Is it non-feminist to wear make-up?

[jinglesticks]

My dad told me off for wearing make-up claiming it was wrong on feminist grounds,and I can kind of see what he means, but I don't want to because I like wearing make-up. It does uphold the notion that women are meant to be pretty and decorated for men. Plus it's an inequality in that men don't feel they have to wear make-up and spend time making themselves look better in this way, whereas women do. Also the cosmetic industry promotes feelings of inadequacy in women, because we don't all have perfect skin etc. I can also see why someone like my dad who helped fight sexism in the sixties only to be faced with the ridiculous post-feminism of the spice-girls encouraging us to celebrate our femininity via the means of fake eyelashes and knee-high boots would be annoyed at me wearing make-up.

So what do you think? I like to think that I wear make-up in a quirky, colourful way, expressing individuality rather than trying to look like a model. Am I just kidding myself?

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.

Nothing anti feminist about it imo

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.

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 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.

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!

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?

make-up makes me feel false. it erases my identity and creates a sort of 'almost-me but not-quite' spectre.

i feel like a fraud when i wear it, so generally only wear it to conform - one christmas party a year and weddings... i find i'm unable to speak or act naturally...

you have to ask why it makes you feel more confident, i think. i'd ask if you felt inadequate

I don't feel inadequate madwoman..I like wearing it (the process of putting it on, creating a face etc)

I certainly don't feel I 'have' to.

I've never had much time for the type of man who expects women to look like dainty, decorative objets either tho.

Going to a (then) Big-6 accountancy firm recruitment conference and being told that "women who wear make-up earn on average 15% more than women who don't" made me (a) cross (b) stick up my hand and ask had the same research been done for men who wear make-up (c) uneasy about make up ever since.

It's a question of degree isn't it? I don't wear a cotton sack and tie my hair back with an elastic band, neither do I wear mini skirts and think about mascara all day. So long as you're sure of your own motivations and are happy, seems OK to wear what you like?

'I've never had much time for the type of man who expects women to look like dainty, decorative objets either tho.'

No, at work it's the women who think I'm odd for not wearing makeup, and the mothers.
They're the ones that squeak at me about it, and ask me why.

Hi

I wear make up to make myself feel better but am still a feminist first and foremost. I try to equate it with the fact that my husband has to shave every day cos it makes him feel better.

Totally with Jessinavalon.

Yes, I have heard similar Goblinchild.

I'm very much of the opinion that that women can wear what they like, make up or no and should not be judged on it. I really dislike hearing the sort of thing you describe...and it's generally done with no self awareness, either.

janos - i was being a little tongue ion cheek - hope i didn't offend.

goblin - mm, yes. that's my current issue - women. i've got the chance to go for a new job (i never wear make-up to work despite being in a heavily customer-service oriented role - to the bemusement of my boss, who frequently espouses the wish to 'make me over'... the customers don't give a monkeys) but i suspect strongly that i wouldn't get it if i turned up groomed but not made-up. (it's not for clarins, lol) it's in what i suspect is a really conservative area, all coiffed hair and matching shoes/ bags with 'interesting' scarves and jewellery adorning the usual workforce.

i'm clean, i'm tidy (i sometimes even put a necklace on, but then fret it doesn't match the earrings i wear every day) and i could do the job backwards, standing on my head. do i compromise and polish up for a bit to get the job? would i in fact not get the job anyway because i'd be feeling (and acting) like a fraud?

dilemma.

I've thought about this too.

The trouble is if you're going to say you can't wear make-up or try to make yourself look nice, then where do you draw the line? The logical extension is that all women should fall out of bed in the morning and go out unwashed with matted hair and wearing rags so as not to be "making an effort to please men" etc.

So the way I see it is it is a natural human thing to want to tart yourself up a bit and present yourself in a way that makes you feel comfortable/as attractive as you can be, according to your own style, and men do do this too. Throughout history in many societies men have worn make-up just as women have, and they still tend to shave/primp their facial hair, think about their clothes and so on.

And I honestly don't think most women wear make-up "for men" or that most men really notice or care.

I agree there's a problem if you can never seen without make-up or if you're doing it because you feel you have to conform to an ideal of female perfection. I also think cosmetic surgery is a worry, because if your need to look a certain way has reached the point where you actually want to get sliced up and physically harmed, that seems excessive to me.

So with all these thoughts I wear make-up (sometimes) and am a feminist.

No not offended at all madwoman :).

I feel that wearing makeup is neither feminist nor non-feminist.

Expecting/requiring/judging others based on their decisions to wear/not wear make up would be anti-feminist.

I am actually guilty of the above to a small degree but I am trying not to, however I am not giving up my mascara or my option to coordinate my nail varnish with my outfit.

I think it's odd that women who decorate themselves and wear attractive clothing still fuss disapprovingly about other, younger females in short skirts and sexy outfits.
It's all under the same umbrella of choice for me.

sticky - i have been known to wear my 7yos multi-coloured hair bobbles. to work. in my defence, my hair is very scruffy curly and you can't really see them...

no cotton sacks though. honest.

Oh, I'm washed and clean, with comfortable clothes that are neat and appropriate for my job.
Much the same rules I imposed on my children.

Actually yes that's a good point men about men and make up.

Can think (off top of my head) of a couple in the public eye who wear make up..Noel Fielding and Russell Brand spring to mind immediately, there's probably more. Robert Smith was another one of course, and Perry Farrell..dunno if they still do though!

As for the question of men noticing make up..some certainly do. I had a boyfriend who would always comment positively if I wore it (I don't always) which surprised me.

oh, god trills, now i'm at an even greater level of anxiety.

they are bound to co-ordinate their nails, too, aren't they? that hadn't even occurred to me.

i never paint my fingernails. i paint my toenails in the summer when i remember.

A cotton sack could be very flattering if accessorised approproriately - maybe with a waist cinching belt, for example?

belt? i have to buy a belt?