Bits and Bobs on Feminist Theory #1: Cosmetics vs. Feminism

There is nothing inherently wrong with makeup or cosmetics, and therefore there is nothing about liking those things that disqualifies a woman as a feminist.

The problem is that makeup has been historically used to police a woman's femininity, and by extension her acceptability in society.

The issue isn't that a woman wears makeup, it's that if she wears too much she's a "trashy whore" but if she wears too little or none at all, she's "butch" or unladylike.

Cosmetics are just things. Powders and glosses and lotions. They have no baring on a person's intellectual ideology.

Liking makeup doesn't make you any less a feminist than liking lingerie does.

Being a feminist doesn't have to mean rejecting outright things that happen to be coded as "feminine". It's like saying that women can't drink beer because beer is for men, or that men can't/don't pay attention to hygeine because grooming is for women. It's nonsense. Especially as most of these "gender assignments" (on innanimate objects and intangible concepts, btw) are arbitrary to begin with.

So go forth and wear makeup. It's super fun. Just be mindful that it's something you do because you want to, and because it makes you feel good about yourself, and not because you feel obligated to meet an arbitrary standard of female acceptability.