Feminist ramblings: High heels, make-up and 'choice feminism'

This post has its origin in my criticism-reviews of the Plain Jane episodes, but this particular discussion turned out too long, so I decided to move it to a new post. So here I am to ramble a bit about heels, make-up and the so-called 'choice feminism'.

I have many problems about the inherent sexism of high heels (I did quite a lengthy (and depressing) study about high heels in history a few years ago, I might be uploading the Power Point in the near future). Their constraints on mobility and ill health effects should be reason enough to make quite a few people want to steer away from them. It's also part of the compulsory female uniform in many jobs, and anything that's being forced into me because of my sex is enough to make me wary about said item. And then there's also the fact that a high number of women wear them because they've been told it makes them look and move in a sexier, more attractive manner - and, although some claim that they do it for themselves, because they want to feel 'attractive' for themselves, or because they feel 'more confident' - high heels are nearly always related to and have their origin in the necessity of being attractive for men - while being as mobility-restrained as possible, which I guess also comes in handy. Personally, I'm not a fan at all.

So appealing

Other things such as make-up come from a similar background, and yet many women, myself included, often wear it thinking we actually do it mainly for ourselves, so these issues are undoubtedly more than a bit problematic when it comes to discussing if they're 'feminist' 'choices' or not - Especially when it comes to believing that any choice is 'feminist' so long as it's a woman making said choice.

See Source for the rest. An everyday feminism comic by Ronnie Ritchie.

 In my opinion,  the main problem of the so-called 'choice feminism' involves not realizing that all choices are rooted in something, in this case, patriarchal upbringing, and that women are perfectly able, disregardless of their sex, to make choices that are either simply 'non-feminist', or just plain 'anti-feminist'. Feminism is NOT simply 'about choice'. This doesn't only refer to heels and make-up, but also to other even more controversial issues, such as women who 'choose' to wear female-only religious headcoverings, or women who 'choose' to be an escort/stripper, for example. According to 'choice feminism', in any of these cases people shouldn't be able to point out the inherent misoginy of some of these choices (be that misogyny conscious or not) because they're automatically accepted and 'tolerated' because it's a woman who's making the choice, and that's enough to make said choice a political statement. I personally disagree with such a thought. Like I said, not only are all choices rooted in some sort of mindset - But also, women as well as men can make choices, out of their own free will, which either ignore feminist concepts or plain promote or help perpetuate patriarchal values - in a conscious way or not.

 About the 'choice' aspect, yes, there's a difference between being forced or feeling like we have to wear make-up or heels everyday (this can be extrapolated to other issues) because we owe a certain kind of attractiveness to the world and to men, and wearing them only when we feel like it, because we feel like it that day, and in a more self-oriented than men-oriented manner. But choices don't come from a void, we grow in a patriarchal-based, stereotype-ridden atmosphere, and if many women choose to wear shoes that are usually painful and difficult to walk in, or to try to cover all their natural pores every day before going out, we should maybe think why so many women can't feel as equally attractive or confident in shoes that are healthier and comfier, or why they can't feel as confident if they don't wear at least some subtle make-up to cover their skin every time they go out.

  That's why I can view these as 'choices', but not as 'feminist choices'. Wearing make-up is not particularly 'anti-feminist' at the best of times, as long as you don't go preaching about the utter necessity of wearing it to look good and be desirable to men, but nor is it a 'feminist statement' in most contexts, because it really doesn't do much for the emancipation of women, apart from the potential act of self-expression and rebellion that comes with applying gold eyeshadow or red lipstick and saying 'I'm doing this for myself, not you'. Also, men are not told to wear make-up or high heels to be attractive, so those choices are pretty much gender-based double standards, another reason why we shouldn't call them 'feminist'. Some of these choices shouldn't necessarily affect other people, unless we force them to do the same thing because it's what's expected of us as women, But they are choices that are rooted in a patriarchal society which views women as decoration, never 'good enough' unless they are adorned and flawless, and we should always bear that in mind. 

See Source for the rest. An everyday feminism comic by Ronnie Ritchie.

 That being said, I do consider make-up to be less harmful than heels. As long as make-up is a 'choice' that can be solely artistic, or a 'fun' form of self-love or self-expression that we don't force on others, and that we don't do as a necessity because we feel 'too ugly' and with human flaws without it (there is always the unhealthy notion, however, that make-up also exists to cover up all the human imperfections that women shouldn't be having. More on that later). Heels, however, remain painful, potentially very unhealthy for our bodies, and mobility-contraining. 'Choice' or not (which does not imply 'feminist'), I personally can't see a person wearing such a torture device as a form of 'self-love' or 'confidence'. Plus I think that heels are still potentially very harmful to women's status in society, a very powerful tool in male fantasies in the role of sexualizing and constraining women's bodies. How many women are being shown in 'artwork' and the media wearing high heels even though the context hardly calls for such shoewear? High-heeled warrior-women or female superheroes, anyone? Sure, most of these women are also shown with flawless skin, but at least that won't make them die in the first five seconds of a potential battle!

So at the moment I'm much more optimistic about make-up becoming more of a 'freer choice' for some people than heels, to be honest. At least you can walk freely and without pain while wearing lipstick and mascara. Personally, I enjoy make-up as artistic fun, and try to make it self-love oriented, not so much pore-concealing and flawless skin oriented. I don't feel like needing or having to wear make-up everyday, or the same amount (eyeliner vs naked eyes, for example), which I think is a very important point, not being pressured into thinking you need it because you're a woman.  Because if someone feels like she can't feel confident or comfortable without it, then we should seriously consider if that person is doing it 'for herself', or solely pressured by society to be considered as an acceptable woman.

Also, makeover shows such as Plain Jane and the like (like I said, this rambling has its origin in the criticism of a Plain Jane episode) are utterly simplistic in the sense that they go from 'girl with no make-up who feels insecure and is unfeminine' to 'girl with make-up who feels confident, sexy, and gets the man'. Make-up should not be a thing that you must like and put on every single day just because you're a woman, it should  be a choice (and I'm not talking feminism here, I'm simply talking about choice, if you wear make-up without liking it, to please someone else or because society says you're 'unattractive' without it, then I think you're not in a very healthy situation). Something that you use if you enjoy experimenting with your face in that way (and not necessarily all the time, there are people who like make-up, but who don't feel like they have to wear it all the time). Not something that you must apply on your face all the time in order to look good and attract men while you're at it. 

So apart from the fact that it shouldn't be a compulsory thing that I should do because I was born a woman, let us stop using simplistic clichés where you're insecure and feel bad and ugly if you don't wear make-up, but turn into a confident woman after caking foundation, mascara and lipstick on. I can record hair tutorials with 0% make-up on, upload them on YouTube for everyone to see, and then decide to put on powder foundation, eye make-up and lisptick to go for lunch with my mum. No simplistic 'choose this or that' sexist makeover needed, and no man involved in my motivations, thank you very much. Let's stop being so damn dualistic and simplistic about everything, and making women feel like they have to do certain things in certain contexts all the damn time!

No simplistic 'choose this or that' makeover needed. I enjoy make-up, but I also feel good about my no make-up face!

And before I finish for today, there's one more thing I'd like to comment about the topic of make-up and 'beauty', and particularly about the new trend of 'natural beauty'. Lately, there has been an increasing amount of activism against the utter pressure that women face about having to wear make-up to appear 'flawless' and 'beautiful', and that's great. Gendered obligations are not OK. However, I've been noticing more and more people (women and men) who tackle this issue by commenting in videos and posts that 'she is (as/more) beautiful without make-up' or the bit worrying 'She is still beautiful (without make-up/at her age/at her weight)'. While these people's intentions generally seem to be good and with the aim to empower women into not having to wear make-up to feel good (or into accepting their age or weight), I think it's worrying that telling a woman that she's 'beautiful' is still considered as the utmost form of praise. It is as if, make-up or no make-up, we're still being evaluated first and foremost because of our appearance. Complimenting a person about their appearance in a respectful, non-creepy way is generally an OK thing to do, and it feels generally good to receive such compliments, but haven't we thought about the fact that a great number of people seem to tackle the issue of 'women should not be forced to wear make-up' by saying simply that 'they're still beautiful without make-up'?

Plus this is really a no-win situation for many women. They can be told anything from 'You should wear more make-up, you look ill', to 'You wear too much make-up, you'd be prettier without it', People, and men, still seem to think that all this is exclusively intended for them, for them to evaluate.

 Some people, men and women alike, are actually turning this 'anti compulsory make-up' activism into a 'compulsory non-make-up' one, claiming that 'women are more beautiful without make-up' and that 'women shouldn't wear make-up'. This trend of 'natural beauty' is becoming steadily more aggressive, or so it seems to me, belittling women for wearing make-up, calling them empty-headed, vain and stupid (no sexist stereotypes there, no, not at all), and sometimes claiming in a rather aggressive way that 'no make-up' makes you somehow 'more feminist', same as not dyeing your hair and not shaving instantly makes you 'more feminist' (once again, I wouldn't claim so easily that a woman is more or less of a feminist because she decides whether to wear or not to wear make-up, dye her hair or shave).
Some of the men who have joined the ranks of the 'natural beauty' trend (notice we're always talking about 'beauty' here), choose a more demanding and egotistical way of telling women that they're 'more beautiful without make-up' (because they're here to decide how we should look, after all), also claiming that women 'lie' to them when they wear make-up, so they shouldn't, because hey, they're making an investment here and how are they to know that women happen to have human pores underneath their foundation and flesh-coloured eyelids (intense sarcasm)! -, and also because I guess that they think that all women put on make-up to please them, so if they don't like make-up, then what reason should women have to wear it? Women are here to decorate the male world, people!

  Some women reply to this saying 'I wear make-up for me, not you' (examples here, here, here, here, here, here , here and here), and in this light I can say I do relate to this, and that I can see the potentially feminist implication of wearing make-up because you like it in a purely aesthetically way or as a rebellious form of self-love, as opposed to wearing it, or not wearing any, to please someone else. Of course, the same would apply to women deciding not to wear make-up as a political statement: 'I do not have to wear make-up as the compulsory requirement to try to appear 'flawless' for anyone and I have no need for make-up to feel confident about myself.' Or simply 'I don't like make-up, so I don't wear it' (examples here, here, here, here, here and here).  

 

People (especially women) who like and choose to wear make-up are always influenced to a greater or lesser extent by gender roles and societal rules. But even so, it's high time people (especially men) realized that many women actually do wear it because they feel good about themselves, not to please others or to be desirable.

The key of the matter here is, I think, not turning anything into a compulsory thing, something that is done solely to please others, or, indeed, a war between two sides. Because both of these postures are not contradictory at all. You can enjoy experimenting with make-up without feeling like you have to wear it every day, or without feeling 'unattractive' without it!

I switch between no make-up (glasses or not), 'natural' make-up and more elaborate or colourful make-up. It should be about what you like and how you feel good, with no disempowering motivations. 

• So, can make-up be seen as a feminist statement in certain situations? I think it can, same as no-make-up as a political statement, mainly as a response to men who demand that women either wear or not wear make-up, and who think that our decision to either wear or not wear it is motivated only by how they view us and how desirable we look to them. I resent men either telling me wear or not to wear make-up. It's a choice that doesn't come from the void, it has gendered roots and implications, but it's still a choice that I'm able to make without taking men directly into account.   And yes, gendered roots aside, it can be an artistic, self-expression area as well. 

• And Is it always a feminist statement or choice? No. In many cases I don't think it should even be called 'feminist', because it doesn't do that much for the equality of the sexes, which is what feminism is really about. Both feminists and anti-feminists can enjoy wearing make-up. And in any case, even though some women can wear it solely for their own aesthetic reasons, it's still a choice rooted in a patriarcal environment, and a gendered choice as well.  That doesn't make the choice 'anti-feminist', but it's something that should be born in mind. 

Btw, now I'm rereading this, the rambling nature of this post may give the idea that it seems that what I'm trying to say is that 'make-up is better than heels'. That was not my original intention, but speaking about that matter, I personally am not a fan of heels and do think they are potentially more harmful that other gendered 'beauty' aspects such as make-up, yes. Make-up can also be potentially very harmful, and it is in many ways, of course. The 'make-up empowerment' activists may not take this into account, but in our current society make-up is an important part of the women-focused, normative, gendered pressure to look beautiful every day. That's not what I would call ultimate empowerment, and that's why I generally try not to mix the terms 'feminism' and 'make-up'. 

 But I simply cannot see the pros of heels, not even in the cases where it's shown as a 'political statement' against men who are 'intimidated by them' (intimidated by the woman's height, maybe, but by what else? Intimidated by her inability to run or move well? By her pain?). Heels and make-up may be both gendered and they oppress women when being normative, and they share common patriarchal roots. But feminine heels, which are always thinner and higher than male heels, seem to have the eternal and gendered aim to make women 'sexier' while constraining their mobility and endangering ther health (and they're related to extremely mysoginistic practices such as foot binding). While make-up has been and can be a non-gendered beauty aspect depending on the period and culture (18th Century noblemen wore make-up routinely, for example, and so do some current cultures, men and non-binary/queergender people nowadays).

However, one word of caution about the 'more non-gendered nature of make-up'. Because one thing is to praise the self-expression possibilities, fun and artistic side of eye and lip make-up looks, which have been non-gendered in some cultures and periods - But other very different, and far more serious, thing is to take into account the way women are pressured into making their skin completely flawless with make-up: foundation, powder, concealer, blush, highlighter, all that myriad of products designed to make people think that women should have no pores, pimples, scars, discoloration, redness, or any other imperfections. Men, considered human beings with all their human rights in this society, are allowed such imperfections to a greater extent than women. But women are not seen as persons, but rather as pretty objects of decoration which should look flawless and inhumanly perfect every single day - for the men. And the gods forbid a woman has human pores or human pimples on her skin! That is a source of tremendous pressure and lack of self-esteem in so many women. The non-gendered side of make-up through the ages has been more related to eye make-up, blush, lipstick and the like - The more artistic, decorative areas, the ones which may actually have a say when it comes to self-expression, self-love, artistic aims (men did wear and do wear foundation and powder in certain times and contexts, though). But it is the women who have been most forced throughout history to hide their natural human skin in order to make it look 'flawless' - often endangering their health with poisonous 'beauty products' such as lead-based foundations. And that isn't about self-expression, or self-love, or art. It's a very sexist double standard.

These issues may seem simple, but I think they're way more complex and less simplistic than many people - 'Choice feminism' included - think. After centuries of a male-dominated mindset with a lot of gender roles, it's hard to say that something is 100% gender role free or that we truly make a choice solely for ourselves, without being influenced by something else. The key in the matter is, I think, to be aware of that (especially because many of these choices can unconsciously promote a lot of double standards, misoginy and gender roles, and we should bear that in mind). And as for me, I'd try to choose the things that'd make me as happy as possible without harming others and, if possible, without relying in a major way on what society and any source of mindset-ridden authority may say I should be doing because of my gender.