Too Much Make-Up

Words with different meanings always stand out to me, especially when the two meanings are used so differently.  Take the word make-up, for example.  In sports, if someone has good or bad make-up, that has to do with character issues.  But with cosmetics, make-up is what it is.  Something artificial to enhance someone's looks (sorry if I'm inaccurate with this, but just an opinion).

Make-up has come to my mind separately 4 different times the past few months.  The first time was when I found out one of my friends wore make-up when she went partying; a surprise to me because I think she's beautiful just the way she is (but the club scene is apparently different than anything I'm accustomed to).  The second time I thought about it was in my Psychology and Women class, since it related to the Beauty Myth and women's self esteem, which I found particularly interesting.  And yesterday, I thought about the issue twice.  Once was in class, when one of my friends told the story of how much she used to weigh, which was shocking because I never knew she used to look like that before.  While the other time was when someone who lived in my building walked by and was wearing way too much make-up; it was toxic.

All of these experiences are different, but they have one commonality, which is that we live in a culture that is obsessed with beauty.  I've talked about it before in my other blog post, but this time, I'm focusing on one specific thing.  I understand why make-up is around, and why we all want to look our best, but I think for women and even men who wear it, it is so unnecessary.  You're beautiful for being who you are, and that is something make-up can never do.  All it does is attract the wrong person to you (if you go clubbing), or knock people out, if you wear too much of it.  Since I've never worn makeup before, I can't say firsthand it's really that negative, but anything that has activists angry, isn't natural, or puts a person at risk doesn't sound good to me.  Not to mention, it takes forever for people to put on.  And by the time you're done, you forget why you even bothered putting it on in the first place.

I know women won't change any time, and the cosmetics industry is booming unfortunately from their advertisements and sales, but I hope there comes a day when men and women can look at a mirror and be confident in themselves.  That's good make-up to me.