Make up Madness

     Every single morning when I wake up, I wash my face, then brush my teeth, and then begin applying my make up. Putting on make up has become a praxis for me everyday. Cover up blemishes, apply bronzer to look more tan, sweep on blush to accentuate cheek bones, curl eyelashes to make them appear longer, and swipe on black mascara to define the eyes. All things that our culture has deemed beautiful. This is just the routine for class, it gets longer for more important events.  Even when I feel lazy, I force myself to wake up early so I have time to get ready for the day. This is a great example of how culture works on our docile bodies, and as Susan Bordo says, our energy is habituated to external regulation, subjection, transformation and most importantly improvement. Make up practices differ depending on the stage of life and subculture that a girl identifies herself with. It is a pursuit with out a terminus, it is ever changing and requires us to constantly adapt. 

     It is normal in our culture for girls to begin applying makeup around age 12. Most of us start out with the clumpy bright pink flavored lip gloss and blue eyeshadow as they are the easiest to learn to apply. The next stage around junior high is when girls start to get pimples. In our culture, zits are embarrassing, so a girl will wear loads of face makeup to cover them up. This creates a nice orange line along their jaw and they get the 'caked on' look. In high school, it is all about what clique or subculture you fall in. A jock may not wear a ton of eye make up as it would run off during her game. A 'goth' or 'emo' wears thick black eyeliner and strives for a pale face. A 'prep' may go to tanning in the middle of winter, and use a lot of bronzer with natural looking eyes. An 'artsy' girl may experiment with crazy colors. The list goes on and on.

     Make up is a way that women believe improves their look, and even self-confidence. It is something that men also recognize and may find attractive. It is so interesting to me how the fashions change and how easily our bodies can and do adapt to those changes. It has definitely become apart of my everyday routine and will certainly be for the rest of my life.