“Women…are called by men mistresses. Therefore, since they see that there is nothing else that they can obtain, but only the power of lying with men, they begin to decorate themselves, and to place all their hopes in this. It is worth our while, then to take care that they may know that they are valued by men for nothing else than being decent and modest and discrete” (Epictetus 40). The undertones of Epictetus’s observations echo from when he wrote The Enchiridion in 135 C.E. until today. Seemingly from the dawn of humanity, women regularly alter their physical features with substances to satisfy men’s ideal of how they should appear.
The history of makeup stretches as far back as ancient Egypt in 10,000 B.C.E. (Cosmetics Info 1). Makeup served many purposes including religious rituals, enhancing beauty, protection from the sun, and social distinction. In Egypt, both men and women applied scented oils to soften their skin and mask body odors. Due the climate conditions in the desert, they created ointments for protection from the sun’s harmful rays. Religious ceremonies also included perfumes made from oils and plants. Around 4000 B.C.E., women in Egypt used a mixture of copper, lead ore, and bright green paste to establish color and definition on their faces. During this time, they carried around makeup boxes to reapply makeup outside of the home and maintain their appearance (Cosmetics Info 1). From Egypt, makeup spread into the Eastern World.
In China, around 3000 B.C.E., an early form of nail polish contained gelatin, beeswax, and eggs. Different colored nails identified social class. The Chou Dynasty Royals stained their nails gold and silver, while the middle class citizens wore black and red, but the lower class was forbidden to display brightly colored nails. In Greece, women applied a mixture of lead and crushed mulberries to their faces to whiten their complexion. In addition, they created artificial eyelashes. Chinese and Japanese cultures spread rice powder on their faces for the same effect around 1500 B.C.E. These cultures also practiced removing the hair from their eyebrows and staining their teeth and hair with black and gold dyes. Shortly after, in 1000 B.C.E., Greeks invented red lipstick (Cosmetics Info 1). Due to a lack of anthropological resources, the history of makeup takes a leap from ancient times to the Common Era.
Beginning around 100 C.E., Romans applied a mixture of flour and barley on their pimples in an attempt to reduce swelling and redness. Romans also colored their nails bright red with sheep fat and blood. Approximately, 200 years later, East Indians customs included applying henna to dye skin, an art still prevalent in Indian weddings today. During the middle ages, Middle Eastern countries exported fragrances to European markets. In 1300 C.E., women in England experimented dying their hair red rubbing raw eggs on their faces to appear paler. During the Renaissance, makeup distinguished different classes because only aristocrats could afford makeup. Elizabeth I of England emerged as, “the mask of youth,” due to the cosmetic products available to her. Women mimicking her image caused increasing popularity in lighter hair color and paler complexions (Cosmetics Info 2).
During the Common Era, women began to question the use of makeup and the health risks involved. Many women suffered health consequences when Italy and France started manufacturing cosmetics from arsenic and lead. Europeans discovered that the white lead and arsenic poisons women, but usage of these products endured from another hundred years when they switched to zinc oxide as the principal ingredient. Similarities in the usage of makeup are prevalent across different cultures and in different time periods.
Whiter complexion persists as a common goal. In recent years, skin color brings about the issue of racism, but in ancient times, skin color indicated class distinction. Lower class citizens managed crops and livestock on farms. These workers spent more hours of their day in the sun than the wealthy, who spent their leisure time indoors, and displayed darker skin tones. Skin color based on class distinction evolved into racism based on skin color. According to Matt Lamkin, darker skin means fewer opportunities (Lamkin 3). Many cosmetic manufacturers target people with darker skin tones to achieve a lighter complexion and consequently create more opportunities. Physical distinction through artificial means steadily rose from ancient times until it saw a decline when Queen Victoria publicly announced that makeup was not proper and only acceptable for use by actors (Cosmetic Info 2). The decline proved short-lived, evident by current makeup consumption.
Women even continue to purchase makeup in times of recession and economic decline. Increasing consumption of makeup proves that although women have gained political right, women’s need to earn men’s approval still prevails. The media projects images of women, which alter men’s perceptions of them. Therefore, women compare themselves to computer generated images. Makeup industry player, Maybelline promotes the slogan, “Maybe she’s born with it; maybe it’s Maybelline.” Men desire the beautiful woman in the commercial and the commercial implies that her appearance is either natural or enhanced by the use of cosmetics. Women receive the message that through purchasing Mayelline’s cosmetic products, they too can win men’s affection. Promises similar to Maybelline’s slogan resulted in women in the United States spending over $56.63 billion on makeup in 2013 and $170 billion worldwide (Statista 1). To put this figure in perspective, according to the U.N., $30 billion per year could end world hunger. By this measure, if all cosmetic consumption ceased for an entire year, the money could solve world hunger for the next five and a half years. Women’s instinct to conform to men’s standard of beauty proves more powerful than their motherly instinct to provide proper nutrition. Male standards force women to find artificial means to create a desirable appearance that is different from other women but remains within the scope of attractiveness.
Humans use social distinction to stand out from the rest of their peers. Bourdieu presents his theory of social distinction in his article, “The Choice of the Necessary.” He professes that often times, people obtain social distinction through purchasing goods (Bourdieu 375). Makeup stands as a form of social distinction for women. Women want to enhance or cover up their natural features in order to stand out. Men give women the role of looking beautiful by a standard set by the culture industry.
The culture industry requires mass conformity to the ideals set forth by those in control of the media (Adorno 99). According to Adorno, we do not create the culture industry, but we find ourselves subject to its requirement of mass conformity, indirectly perpetuating it. Those in control of the media steal our freedom to choose by limiting the products available to us (Adorno 104). Celebrities dominate the medial and many of them look similar in physical appearance. The media constantly bombards women with these images and promotes a single standard of beauty. Women choosing to mimic celebrities, purchase cosmetics.
According to anthropologist Jaime Tehrani, mimicry evolved as trait of human beings (Tehrani 1). In nature, humans naturally admire those who possess greater skills. Tehrani believes problem arise when people associate attributes with their success that are unrelated. Women admire celebrities who achieve men’s affection through the arts, but mistakenly attribute their success to physical features. They purchase similar clothing and up makeup to mimic their appearance. In doing this, they give prestige and social status to women based on exterior features, rather than practiced skills. Women know that men desire certain celebrities and want to mimic their looks. The affection of men drives women to apply makeup.
Almost all of human history highlights women as needing to attract men through physical attributes. Do females naturally need to attract male affection and does that make artificially altering physical appearance inherent being female? When considering sexual attraction between the males and females of other species, the theory of sexual dimorphism arises. Sexual dimorphism highlights the difference in physical appearance between males and females of the same species (Britannica 2013). Sexual organs in males and females of the same species vary, but secondary sex characteristics such as body size and distinct color patterns also vary.
In nature, male species compete with one another for female mating privileges. As a result, they developed distinct secondary sex characteristics. The male common pheasants evolved many distinct physical traits that because of their need to attract female mating partners. In nature males change their physical features to attract females. Humans endure as an exception to the natural order of the animal kingdom. In society, we find that women “doll-up” for male attention.
Simone De Beauvoir presents an argument about this human divergence from the natural order. She refers to the female population as “The Second Sex,” and realizes that throughout history, men considered themselves humans, and women inferior humans (Beauvoir 9). Women are born into a society with preset rules for them and they get no choice in the matter. Men make laws about women without consulting the women that the laws govern. Men scrutinize their entire existence and prescribe the roles they play in society (Beauvoir 10). She knows that men see women as a secondary gender and attributes some of the reasoning to biology, “They [Women] have gained only what men have been willing to grant; they have taken nothing, but they have only received” (Beauvoir 5). The undertones of her argument suggest that in sexual intercourse, men give women sex, because they possess the exterior sexual organ. The word vagina, in Latin loosely translates to sword holder. This translation represents the discrimination that women face. Sword represents honor through battle, sword holders get built for the sole purpose and convince of swords. The terminology highlights the supplementary feeling of women in society. Sword holders must conform to the sword’s dimensions and liking, the same way women subject themselves to the desire of men. Furthermore, while women give birth, men give life; their orgasm ignites the creation life; the female’s orgasm is not essential to creating life. Women simply serve as the vessel in which men place their seeds of life. Men constantly remind women of these facts and keep them from realizing their equality. Women will do anything to win the affection of the men they desire.
Oscar Wilde speaks to the idea of women in his short story, “The Sphinx Without a Secret.” He tells the story of a women who appeared secretive, but in the end, just acted mysterious for the sake of mystery (Wilde 2). Men desire mysterious women because they want to explore the unknown. Once a mystery gets solved, people move on from it. Women try to stay mysterious to keep men intrigued. According to a study done by Global Cosmetic Industry in 2011, people perceive women who wear a significant amount of makeup more attractive. In addition, the study found that women with greater amount of makeup get judged more heavily on their characteristics (Anonymous 2011). In essence, this study suggests that women change their faces with makeup and as a result change people’s perception of them. They reinvent themselves and men become interested in pursuing them because they relate their physical change in appearance with their personalities. According to western gender roles, it is a women’s job to remain attractive to men. She keeps him interested by constantly changing her look and consequently, his perception of her. Celebrity women feel the most pressure to constantly reinvent themselves.
According to Kristy Fairclough, in her article, “Celebrity Studies,” women in the entertainment industry get caught between two forms of scrutiny. They are not allowed to age, but they are not allowed to mask aging with cosmetic surgery. The media pressures celebrity women to always look their best, but not allowed to show how much effort goes into physical appearances. Fairclough restates Wilde’s idea that women must constantly reinvent themselves to stay relevant and interesting (Fairclough 94). Women, out of the entertainment industry feel the same scrutiny, on a smaller scale. As a result, they use cosmetics to constantly reinvent themselves. Television shows, such as, “Extreme Makeover,” push the idea that you become an entirely different person with drastic changes to your physical appearance. Women have developed a superficial sense of accomplishment when people comment on their appearance.
Young children who consume media at an exponentially increasing rate, feel the effects of the culture industry’s projection of a single beauty standard the most. Young boys and girls constantly see images of photo-shopped women to a beauty standard developed and promoted by the culture industry. As a developing individual, children and teenagers do not realize that the images shown to them are constructed and artificial, not natural. Instead, they set these images as their standard for beauty. When they realize that these images are not attainable, they suffer from psychological problems concerning their body image. According to WebMD, the average girl gets about 180 minutes of media exposure daily and only about 10 minutes of parental interaction (Hobbs 4). Because of this massive discrepancy, the media controls teen perceptions far more often and more heavily than their own parents. In the media, teenage girls see images of women that appear happy because they conform to the media’s standard of beauty and men find them desirable. Teenagers try to mirror this happiness by changing their bodies to mimic the ones shown in the media.
In addition to the media projecting unattainable ideal standards of beauty, children see the women they look up to and their peers trying to attain these standards of beauty as well. The average woman does not possess much control over the media, but they do control their own actions. Witnessing role models conforming to the media’s beauty standard contributes to the increasing number of teenage girls with low self-esteem. A single measure of beauty restricts individuality but remains constantly imposed by the media. An increasing number of teenage girls wear makeup because of the pressure to conform.
Women feel the compulsion to enhance their features through makeup consumption in order to win the affection of men. Men put women in a position of inferiority and view them as supplemental to their needs. Women do not realize that they possess the power to reject the social standards that they are born into. Standards of beauty should be individual and not subject to the media’s conformity and marketing scheme to increase cosmetic consumption.
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