Make-up

A Toronto Star letter to the editor claims that the fact that Afghan women have started wearing make-up is oppressing, not liberating.

You know what? I find wearing make-up liberating. Instead of being oppressed by my genetics, it gives me the freedom to look like I want to. Instead of small, squinty sallow-greenish-hazel eyes surrounded by big dark circles, I can have wide, bright eyes in the most fascinating shade of pale green. Instead of shiny, oily skin with uneven skintone, pocked with acne scars, I can have smooth, even skintone in a nice matte. Instead of strange dry pink lips that don't match my skintone (really - I've been told that shade of pink looks awful on me while walking around without any lipcolour on) I can have shiny lips in a subdued reddish earthtone that goes with both my natural and my made-up skintone.

Is my make-up actually that miraculous? Who knows? But I think it is, so I face the world with the confidence of big bright green eyes, smooth skin, and dewy lips. I am no longer my parents' daughter, the spawn of two people to whom it never occurred that their child might inherit their more unattractive physical features. I am my own person, with my physical appearance at least hinting at the person I want to be.

I wear make-up for myself, sex appeal doesn't enter into it. But suppose it does make me more sexually appealing. That doesn't make me feel exploited or oppressed. Unwanted sexual attention happens whether I'm wearing make-up or not, but I can initiate positive social interaction (whether sexual or not) with greater confidence when I look like I want to look. The big green eyes and smooth skin also seem to have a molifying effect on potentially contentious social interactions. If I'm in a situation where I'm awkward or uncertain, people tend to be more trusting of my made-up self, give her greater benefit of the doubt. Whether I'm passing through airport security or asking the saleslady to remove the beepy security tag from these pants before I try them on so I can see if they gap in the back, people are more likely to be nice and friendly and not at all suspicious if I'm wielding the big green eyes. Professionally, I feel more confident and pulled-together if my complexion is smooth. And, of course, I always have the option of not wearing make-up at all if I don't feel like it, or putting it on but not taking advantage of the extra powers it affords me, instead just being quietly gorgeous.

Perhaps you find make-up oppressing yourself. And that's fine, you don't have to wear it. But stop telling me that it's oppressing for me. From the moment at the age of 13 when my mother gave me my first tube of concealer, it has always been a liberator for me, empowering me, giving me control over my own body.