Even before I started attending an all-girls Catholic high
school in the late ‘50s, I didn’t wear much make-up. Maybe any. Well, except on
Halloween, if the costume called for it.
In high school, if we should be foolish enough to show up
with even the faintest smear of rouge, lipstick, or eyeliner, we’d be sent
immediately by the keen-eyed nuns to wash it off. And likely get a
detention in the process.
Then in college, and into my 20’s and 30’s, I did start
applying a bit of color to eyes, cheeks, and lips, but often so light it barely
registered. In my 40’s, I stopped using lipstick altogether, then after 50, my
cheeks glowed red only during Chicago winters or from embarrassment.
As for my hair, I had it colored just once, and for a very short
time. In my late 40’s, I had a crush on a much younger man. I have pictures
from that time, and in them I look like I’m wearing a short dark helmet on my head. Maybe
that’s what the MYM thought as well.
And now here I am in my 70’s, white haired and, except for
occasional eyeliner, back to looking like my 14 year-old self. OK, maybe not
“looking like,” but looking as au naturel, unadulterated.
Which is just my choice. I don’t and never have judged any
woman for doing the opposite, for enjoying both applying and wearing make-up,
for getting a hair-color touch up here and there.
What I’m not so crazy about are the attempts of some
women—and it’s mostly women—to so distort their aging faces that they resemble
those on store mannequins: hard, unyielding, and void of all character.
But, again, if someone wants to pay big bucks and undergo
surgery, fine by me. Still, I wonder what kind of choice it really is,
given that we live in a culture that so values youth and fears old age, one that harshly judges women on their looks no matter their age. And against a
standard that is itself a lie, one created not only by physical enhancements
but also by technical ones: airbrushing and photoshopping.
And so I was encouraged to read that the drug store chain,
CVS, will no longer digitally alter photos that promote their beauty products:
"We will not digitally alter or change a person's
shape, size, proportion, skin or eye color or enhance or alter lines, wrinkles
or other individual characteristics," CVS said in a press release.
"We want our beauty aisle to be a place where our customers can always
come to feel good, while representing and celebrating the authenticity and
diversity of the communities we serve."
Read more at:
And this article from the New York Times, where the writer is having a bit of fun with the
topic, but at least mentions how both young girls and “mature” women will
benefit from seeing photos of women, models or otherwise, who look like they
really look:
“While we most often complain about the negative effects
airbrushing can have on the body images of young girls — the American
Medical Association has identified it as health issue — the impact of
Keaton-esque treatment can be just as detrimental for us more mature women,
even if theoretically we are supposed to know better (or at least be able to
recognize the impossible, or implausible, when we see it).”
Read more at:
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