Mollie

I’ve been thinking about lipstick feminism, consumerism, and all things style, beauty, and fashion.

First of all, I love my skinny jeans. I’m not big on makeup, but I rarely go out without blush and mascara. I own THREE pairs of Ugg boots (I don’t really care if you think they’re fashionable or ugly). I don’t dye my hair, but I have numerous Nike tempo shorts and I admit that in reality, they don’t help me to run any faster. I was trained by advertisers to be a consumer. Am I a bad feminist? I don’t think I am. I do think that my habits and my fixation with looks and style goes to show that even (some) feminists aren’t immune to the pressures of the media. We too feel pressure to look “beautiful” as is stereotypically exploited, and we feel the pressure to be consumers.

All of this has me thinking about lipstick feminism… can it be liberating to wear high heels and feel sexy? I say, absolutely, yes. But I think fitting into what is stereotypically seen as beautiful, and following the status quo by doing the hair thing, the makeup thing, and the fashion thing that society expects women to do is not exactly feminism at its finest. (Feel free to criticize me, I’m quite young and in truth, new to all of this.) Do I think a woman sporting a face of makeup and high heels is a bad feminist? Absolutely ...