My face belongs to me (Opinion)

Thirteen steps, 45 minutes, and well over $500. That’s my makeup routine and according to society, it’s too much. According to society, I’m incapable of wearing makeup correctly because I’ll look fake and therefore, undesirable. According to society, I should stop wearing it altogether and opt for the ‘natural’ look instead, but Alicia Keys recently did just that and still got vilified by the public because she just had to be wearing some makeup. It’s through these constant criticisms that society has managed to turn empowerment into insecurity.

As younger millennials flip through their social media, they’re bombarded by images of “instagram models,” beautiful, rich 20-year-olds with amazing makeup abilities. Will some of them try to achieve that look? Of course. But we seem to forget the hundreds of bare-faced pictures posted by friends, family and strangers. We claim to not want girls to grow up thinking they have to reach some standard of beauty, so why are we setting one?

A recent survey by St. Ives discovered that two out of three women wear too much makeup. How did they come up with that number? By surveying 550 men, because of course, the only reason that a woman should do anything is to impress the opposite sex. How can we claim to be moving toward a progressive future when we hold the next generation’s leaders hostage in a patriarchal society? I know I’m not buying a $40 Anastasia Beverly Hills Glow Kit on the off chance that I’ll catch some guy’s attention. When I wear makeup, I feel just as empowered as I do bare-faced, and once we realize that confidence comes in many different forms, we can stop moving back in time.

When Alicia Keys made the decision to stop wearing makeup, she was praised. But, once she started putting that into practice, online commenters scoured the internet for pictures of her in order to point out any semblances of makeup. Women are essentially growing up to a lose-lose situation: wear too much makeup, you’re an outcast, forcing standards of beauty onto young minds; but wear too little, and you’re a liar, because no woman can go without makeup. But in all of this, we fail to realize that by upholding any kind of beauty standard, we’re pushing girls to adhere to male wishes, and no woman should change their appearance for anyone but themselves.

Some argue that wearing too much makeup hides who you are, it makes you appear inauthentic. It’s these types of viewpoints that show how our society is full of contradictions. We say never to judge a book by its cover, then go on to judge others by their makeup; could we be any more shallow? Last time I checked, my personality came from within, through my opinions and voice, not from my makeup.

So yes, I will continue to bake my face and contour my jawline. I’ll continue to do so every time I feel like it because my face -my body- belongs to me, not to society. So instead of having girls believe that no makeup is the key to confidence, let’s teach them the truth: confidence is being completely and unapologetically you, however that may look.