So I decided to recently change my
project topic from Body Image to something, hopefully less broad. I decided
that my project would focus on women and their relationship with
cosmetics/makeup. I mainly wish to focus on this topic because of my own personal
experiences with makeup, which started when I was a freshman in high school. I
mainly started wearing makeup due to close friends who would frequently go to
Sephora and buy expensive makeup. Later on makeup became a sort of security
blanket for me and I would never ( and still) don’t leave the house unless I was wearing it.
So
far I feel like women are constantly being pressured more and more, especially
from young age to wear makeup. Girls
begin to learn from a young age that the only way to look attractive is to wear a pound of makeup. They
begin to feel self-conscious when they don’t and are led to believe they are
ugly because of facial imperfections.
This is mainly caused by the
media’s infatuation with condemning celebrities who don’t wear makeup and, god
forbid, have imperfections and look like humans. They are countless articles I
magazines and on t.v in which makeup-less celebrities are teased or ridiculed
for looking unattractive or being told they looked older.
Through
my project I mainly want to address the young girls and women who feel scared
to leave their house without wearing makeup, and hopefully also help myself in
the process. I don’t want to condemn or make anyone feel guilty about wearing
makeup, I just want women to feel confident in their bare face and realize that
they shouldn’t wear makeup to please others but to make themselves happy. I
plan to present my project to the class through a Power Point Presentation
but also
wish to showcase my findings and criticism through a Tumblr blog.
Work Cited
- http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2014/07/25/to-pucker-up-or-not-how-cosmetics-can-affect-your-relationships/
- http://journal.scconline.org/pdf/cc2008/cc059n02/p00127-p00137.pdf
- http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/13/fashion/makeup-makes-women-appear-more-competent-study.html?_r=0
- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/22/no-makeup-week-chicago-wr_n_735467.html
(Still in progress, Updating as I go along)
Your project sounds cool and you are very brave for bring so candid about your own personal experiences with makeup. I think it will be helpful to narrow in a little further. If you plan on focusing on the psychological affects of make up, you should check out these articles, the first is a peer reviewed academic source, the other is not:
ReplyDelete1. http://journal.scconline.org/pdf/cc2008/cc059n02/p00127-p00137.pdf
2. http://www.femininebeauty.info/f/makeup.pdf
I am looking forward to your presentation! Good luck!
I like your project topic women and their relationship with cosmetics/makeup. I think you can find lots of helpful materials and sources from magazine and weekly articles on these sites http://feministcampus.blogspot.com/ http://www.btchflcks.com/ I think these two sites cover issues about cosmetics and makeup. I also think you can discuss about the internal and external conflicts of women and how they feel about going out for dinner without makeup or with makeup. Overall, I think your idea is clear and strong.
ReplyDeleteI wish this were my project. Personally, I wear make up even if I don't even leave the house.
ReplyDeleteWhile it's a personal decision that women have, to wear make up or not, the truth is that the make up industry is one of the most profitable industries out there.
I suggest looking at instagram hashtags, like #nomakeup, and explore what type of woman is posting these. Are they generally very young, white, and blemish free to begin with? Can you find any older women posting these kinds of selfies?
Also, I would compare drug store make up marketing tactics versus department store marketing (like sephora, Macy*s, etc), are there any brands that market their cosmetics specifically to young girls? What kind of advertising do you find there?
Good luck!
I really like the subject of your project. Makeup describes femininity in the eyes of our society. So, I always have asked myself whether makeup is really a feminist thing or an imposition from patriarchy onto women. Makeup and fashion are two staples of femininity, which make women to spend more money than men to keep up with physical presentation. As a result, women are expected to be "very well presented" at all times at work, socially, on the streets, etc, which makes me think that this is the product of the "male gaze". Of course, this wouldn't surprise me, but until what point is it really femininity? I am really interested in your findings in this project.
ReplyDeleteThis link is an opinion article about makeup from the feminist stand point:
http://everydayfeminism.com/2012/11/why-make-up-is-a-waste-of-my-time/
I look forward to your final project. Good Luck!