make up is misogynistic oppression

[sixtyandsomething]

I hate make up, because of the devastating damage it does to the lives of women and girls

Obviously I don't wear any, so it doesn't damage my life.

But I am a teacher, and see its devastating impact on the lives of literally thousands of girls

It is ridiculous to think it makes women look "beautiful". Women without make up are beautiful. Women with make up look like they have a load of chemical crap smeared on their face to cover up their natural features. Which is what they do.

Thinking this looks "better" than a face without make up is just misogynistic programming and conditioning.

Girls are literally taught and programmed and schooled and conditioned to believe they can't go out without their faces covered. I speak to girls who tell me they will kill themselves if they have to take it off. They are surrounded by media images of women smeared in the crap, and are conditioned to think this is what a normal female face looks like.

It is expensive, time consuming and bad for your skin, but worst of all it is oppressive.

Just look at this picture and compare the natural look of the men, who just have the minimum make up required for the lighting, and the massively overexaggerated, false, completely covered up look of the women, who apparently need to cover their lips with an unnatural colour, paint extra circles around their eyes, change their eyelashes and eyebrows, and cake all the skin on their face in gunk in order to be fit to be seen.

And if you look at this picture and think "what is she on about - those women just look normal" then PLEASE stop for a moment and ask yourself WHY you think gunk-smeared to the point that no natural skin can be seen is "normal" for a woman!

I am not expecting much agreement, as I think so many women are so tightly in the grip of the (mostly male run) cosmetics industry, that they can't even see how brainwashed they are

But please think twice before passing this oppression on to your daughters.

Wouldn't it be amazing if the next generation of female BBC news readers grow up in a society where they feel free to show their actual natural faces in public.

Exactly this. ^ It's utterly bizarre isn't it? IDGAF if other women choose to NOT wear make up, yet some women seem hilariously angry and over invested in the fact that other women wear make up. And apparently we all do it to please MEN! Fuxake. 😂 I am nearly 60, I do NOTHING to please any man! 😆

And as other posters have said, men do shit too ... They dye their hair and have it styled, they lose weight, they go to the gym, they have beards to hide a multitude of sins, they wear aftershave, and moisturiser, and they wear nice clothes and want to look attractive.

They also want to outdo other men with hobbies and sports, and also jobs/careers and salaries. I know several men who exaggerate their job - and income - to friends and neighbours, to impress them. Saying only women try to 'impress' is farcical!

Good job I don’t do anything for your benefit op.

I can agree on over consumption and plastics though although you don’t really mention that as much you sound full of hate really. Did a woman wearing make up pick on you?

Im not saying anything of the sort. Both his ex and his dp are beautiful women with or without the make up. Im just saying that ds didn’t care if they wore make up or not, he just doesn’t really notice. Ex is very skillful at applying make up and it is stunning what she can do and she enjoys it so I’m not judging

they also split up for very different reasons not because she wore make up.

You are talking garbage. No girl is forced to wear make-up. Neither my DW or DDs do so whether on a daily basis or going out "somewhere special".

Make-up for stage, film or TV purposes is a totally different question as I would hope you very well know.

YABU.

I think you’ve worded your post in quite a goady way, which is a shame as it doesn’t really lend itself to rational discussion.

I can see both sides of the argument. I love makeup, I like to dress quite goth and do my makeup to match. I got into makeup as a hobby when I was about 18 and my mum made fun of me for it, essentially echoing your post. I still enjoyed learning different makeup techniques and creating dramatic looks, I just felt that my hobby was ‘lesser’ and silly because of her unpleasant attitude. Applying makeup is an art, and makeup artistry is dominated by women. It seems pretty misogynistic to put these women down and see them as superficial, silly or unskilled.

On the other hand, it was only after I’d had my first baby that I felt ‘ok’ to go out in public with absolutely no makeup on. I have blonde eyelashes and eyebrows and rosacea, and I still feel self conscious without makeup sometimes, which obviously isn’t ideal. The overconsumption of products pushed by influencers is awful.

Personally I’d love it if men wore more makeup. I love seeing pictures of men in the 80s wearing New Romantic makeup, and I think a bit of eyeliner looks great on men. Makeup has been around for thousands of years, and I don’t think it’s going anywhere!

With respect, why should anyone care whether or not your son prefers women without make up? Is his opinion more valid just because he's male?

And as I said above, most men haven't got a clue whether or not a woman is wearing make up, so who cares what they think.

I kind of sit on the fence about make up. Yes, it can enhance looks. In nature it is the males who have the brightest feathers and do the dances to entice the females.

@sixtyandsomething
You work as a teacher?
Is a bar really so low for teachers now?
You sound like you lack basic history education.

Both men and women wore make up through the history.
Stop being obsessed over how gour female students look, what is wronv with you?
You are just being idiotic old cow.

@LondonFox I would edit your post and delete the last line in your post. As annoying as the OP's posts may be, it is a personal insult.

Ha. So unless we think like YOU and agree that women always look better without make-up then we're unintelligent?

I'm very happy to go out without make-up but I often use it. Men have strategically grown and maintained fashionable beards to cover weak jawlines etc or the opposite, regularly shave their faces, depriving us all of their natural, raggedy beard covered faces.

I guess we shouldn't cut or dye our hair either, as we're denying our true features. We should all leave our hair to grow however it grows, maybe allow a trim if we're feeling leniant. Perhaps we should all wear grey sacks too, so that we aren't slaves to fashion. No shaving of course. No braces or predominantly cosmetic dental procedures, why should we change our wonky teeth to fit society's expectations? Absolutely no piercings or tattoos, they're purely cosmetic and these people should just learn to express themselves in other ways.

Men and women like to change and tweak their appearance. It's part of learning about your identity and self-expression. Not all self-expression, but still, it is part of it.

Some people have body issues, and yes, they may end up using make-up to cover-up insecurities. It doesn't mean we all need to avoid tweaking our appearance.

If I don't wear eye makeup my eyes look like pissholes in the snow. And I don't much like that look.

Now, you carry on doing you OP that's fine. Good luck to you.

I will go shopping today and buy more lovely things to go on my face, a face I quite like. I love the look of the packaging of nice make up, I love the process of applying and I really love my face when I have it on. Now, my husband couldn't give a shiny shit whether I have it on but I do.

You see, I like it! I like perfume too, doesn't mean I'm 'covering up' some sort of stench, I just like it.

I like having my hair cut into a style instead of just letting it sprout naturally from my head Willy Nilly.

I like wearing nice clothes instead of sack-cloth because I like nice clothes.

Stop trying to psychoanalyse those of us who think differently to you. I don't wear makeup because there is some deep rooted belief that I'm ugly. I just like it.

I never wear make up, but you're being ridiculous.
Nothing wrong with wearing it if that's what you like, each to their own.

My God if you were the teacher of any girls in my family I'd do everything in my power power have you removed from their company. Regardless of your views, you come across as totally unhinged, a bully and unprofessional posting here as if your role and their age ranges gives you a right to dictate what young women do with their personal appearance. The fact you posted on here before and are resurrecting this issue and it's even still in your mind really concerns me. You'd have nothing to do with anyone I'm close to. Judgemental adults are far more concerning than a bit of makeup. I bet you're horrible to the girls you thinks are falling for the whole makeup thing, calling them out infront of the class, making comments about 'gunk' and all sorts. Nasty woman.

I agree OP. I spent years from about 14-30 where I would not leave the house without a full face of slap. But you will be trying to challenge something so ingrained that many women will ridicule you. It a minor way it is like trying to argue someone out of a cult. The centuries of conditioning run too deep.

Never read such a load of tripe in my life. I rarely wear make up only because I can’t be bothered . My daughter has loved make up since she was about 10. Nothing to do with me she just enjoys experimenting with it. Shes 18 now. Sometimes wears it, sometimes doesn’t. She’s happy either way.

Where’s the conditioning. It’s more the same as all consumerism, buy more. I go out without it, sometimes I fancy a bit of it and wear it. I have a serious health condition and it perks me up psychologically, not in a way of being good looking but the colour and the ritual. You sound full of hate.

How can you be bothered to feel this worked up over it? Personally, I prefer not to have the massive bags under my eyes on show. It is a choice and women/girls can choose not to wear it. Many don’t - I am also a teacher.

Interesting point, OP, angry opinion or not.
I cannot be bothered to use makeup to be
-liked by men- , however, I have got adult acne and rosacea and sometimes makeup is the solution to feel better about myself, for myself.
I hate the colourful stuff designed to change faces, though....
😊

Yes I think this perfectly sums it up. I agree with this entirely. The majority of us are in a haze and just refuse to accept the reality of these things. OP, you are right.

I do wear a bit of makeup as I look better and feel better. I'm not going to make a stand about it just yet as I have health issues and always look like I'm dead. I hate that and make up helps.

The whole beauty industry is out of control. All this crap being injected into young womens faces. And yes it's all part of the conditioning. But sadly I don't see it changing soon and most people will never wake up to the reality of the world. I don't think about it too much or get militant about it as the majority will never see it for what it is so it's wasting your energy.

I think generalising and judging women for how they choose to look is pretty misogynistic

Unfortunately on the last thread Op made I raised a point that makeup can help people with a plethora of psychological needs. She ignored me when I pointed out that in my job I work with victims of the most heinous crimes and how many women use makeup and other means to present themselves to the world as a coping mechanism. Op doesn't know what she's talking about and it makes me rage that women like her are out there making such sweeping generalisations about why people use makeup or anything for that matter to enhance their appearance, she's just a bully and should be nowhere near a school.

@Pantaloons99

The majority of us are in a haze and just refuse to accept the reality of these things. OP, you are right.

Utter tripe. The OP is not 'right' and you don't get to speak for me and millions of other women, accusing us all of 'not accepting reality.'

100% this! ^

My DH doesn't notice if I have make up on or not. My friends do and always comment that I look better!
I only put make up on when I have time so it's a rare occasion that I wear it and then just eyes and lips.

100% this too. ^