Makeup is oppression.. end of story

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Originally Posted by aquaeyes77 /img/forum/go_quote.gif

No this was regular public high school in Canada. It's different up here
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So teachers are allowed to (sexually, considering this was a sex based comment) harass students at public school in Canada? I'll have to ask some my Canadian friends about this.

 
Well it's difficult to make a complaint here in Canada against a government worker without it falling on deaf ears. We are a socialist monarchy which isn't exactly a democracy like you people have way down there in the United States. The government does control a fair amount of what we do in Canada and it's hard to go above them - you can get arrested for the most trivial things here and fined for something as silly as raising your voice in a public place.

 
Originally Posted by aquaeyes77 /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Well it's difficult to make a complaint here in Canada against a government worker without it falling on deaf ears. We are a socialist monarchy which isn't eactly a democracy like you people have way down there in the United States. The government does control a fair amount of what we do in Canada and it's hard to go above them - you can get arrested for the most trivial things here and fined for something as silly as raising your voice in a public place.
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You can be fined for being too loud in the US too. It's public disturbance.

I don't think it's actually as different as you're making it out to be.

 
If makeup is oppressive to you, why isn't skincare? Shouldn't the argument that society pressures women into having flawless skin be something that resonates for you? How is it also the best realm?

 
Originally Posted by aquaeyes77 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I remember going to school one day in tenth grade and being sick with the flu and not feeling well enough to cover my acne with makeup so I just went bare face with some Retin-a on and that's all. And I was actually told by a teacher to put some foundation on to cover my skin? he was like "you can't walk around like that, go home at lunch and put some makeup on". How is this not some form of oppression? honestly.
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You do realize that some people are just jerks right? This teacher sounds like one of those people. You need to chalk them up to being an ignorant *insert bad word here* and move on. Allowing them to change your feelings about yourself is giving them way too much control. You are wonderful and valuable as a human, as a woman, with pimples or without, with makeup or without and have amazing qualities well beyond your face. If that teacher truly feels the way he does it then has bigger issues. Belittling children is usually a sign of the person's own issues of insecurity and lack of self worth.

 
This was along time ago - in the mid 2000's (2004-2005) doesn't matter to me now. These people are long gone and there are no residual psychological effects.

 
Originally Posted by aquaeyes77 /img/forum/go_quote.gif

This was along time ago - in the mid 2000's (2004-2005) doesn't matter to me now. These people are long gone and there are no residual psychological effects.
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I am glad to hear it. We try to uplift and encourage our members here.

 
This is one person's perspective. You can't generalize the system as a whole based on one person's experience.

When I walk around downtown Toronto, (Eaton Centre, Bay Street, Dundas Square) for example and when I ride the TTC, I look at a lot of people, usually women because I want to see what style of make-up is trending right now, (fashion magazines vs real world). And what I see is that most women 25+ wear minimal make-up. Late teens to early 20's they wear make-up with emphasis on the eyes such as several layers of mascara. younger teens, they tend to wear liquid liner with minimal mascara. Foundation is minimal on everyone, on some women that I see that are wearing full coverage, I can see that they are covering up visible blemishes.

To sum it up, it's mostly emphasis on the eyes and everything else is down played, I also don't see a lot of inspiration from fashion magazines and each woman has their own style. Also their hair is usually styled casually like in a loose/messed chignon usually secured by a claw clip, some with large hair pins, surprisingly not too many ponytails, then again this is winter.

So what I see is not so much make-up oppression, but as personal choice of expression. However, I am always expecting to see make-ups that are inspired from current fashion editorials, yet I don't, not even on different ethnicities.

 
Well that's Toronto - not New York. Not many Canadians "are on trend" as much as our American counterparts who live for fashion and to follow trends. We just don't have that kind of demographic here in Canada and we don't have a lot of wealthy types either that can afford designer brands and designer makeup and I'm only being honest. Canadians just want their Tim Horton's coffee for the most part and don't care how they dress.

 
*not NYC, I'm in upstate NY and people doesn't wear trendy things or wear make up. They go out wearing pajamas and sporty sneakers, they wear really ugly clothes out. So not everyone in the US is trendy at all.

 
Originally Posted by aquaeyes77 /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Well that's Toronto - not New York. Not many Canadians "are on trend" as much as our American counterparts who live for fashion and to follow trends. We just don't have that kind of demographic here in Canada and we don't have a lot of wealthy types either that can afford designer brands and designer makeup and I'm only being honest. Canadians just want their Tim Horton's coffee for the most part and don't care how they dress.
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If Canadians just want their Tim Horton's coffee and don't care how they dress then where are the societal pressures regarding makeup that you speak of coming from? Or when you speak of these pressures are you referring to the media? Your arguments seem kind of contradictory.

 
Originally Posted by aquaeyes77 /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Well that's Toronto - not New York. Not many Canadians "are on trend" as much as our American counterparts who live for fashion and to follow trends. We just don't have that kind of demographic here in Canada and we don't have a lot of wealthy types either that can afford designer brands and designer makeup and I'm only being honest. Canadians just want their Tim Horton's coffee for the most part and don't care how they dress.
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Way to generalize an entire country based on your personal experiences. Jeez.

 
Yes the media! But if you have a severe skin condition such as I did you can face ostracism in just about any country if you choose to go bear faced and the pressure comes on to cover up regardless.

Canada is very different than the U.S in so many aspects - one of these aspects is the lack of ostentation in how people dress ect. (even if they have money) it's just not common or popular here to flaunt wealth. The great majority of people here are pretty darn laid back truth be told - nobody is driving around in a mercedes, or rocking a 100,000  dollar watch here or anything like that.

 
I can only speak for myself, but my makeup application is a little like a love letter to myself. I don't consider it a crutch or that I have issues because I like to wear lipstick. I don't consider it camouflage or some kind of woman's armor. Unless, we're talking concealer and my pesky hormonal acne lol. Generalizing women and men who choose to wear makeup or not is silly. Makeup means different things to each individual. What's important is that people enjoy wearing it and know that it's just that..nothing more, nothing less, so that it doesn't become some sort of crutch. If it is, there are probably underlying issues that need to be addressed.

 
Yes the media! But if you have a severe skin condition such as I did you can face ostracism in just about any country if you choose to go bear faced and the pressure comes on to cover up regardless. Canada is very different than the U.S in so many aspects - one of these aspects is the lack of ostentation in how people dress ect. (even if they have money) it's just not common or popular here to flaunt wealth. The great majority of people here are pretty darn laid back truth be told - nobody is driving around in a mercedes, or rocking a 100,000  dollar watch here or anything like that.
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That you know of. Just because you live in a country doesn't mean you know how every single person in that country is or what they have. I'm sorry but your excuses saying Americans are more on trend than Canadians and that any country is going to ostericize anyone with any form of acne is rediculous! You must know some very shallow people to think that everyone acts like that. You know what I don't mind if someone walks around without makeup and has a skin condition! If you ask me that person has an extremely high self esteem to walk around bare faced and not care what people think and not worry that they are going to be ostracized as you say.
 
I don't think you've really experienced America, I've never even seen a $100,000 watch. and you can lease a mercedes. anyway, away from your opinions that you've obviously formed from american t.v. shows... makeup makes women feel pretty, it boosts their self-esteem and makes them feel sexy and confident, and whats wrong with that?? just because you look back and have decided to become a feminist and therefore see any differences as "opression" doesn't mean anyone else should. and why, on earth, would you join a MAKEUP forum to tell a large group of people who LOVE makeup that is opressive and pointless and basically that we're insecure and naive for wearing it????

 
Yes the media! But if you have a severe skin condition such as I did you can face ostracism in just about any country if you choose to go bear faced and the pressure comes on to cover up regardless. Canada is very different than the U.S in so many aspects - one of these aspects is the lack of ostentation in how people dress ect. (even if they have money) it's just not common or popular here to flaunt wealth. The great majority of people here are pretty darn laid back truth be told - nobody is driving around in a mercedes, or rocking a 100,000  dollar watch here or anything like that.
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People are shunned and ostracized everywhere, for a multitude of often stupid and ridiculous reasons. Weight, skin color, appearance of wealth or absence, sexual orientation, religion or lack of... Am I missing something? You are generalizing a lot. You have very specific opinions about this, so do others. We all have opinions, there's that funny and cliche saying.. Important part, you seem to feel better about yourself and overall appearance. Wonderful, it's a great thing. But I doubt anyone else is feeling oppressed and chained by their lipstick.
 
Many of the ladies have already said what I feel. But I will quickly summarize how I feel. 

For me, I feel much better with makeup, most of the time. Not always, I promise, but generally I feel 'prettier' when I do my foundation and throw on some mascara and that's the honest truth. I don't feel this way because the media has made me feel insecure, or someone has made me feel less beautiful looking natural. I just feel more confident with an even skin tone and with attention brought to my big brown eyes. 

I think that the a-holes in your life have made a bigger impression on you than you think. But they are the past and you seem to accept that. While I believe your attempt was to empower us by posting this, you instead made several of us feel offended, I think. But, makeuptalk is a place to support each other and if you feel more empowered without makeup, more power to you and we support you. But at the same time, please simply share your opinion rather than try to persuade others. If your point is that valid, we will be persuaded on our own and you won't have to defend yourself.

I love it here and you should too. but it is makeup talk, so thats what we do here - I don't think that will stop anytime soon. feel free to share your experiences though, because as you can see, we are definitely all listening. *hugs*

 
Oh come on it's not just from T.V shows infiltrating my mind - you have people in your country living in the American equivalent of "royalty" and they can afford and flash the hell out of what they buy. We don't have those types in Canada at all - and basically everyone is on par with eachother financially and only a few are upper class. Hence the reason why we don't have many fancy department stores here in Canada - there's just no market for it. Your country is that of extremes, the extremely wealthy and the extremely poor-- and the struggling middle class.

 
Originally Posted by aquaeyes77 /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Oh come on it's not just from T.V shows infiltrating my mind - you have people in your country living in the American equivalent of "royalty" and they can afford and flash the hell out of what they buy. We don't have those types in Canada at all - and basically everyone is on par with eachother financially and only a few are upper class. Hence the reason why we don't have many fancy department stores here in Canada - there's just no market for it. Your country is that of extremes, the extremely wealthy and the extremely poor-- and the struggling middle class.
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I'm not so sure what you mean by "the American equivalent of 'royalty'". As far as I know we have no equivalent of royalty. Also, "fancy" department stores are not limited to upper class- middle class shops there too.

 

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