Thoughts From The Peacock Angel

So, I was in the shower and I was thinking about how certain feminists (the crappy ones) disapprove of the use of cosmetics because it’s somehow “degrading” and “objectifying” this is a whole bunch a bull.

First of all, a lot of people are confused about what objectification means. Objectification is when people are used as a blank vessel for other people’s fantasies and desires, systemically in our society women are expected to be passive vessels for men’s desires, and are penalized for refusing to conform to this role.

Makeup, however, can be just the opposite of objectifying. Sexists seriously do not like women (and other people, most of the time) who wear a lot of makeup, by being “unnatural” (in other words, displaying their personality physically) they’re making it harder for men to project whatever fantasy they want onto a tabula rasa, they’ve filled in the blanks, and claimed bodily agency by doing so.

My aggressive bright red lipstick is a fuck you to the ideal of blank and flawless beauty.  Human beauty without personality or self expression is… bland and ultimately meaningless (which is not to say makeup is the only way to express oneself in terms of appearance, no makeup can be a statement in and of itself, as can light or natural makeup, but it has to MEAN something about who you are).

Our appearance is a form of communication, and makeup is a wonderful way to reclaim agency, to paint your personality clearly on your face so it’s infinitely harder to deny.