In Class Discussion: Why do women wear makeup?

 Sabrina Gubbels-Wingo

Mr. Roddy

IHSS 

22 September 2020

In Class Discussion: Why do women wear makeup? 

A question often asked is that of “Why do women wear makeup?”. Most women like to answer with “It makes me feel confident.” or “It’s a way of expressing myself.”. However, throughout history and throughout societies makeup has been used as a way to make ourselves more appealing to other people. As pointed out by Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett in her article “Why do girls wear makeup? You asked Google - here’s the answer”, “Makeup is so ubiquitous in our society that for a woman to go without it has become, in some cases, a statement – the “ no makeup selfie” being a case in point.”.  

As young girls we are often bombarded in books, ads, and even toys, with messages of what it means to look “perfect”, we are taught that makeup is a necessity, and to go without it is  something unusual. The makeup industry uses this social norm to play on insecurities such as  imperfect skin. Natural things that we have no control over, have become things of disgust, things we are told we need to fix if we want to fit in with society's rules of physical appearance. Even when you consider all of this the answers given to the question at the beginning still ring true. Wearing makeup that covers up a blemish can make you feel more confident about your appearance, boosting your mood, which could result in, for example, a good job interview. So yes, although we wear makeup to cover insecurities and to fit in with what society tells us, we also wear it to feel better about ourselves, even though the negative thoughts we are trying to cover up are stemmed from the very thing we put on our face.