So today I'm just going to write about why I choose to wear makeup. If you know me in person, you're more than likely to know that I am an enthusiastic feminist. For those of you who aren't sure what feminism is, or what it stands for, it is simply believing that all genders should be equal. It is not pulling men down so women can be more powerful, it is not about emasculating men and it certainly is not about hating men. Not all feminists are the same, some focus on equality in the work place and others focus on LGBT but they all have the common goal of gender equality.
For me, feminism is about choice. I believe all people on this planet should be able to do whatever they want, as long as it is not oppressing another person. Therefore I think that women and men should be able to wear makeup if they want to. The act of wearing makeup itself does not actively harm or oppress another person when it is being worn. Of course there are arguments against this, such as animal cruelty and the treatment of workers in factories, but for this post I am merely talking about the freedom of expression through makeup, it is not a post about the industry. Freedom of expression is for all genders, so if you're a 7 foot male basketball player and you want to wear sparkly blue eyeshadow on your eyelids, you have my full support.
Personally, I wear makeup most days. As I have mentioned in an earlier post, I have a hair pulling disorder called trichotillomania. I have been dealing with this for around half of my life, I have gone through patches of no eyebrows or no eyelashes and sometimes even without either of them. So for me, makeup has helped me cover up my problem areas. Although I am very open about my hair pulling, I don't particularly want people to stare at me when I'm just trying to live my life. As a result, I do tend to wear brow and eye makeup every day. I end up wearing a full face of makeup often purely because I enjoy doing it.
I want to make it clear that I do not wear makeup for anyone but myself. I think it's very important to make sure that your self happiness and self worth is not linked to how "beautiful" you are. Unfortunately, we live in a world where we are bombarded with attractive (very airbrushed) women everywhere we go, so it can be very difficult to remain happy within yourself if you're basing your self worth on your attractiveness in comparison to women who almost don't exist. I speak of women in my example but of course the pressure is also there for all genders.
So? Why do I wear makeup? Because it is fun! It's the adult equivalent of a huge art and crafts world where you can go mad, drawing painting and creating something wonderful and pretty and then parading their masterpieces around with pride for the rest of the day! Finding the perfect shade of nude pink lipstick is the equivalent of finding the right indigo colour to complete your rainbow. I like being creative, especially as I do spend most of my time studying my degree (unless drawing hearts all over my work counts). It is an outlet for me to try new things and to not have any rules to follow, if I want to wear a red lipstick, it's not as if someone is going to tell me off and give me a C, it is just a bit of fun. Although my Dad did try his best to do so once when he told me that my lipstick was "hideous". I told him that he didn't know what he was talking about and carried on wearing it because A) it was fabulous and B) I was wearing it for myself, not him.
When I started using makeup, I didn't have the same healthy attitude as I have now. I used it when I was younger to look prettier so that I would get noticed in school by boys and to make sure I fitted in. Now that I am older (well, 21) I know that it doesn't matter. Anyone who judges you on what you look like and how much makeup, or lack of thereof, you wear is just not worth your time. You become friends with someone to have fun, to laugh and for emotional support. I can never say that I've ever had a friend that I'm only friends with because I like looking at him/her, it's just bizarre. So I hope that if there are any younger people reading this that you take this on board and concentrate on enjoying your life, with or without makeup, and to do it in whatever way your comfortable with.
Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed my post! If you would like to keep updated with me and my life, feel free to follow my new Instagram account: @g_beauty_blog
Also if anyone was interested, the "hideous" lipstick was a MAC lipstick - Diva, here's a very high quality picture of it. And yes, we were in Paris and all he had to say to me was his opinion on my lipstick.
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