Why do girls wear makeup?

Hello Everyone,

My sister and I were chatting the other day, and she posed this question to me:

Every single day, almost every woman gets up and puts on makeup. Some more than others, but most women will put some on at some point in their life. But why do we put use makeup?

This made me think, and so I decided to write a post detailing my thoughts on this. Feel free to comment at the end letting me know why you wear makeup.

In the 1950s, make up was worn to help a women attract herself a husband. This was their only aim. The ultimate woman would have a perfect family, a perfect home, and look perfect at all times. So makeup was used to attract the best husband they could by making themselves as beautiful as possible. However, it can’t be said that in today’s society that all a women needs is a rich husband, so why do we continue to wear make-up?

Some people wear it to feel feminine, myself included. Wearing make-up is one of the key differences between men and women (although the gap is getting smaller as men’s hygiene products become more feminised), apart from wearing skirts and heels, and long hair. I never feel more like a girl when I am doing my make-up in the morning, or for a night out. 

But if we stop and think about it, why do we girls feel the need to conform to this archaic idea of femininity? Women are not dolls, and should not be expected to look like one. This can be considered a metaphor for what women were expected to be in society, and this expectation has continued to an extent. Women are still mainly expected to do most of the childcare and housework, as well as having a career. They are expected to want to ‘have it all’, and if they don’t, then are a failure. 

A lot stems from our expectations of how people are supposed to look, and makeup is one of the biggest proponents from this. If someone looks professional, then they will be treated differently from someone who does not. If someone wears a lot of obvious makeup, or no makeup at all, they are generally not taken as seriously as someone who wears subtle makeup that emphasises their best features. So some people will wear makeup to look professional, and to be taken seriously.

Whatever reason that you wear makeup, if you wear it with confidence, then it doesn’t matter why you do. You’ll look fantastic.