A good friend of mine and I were walking around a pond in Stanley Park. We were watching the mallard ducks swim and splash around in the water. We commented on the beautiful colours of the male ducks: the blue and white markings on their tail-feathers and their deep green, iridescent heads. Then she said, “My dad used to say to me, ‘Look at how much more beautiful the males are than the females. Even in nature the males are more attractive than the females.’ ”
I disagreed. I said, “What about humans? Women are the more attractive gender.” She responded, “No, my father says women are ugly and that’s why they wear make-up and fancy clothes. Men don’t have to do that because they are more attractive than women.”
This got me to thinking, is this really true? Do men really feel this way, and even if they do, why do women put up with it?
Why do women wear make-up? To attract men. Red lips and eyes appearing bigger and more striking indicate that we are ready to mate. Pink cheeks make us look healthier. But we also wear make-up when we have a boyfriend or are married. We’ve got our man. Do women really believe our mate would leave us if we didn’t? They see us when we take off our make-up at night before bed and first thing in the morning. Do they cringe each time?
I work in an office of mostly women. Most of the women wear make-up every day to work. To impress who? Other heterosexual women? The few men that are here? Ourselves? We can’t stand looking at ourselves in the mirror: wrinkles, acne, under-eye circles, age spots, freckles. We have to hide our imperfections like dirty little secrets.
I understand we want to look our best. We shower, brush our hair and teeth, wear clean, matching clothes. We want to smell and look good not just to attract the opposite sex, but to be presentable to everyone in general. But to be expected to be made up and polished at all times sometimes is just exhausting. Women are inundated with ads on television, in magazines and newspapers for hair products, teeth whiteners, wrinkle creams promising the eternal look of youth, clothes to make us look slimmer and bustier, and of course, make-up to make us look flawless. There aren’t as many of these ads for men. Why so much pressure on women, whether or not it is self-inflicted?
I don’t wear make-up every day. On the days I don’t, I often get comments that I look tired or sick. Do men get those comments often? Why are women expected to hide their flaws and men aren’t? Men look funny with make-up, too feminine. Why do we associate true femininity with flawless perfection?
This is an interesting article on why women wear make-up and how people in a study perceive women with make-up.
I don’t have the answers to these questions. This blog entry is to get a conversation going and come up with answers of our own.
blaak sheep 