Comment by botanical76 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by botanical76 | Hacker News Reader

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I think the only case where a woman's use of makeup can be considered fake is when she lies about using it.

Otherwise, it is just another way humans choose to dress their external appearance for their own pleasure, fulfilment and social intentions. It's not as if it's hard to tell when someone is wearing makeup - that is, at least when you're close enough to be able to inspect their imperfections at all.

It seems to me that this idea about makeup being 'fake' stems from heteronormative dating, where a man may feel he is unable to properly assess a woman's beauty (and her attractiveness to him) if her face has been changed in arbitrary ways. But personally, I don't think we should optimize all human encounters for dating efficiency. More broadly, there is no social contract which stipulates you must wield your natural appearance at all times. I think we need not add more social expectations to an already long list.

The pure fact that there is an asymmetry between men and women w.r.t. makeup renders your argument void.

You said "for the same reason I reject wearing makeup" which implied, to me, that you feel people should not (I assume you mean, regularly) wear wakeup because "capturing of their genuine features and expressions should be valued more."

I said, or intended to convey, that it is a personal preference. It really need not matter to others how a person, be it man or woman, chooses to dress their appearance (though of course there is a line, for example most places would encourage that you wear clothes in public.)

I don't believe that the asymmetry between men and women changes this. There may exist:

- an asymmetry between the beauty standards which are applied to men and women, or;

- an asymmetry between the pressure that men and women experience to enhance their natural appearance, or;

- any other difference of expectation between men and women.

I personally feel many of these expectations are harmful overall. However, this need not invalidate a person's choice to dress their face with makeup, and throwing more expectations (even unpopular ones) into the mix will certainly not alleviate this asymmetry.

edit: perhaps I could make it a little more clear that I have a lot of distaste for the way the world works for women. I agree with you largely and I think it's unfair. I just think there's a very large jump from 'women should not feel the need to wear makeup' to 'women should not wear makeup.'

I think that's what I tried to express, just with less words and more clumsily.

Fellow women should feel encouraged to reject this pressure.

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