Barbie Without Makeup

[image credit here]

I've long been of the opinion that if men don't "need" makeup--which most people would probably tend to agree with--then women don't either. 

Yet the use of makeup by women has become the default in our society so that if a woman opts out of makeup, her appearance is almost seen as abnormal.

But it's devil's advocate time.  I don't wear a beard, I pluck errant eyebrow and ear hair, I use deodorant...so much for me being "natural."  Thus natural is more of a continuum than a discrete black/white distinction.  And so it could be argued that my appearance is no more natural than the Barbie on the right.

This goes along with the perennial discussion we have on the perimeter about Survivor.  I think that the woman on the island look better au natural.  When they reconvene back in civilization for the results show, and the woman are all glammed up, it somehow seems like a step backwards (but do I notice whether the men are also glammed up...hmmmm?).

So let's boil the discussion down to what is relevant.  The overriding principle is that I am a staunch advocate for women's agency and freedom.  Thus my particular preferences in what I happen to find attractive are irrelevant: a woman can opt in or out of makeup as she wishes because it's her body...just like she should have the agency and freedom to decide whether or not to be pregnant.  It's just another facet of human female existence.

Actually this entire discussion could be considered as inappropriate, as it is none of my business how a woman elects to present. 

But I found the Barbie images interesting and wanted to put them out there.