosmetics as women did and then I wouldn't have to feel bad for it! Think of Robert Smith from The Cure and his eye make up, for example. Also, I remember David Beckham getting lambasted in the press for wearing a sarong.

I also recall hearing that hundreds of years ago, men wore as much makeup, and sometimes more than, as women. They were the 'peacocks' showing off to the women (obviously only certain classes would have had the luxury of wigs and make up, I know).

It's strange how ideas of gender change so that it's now seen as emasculating to wear makeup or anything associated with the feminine sphere. I can't help but feel that the Top Gear notion of what it means to be a man is influencing this (helped along by James May's new tv programme about teaching men to do manly things again) and therefore femininity has to be set up as the exact opposite. I studied the idea of "the other" at uni (in my human geography class no less!) and that idea seems very pertinent here.

I'd like to not feel that I have to wear make up at all. I don't buy glossy magazines or try and expose myself to any media that reminds how inadequate I am against the current (and unobtainable) ideal of femininity - the Nuts/Zoo model springs to mind. I try to compromise by not wearing too much to work and having days off at weekends!

Sorry - this has turned into an essay!

I feel the same way as your dad, which is why my father thinks it a shame that I'm not
'More of a dollybird, you've got good legs'
He always felt that girlies should wear heels, make-up and look nice. So I went my own way.
Nothing wrong with makeup, or sexy Halloween witches, or Spice Girl miniskirts.
It's just not how I see myself as a feminist. I prefer to be judged on the contents of my mind.

germaine greer used to say that make-up was ok for design/ dramatism/ artistic purposes, but not if you're just using it to uphold and conform to stereotypical (patriarchal)notions of what is attractive / 'sexy' in a woman. either in terms of 'nice girls wear make-up that can't be seen, just to illiminate their natural beauty (bleurgh) and to hide their imperfections (double bleurgh), or full on hooker slap.

I do wear makeup, and have thought about this too.

I think for me, I feel ok about wearing makeup because I don't wear it everyday, and most importantly- I don't care if people see me without it. It's not a necessary part of my identity and I use it in the same way I might choose to wear a blue top one day to suit my mood. The sort of occasions I wear makeup to are generally somewhere I would expect both women and men to ave taken care of their appearance.

When I started a new job at a high street fashion shop, I was given a quiz at the end of the induction and one of the questions was 'does the company expect you to wear makeup to work?'

My response was to point out that would surely be illegal. The managers looked very uncomfortable, shifted in their seats.

Nothing anti feminist about it imo

Well, I like wearing make up (it's almost a form of art in some ways) and consider myself a feminist so I don't agree that it's anti-feminist/sexist to do so.