Imagining a world where Pamela Anderson going sans make up at Paris fashion week is NOT news...

Let's re-examine make up's role in our lives, shall we?

I very rarely tap into mainstream media.  But this weekend, I found myself interested in reading the narrative around Pamela Anderson’s appearance sans makeup at Paris fashion week.

At first, I bought into the comments other female actors made about how brave she was to go without makeup the entire week. The energy around her ‘act of courage’ was shock and awe, and on one hand I can see how she’s breaking through cultural barriers in the fashion world around the way a woman ‘must’ show up. So, yes, bravo Pamela!

And then, once that settled in, the incredible lunacy of it all confronted me full throttle. 

How, in a world where masses of people are living through very, very challenging situations, is it an act of courage to go without makeup? 

How did we buy into the idea that a woman must wear 20 different makeup products on her face in order to be beautiful in the first place? Truly, how did we get here and how have we women not already overthrown this incredibly oppressive expectation??

I’m saddened by the lack of appreciation and attention given to Pamela for the many actual acts of courage she’s exhibited throughout her lifetime, as I know she’s endured many hard times. These should be the things we admire most, not her beautiful bare face. 

Every woman I know has exhibited incredible courage just showing up each day in our society. These are the stories worthy of front page news. 

We endure and suffer, mostly in silence and alone, thinking we must not show our true face, a face that at times could appear quite contorted with anguish, rage, grief and disenfranchisement if we let it. 

Instead, we put our best made up face forward to try again another day to pretend like we’re not all screaming inside at the sheer hypocrisy of a world where it’s a woman’s duty to be as beautiful as she can for the male gaze, and paradoxically other women, while the most important aspects of her beingness are completely secondary. 

Here’s an actual news flash: It is of absolutely no consequence whether you have make-up on your face or not. 

P.S. And please, don’t misunderstand me…I love a gorgeous red lipstick and how fun it is to wear. I enjoy painting my face as an act of creativity and self expression, so I’m not saying makeup is ‘bad’.

I’m saying feeling like we have to cover up our real face in order to fit in and feel beautiful is a lie we’ve bought into.

You’re already beautiful.

The make up is just more color.