Sexism, Lies and Nailpolish

Recently I went to Sephora with a friend. It wasn’t pleasent. There were earsplitting Christmas carols, weird lighting (everything was dark except the products), and a store layout that made me feel trapped no matter where I went. The whole effect put me in a semi-narcotic daze, and just wanted to leave.

At one point I looked at some of the nailpolishes. Most of the names were cutesy, e.g. “Madame President,” “Ocean Love Potion,” “In the Shadows” and so on. But some of the names were downright disturbing. Here are a few examples:

-Arm Candy
-What A Broad
-Social Climber
-Mermaid To Order
-Charge It!
-How Many Carats?
-“What’s a Tire Jack?”

Eurgh!

All of the customers and attendants in the store, save one, were women. I would guess, though I can’t prove, that the people who came up with these names were largely female as well. And I’m sure they mean “What a Broad” to be tongue in cheek. But this only adds to the idea that makeup, and thus female beauty, is tied in to sexual submissiveness and cluelessness (“What’s a Tire Jack?”), not to mention a heterosexual one (“I’m With Brad”). Which only pulls women away from feminism and the women’s movement (“aren’t they all frumpy and grumpy?”).

I don’t think the beauty industry is really a feminist ally. But to see this agenda in even the minutest details is…disconcerting, to say the least.