Not so long ago, I was still skeptical about women wearing make up. I have always viewed women wearing make up as "fake" women probably because I had never really tried to understand why some women enjoy embellishing themselves; I guess my environment, all the things I've been exposed to got me to believe that wearing make up was wrong, which is not true.Yeah, culture has "argued' me into subjectivity. I tried to forget about all the "cliches" I've heard about make up, and I've come to realize that wearing make up was actually deeper than "trying to look good". As Susan Bordo argues, body practices become sort of "pursuits without a terminus" when it comes to the way we look because we all try to look our best.
A woman wearing make up is kind of like a man shaving his beard: They are both embellishing their appearances, which in essence, is not wrong; shaving his beard makes the man feel good about himself as well as wearing make up makes the woman feel good about herself. However, as we mentioned in class, our society has defined what beauty is (mapping bodies and subjective bodies), and because of that both men and especially women strive to live up those standards of beauty; our society expects women to look a certain a way, walk a certain way, and so on, and that's why a lot of women end up starving themselves, getting "addicted" to make up, or wearing their feet out in high heels (docile bodies).
Those expectations remind of the "double bind" concept we discussed in class the other day: One part of our society expects women to look "natural" whereas the other side expects them to "look like models", which puts them in a tough spot. And this goes with Berger's idea that "men act, woman appear" because it's hard to tell if a woman looks the way she does in order to please herself, our society, or both. But at the end of the day, I feel like we should look at cultural practices from a broader standpoint in order to improve both our lives and others' as well.
This is a fantastic example of the body practice/docile body complex that we've discussed in class and on the blogs, especially since I'm sure most people who engage in these body practices feel compelled to do so based on cultural norms. Many women spend an hour, or sometimes multiple hours working make-up, just as some men spend time waxing their facial hair. Neither are 'natural' looks, however in our day and age it can make such a significant difference in not only self confidence, but also in the ways in which people are treated or judged based on their appearances (whether positively or negatively).
ReplyDeleteI love what you are saying here about whether make up is a cultural, or personal practice for a woman. Being a woman, I was skeptical about wearing make up for a long time because I thought it would make me more "fake." Now I wear make up more frequently simply because I like the act of doing it and I like how it makes me feel. I feel more confident when I do wear make up. This new found confidence since wearing make up is something I struggle with for the same reasons that you are questioning. I do not know if I feel confidence while wearing make up because of myself or because of how I think people see me. Good questions being brought up here.
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