You Best Be Makin' Up Yo Mind.

     I used to not wear make up for a few reasons. I went through a "realization period", I call it, in my last year of high school. In this span of time, I came to realize that there's a lot of stuff that matters more than what that girl might have said about me behind my back last week. Of course, deep down, I always knew this. I had always been environmentally conscious throughout my adolescent years and all that good stuff, but it took a while for me to realize that I actually had to do real things in my own life to make any sort of a difference in other peoples' ideas and lives. So I started to take on my ideology in a physical sense. I stopped eating meat, stopped doing anything to my hair, stopped washing my hair, and of course, stopped wearing make up. I focused my energy on learning and reading everything I possibly could about all things. And I enjoyed my life so thoroughly in that year! I learned so much and cared so much about a bunch of different things. The most valuable lesson that I took from this stage in my life is that once a person looks past superficial bullshit, she can really appreciate the amount of time and the amount of space in her life that she has for more important projects and information. And I think that's pretty cool. But I don't ignore my appearance anymore and I now wear make up most of the time, though I'm not saying it's wrong of you if you prefer to not wear make up, of course. I think that's awesome! I still try really hard to learn as much as I can about a lot of things, but I've changed a few aspects of myself since those days and now I'm going to tell you why.
     When I first started learning about feminism, I was all like, "Shit, I shouldn't wear make up ever again." This was due to the fact that I was pretty uneducated and in the early stages of my feminist development. I was still under the influence of the stereotypes that said "real" feminists should never touch a tube of lipstick ever. I had learned about the atrocities of advertising agencies: the never-ending vicious cycle of the anti-aging conspiracy, the fact that most CEOs of make up companies are men, the constant reoccurrence of the "ideal woman", etc. Of course, a feminist is not supposed to look like the "ideal woman", so why would she buy make up, right?

Maybe because she wants to?

     I struggled with this for a while - the idea that if I started wearing make up again I wouldn't be taken seriously as a feminist or I would be labelled with the ultimately offensive term: "lipstick feminist". Then I realized that a) I shouldn't give a shit and b) I really shouldn't give a shit. First of all, I should be able to do whatever the hell I feel like doing whenever I feel like doing it. If a person chooses to take my feminism less seriously because I adore filling in my eyebrows, then I know for a fact that I'm not the one who needs to rethink her basic morals. Second of all, and this goes along with my first point, I should never be looked down upon, especially by other women - feminist women (where is the sisterhood?) - for what I choose to put on my face. Another person who shares the same feelings about equality as I do should not be discriminating against me because of the way I look. On a person to person basis, that's completely wrong. 

     I understand that advertising agencies want me to look a certain way. I understand that theoretically, make up is a male's invention to make women appear the way that men want them to appear. And I do care about this. Of course I care about this! But I like the way that my face looks with make up on. I also like the way my face looks without it. I like the way my legs look unshaven just as much as I like them when they're smooth. My nails look pretty good when I cut them sometimes; should I feel guilty about that too? My body is my body and I am free to do what I want with it. My opinions and thoughts shouldn't be of lesser value simply because some days I choose to wear red lipstick. Whether I'm wearing lipstick or not, the ideas that come out of my mouth are still intelligent and relevant and worth listening to. And of course this applies to men as well! If men want to wear nail polish, their opinions shouldn't be of any less importance. Frickin' equality, guys. That's all I'm saying. Sure, I could wear make up or I couldn't. Either way I'm still  a human being and I still deserve respect. 

     This argument translates into a lot of other aspects of life as well. Basically what I'm trying to get across here is that a socially conscious woman/man should be able to do whatever she/he wants to her/his face - piercings, eyelash extensions, tattoos, war paint, more piercings, no make up, lots of make up - and still get as much respect as any other person would. Discrimination is uncool and I'd really like for people to be able to make their own decisions without being frowned upon for it. 

     Peace out, kids.