I’ve always contended I’d have a lobotomy before I’d go to a shopping mall between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It’s my idea of Hell- I hate crowds, parking can be a challenge, and I can never find what I want in a timely manner…AND THEN LEAVE.
Yet there I was, at Washington Square in southwest Portland with Erin on Saturday. I needed a new pair of reading glasses since I’d lost my only pair. While waiting for my new specs to be finished, Erin took me to Nordstrom so she could shop for shoes…and sweaters…and tops…and…well, you can imagine my delight at being smack in the middle of one of the things in life I find most stressful.
When I find myself in situations like that, I try to find something I can latch onto to deflect my focus from whatever the major stressor happens to be. So there we were, standing at the Clinique counter, when I looked around and was struck by something astonishing. I turned a complete circle and saw nothing but cosmetics- lipstick, fragrances, eye liner, filler, foundation, etc., ad infinitum, ad nauseum. I realized there’s an entire multi-BILLION-dollar industry based on the idea that women aren’t beautiful just the way they are. By convincing women that they need…something, and usually lots of it, in order to be attractive to men, empires and careers have been built and maintained.
The cosmetics industry doesn’t really contribute much that’s constructive. What they excel at is convincing women to spend billions on products whose only purpose is to make them feel as if they’ll be more attractive to men. It’s a completely artificial market built on an even more artificial premise- that beauty is something that can be achieved by proper application of a cream or powder or something else that will camouflage a woman’s “imperfections.”
I can only speak for myself, but being a guy, I think I can stand up for my gender without too much difficulty or risk. I keep flashing back to something I’ve seen online that compares what it take to get a woman in the mood for sex versus what it takes for a man. For a woman, it’s a complicated and often daunting process, involving many steps which must be negotiated before a man can get his intended target between the sheets. For most guys, the expectation of a woman is pretty simple: show up naked and bring beer.
The point I’m trying to make is that most guys don’t care if a woman is wearing make up. Not that we don’t appreciate a woman who puts in the effort to make themselves attractive for us, of course. There’s something flattering and exciting about that, but why is a woman without makeup seen as somehow incomplete or unattractive? Beauty isn’t something created by creams or powders or lotions. Those things may help a woman FEEL more attractive, but I think most of that is because the cosmetics industry has succeeded in convincing women that they’re somehow “less than” if they’re not wearing makeup.
Ladies, I can save you a whole lot of money. All you have to do is take my advice:
Show up naked and bring beer. The rest should pretty much take care of itself, knowhutimean??
(Or am I really just missing the point and women are wearing all that makeup to convince other women that they’re beautiful?)
