Week 6 response to Sara M.'s post

This really doesn’t surprise me but I definitely agree with your thumbs down! When I was in high school I barely wore makeup, but there were so many popular, pretty girls coming to class with FULL makeup and I mean foundation, concealer, fake lashes, full eye makeup, the works! I think it’s hilarious that so many men claim they prefer more natural-looking women. Let them say that when we go out on dates with them with 100% clean faces, dark under eye circles or blemishes blatant for them to see. I think we women learn from a young age to play up our assets, make up our faces and hair to achieve our own personal ideal of beauty, which usually coincides with a general one of societal influence. Your cousin’s interest in the newest and best products reminds me of how consumed we are in getting the upperhand, as though we’re in a battle to look our best and appeal to the public physically. Think on how sales in “mineral makeup” skyrocketed! Once celebrity makeup artists were touting that this was the next big miracle in makeup, American women ran out to buy it and hopefully find an even better way to hide “imperfections,” beautify and glamorize our appearances, like the stars. Maybe we the consumers feel we must compete with the celebrities’ unrealistic, idealized standards of beauty so we have to “pay to look good.” I think the real price is what this does to a generation of young girls’ self-image and self-esteem. Maybe if we valued “natural” beauty more during childhood and adolescents it would create more secure women who don’t so much buy into the next makeup or style trend, but adhere to their own individualistic ideals. I can dream, can’t I?