It’s not ‘anti-feminist’ to wear make up (Opinion)

My mother always used to tell me to put on lipstick before my husband came home from work. She said it was an important duty of a wife to look attractive for her husband. I know that sounds like an antiquated concept but it’s just as true today as it always was. Men are visually stimulated and are attracted to our femininity. Since our femininity can be enhanced by make up, it stands to reason that if women look better with make up, they should wear it—even if it IS just for a mans sake.

I was watching a show today that purported to understand the reasons that women wear make up. And it kind of bothered me, because the implication was that since some women wear make up to attract men, it can be considered sexist, or anti-feminist to do so. Because, after all, men don’t wear make up to attract women, do they? This is just another example of how society today tries to pretend that genders don’t matter. That we are all the same. That each of us was born one big blob of cells and continue to live as a big blob of genderless grey matter.

The reasons that women wear make up are vast- sometimes it makes them feel better about themselves, sometimes they wear it so they look better than other women, and—yes, I know it’s scandalous and very politically incorrect, but sometimes women wear it to attract men.

Whether you like it or not, the female form was made much more beautiful than the male’s and for a very good reason. The design of it was actually INTENDED to attract men. And that includes the face. So, highlighting or featuring one’s best attributes by glistening and glossing, even if it’s just for the sake of having men look, is perfectly OK.

Can a more attractive woman get out of tickets, get a better seat on the subway, or just plain get her way in this world? Yes. That’s one of the gifts bestowed upon us as women, and one many women try to squander by saying they are no different from men. If makeup makes us more attractive, it follows that men may notice and we may get what we want or even need. It’s our not so secret weapon. It’s also part and parcel of being a woman and can simply add to the power that we already have just by virtue of being female. So does wearing make up in any way disempower women? On the contrary. It actually commits to our power as women and channels it in the right direction.

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