One Face at a Time

          From the very beginning of our existence, humanity has experimented with many different substances, in order to accentuate or minimize certain features. Originally used for various ancient rituals and ceremonies, the use of cosmetics evolved to suggest social class, rank in society, personal background, and even one’s romantic availability. These utilizations of cosmetics have become so numerous within America’s evolving cultural beliefs and trends, that they have too become associated with many of our beliefs and ideals. However, it is often that the live of American women become so focused on the aesthetics of our world that we tend to miss the true meanings behind them. Such as the reasons why so many American women feel the need to look at themselves in the mirror constantly, to watch others build a certain style for themselves, and then proceed to copy it in the hopes of seeming unique. So many women spend their entire lives in this paradox, oblivious to its practically parasitic nature as cosmetic corporations profit off of the population’s insecurities and self-doubt. By altering our social norms, our population’s self image, and our methods of marketing to others, the use of cosmetics has contributed in shaping the culture of American females of the present, one face at a time.
   
          Our use of makeup extends well beyond our recorded history, and its uses are even more vast. Used as a tool of ritual, protection, as well as a personal self image and satisfaction elevator, our shifts in makeup uses and styles as a culture have reflected our constantly evolving beliefs and ideals.
Some Native Americans tribes used face and body paints to create patterns significant to the tribe for ceremonies or battles, as well as certain oils to protect themselves from harmful UV radiation or insects. In many of the Native American cultures, different color combinations and symbols had a very distinct meaning for specific settings or events, such as war, places of healing, or contemplation. According to Linda Alchin, Director of Education at Siteseen Ltd, each color can have a completely different meaning depending on the situation it is used in. For example, the color red is quite an aggressive color in times of great conflict as it represents blood and violence. However, the color red can also “reflect faith, beauty and happiness” as well as spirituality.   
The uses of cosmetics varied based on what beliefs and priorities the individual culture held. Most of the many Native American cultures had very simplistic views of self image, as this was not a large focus in their lives. The use of everyday makeup in most of the Native American cultures was not practical, as every member of their tribe was expected to be helping in the daily functions of the community. According to History.org, whether that was working in the fields, collecting corn, building shelter, hunting, etc., it was a group effort. It was not normal or desired for one to be sitting and checking their appearance long enough to use correctional cosmetics. 
With the introduction of the British settlers, a new culture was introduced, and with it, a new take on self image and an entirely different objective in the use of cosmetics. In Lenore Wright Anderson’s(Doctor of Philosophy) Thesis, Synthetic Beauty: American women and Cosmetic Surgery, he writes that because women were viewed as “the weaker sex”, it was ideal for their features to reflect this sense of weakness and need to be protected by being “small and delicate.”(pg 164) For a large portion of history, a woman’s use of makeup implied a heightened social status and aristocratic lifestyle, meaning that the woman would be able to preserve her youthful, pure glow and remain untouched by the dirt of the working world. Through our country’s years as a colony, the use of makeup in the common woman was still incredibly subtle. However, the aspirations to live the comfortable lifestyle implied by one’s heavy use of cosmetics were still ever present. These physical aspirations included whitened and even skin tone, rouged cheeks, full, dark eyebrows and red-tinted “bee-stung lips”.
As women’s suffrage began to make an entrance in our country’s history in the 1900’s, women began to express themselves in new and innovative mediums, such as their clothing and an increased use in cosmetics. The general belief of our culture in this time period was that cosmetics were for actresses and prostitutes. 
Because it was commonly saw as desirable for a woman to possess or portray small, soft and dainty features, the women’s suffrage movement used an opposite approach in order to gain attention for their cause. As an act of assertion and defiance against this ideal of women and their roles, women wore bold red on their lips in marches and even in their everyday lives. Although it may not be pioneering by our standards today, this act of defiance represented women’s breakage of preconceptions and their bonds as objects, and expressed their demands to be seen as people with their own rights among men. In Lisa Hix’s article How a Makeup Mogul Liberated Women by Putting Them in a Pretty New Cage, it is mainly described that “the flapper feminists” used cosmetics as a “tool of liberation” and empowerment. Using this new technique of self expression, after almost a century of protest, the 19th Amendment to the American Constitution was added; effectively granting women the right to vote. After this feminist victory, cosmetics soon became a great symbol of women empowerment, and this vision has only grown and became rooted into our own cultural beliefs, as a large population of American women now use makeup as a direct expression of their beliefs, personalities, and background. In order to voice one’s message, the face is often a go to canvas. As a result, many different styles have been accepted, and because these styles were so common in certain settings they have become expected and some even enforced; such as in business setting, the types of styles you may find on a fashion magazine, or perhaps the cosmetics worn by your waitress or flight attendant.
Through our expansive history of cosmetic use, humanity has created many preconceptions, assumptions and expectations of the kinds of women who wear makeup. In the research article, THE EFFECTS OF HAIR COLOR AND COSMETIC USE ON PERCEPTIONS OF A FEMALE’S ABILITY, researchers, Heike I. M. Mahler and Diana J. Kyle of California State University, San Marcos, found that when shown images of women in cosmetics, and others without cosmetics, participants in their study deemed the model without cosmetics to be “more capable” and inferred that she would have a higher paying occupation. Although the research did not deeply address the possible logic for the participant's judgments, it is possible that the image of increased femininity in a woman, as cosmetics imply, could have swayed them to believe the woman to be less assertive, less intelligent, and therefore, less competent in a work environment(page 152). As this study was done in 1996, a similar but more recent study found that in the present American culture, the exact opposite was true. As of 2006 (ten years later), the expectations of a woman wearing makeup include heightened social or economic status, success, health and confidence. In this more recent study done by Rebecca Nash, George Fieldman, and Trevor Hussey, in their research article, Cosmetics: They Influence More Than Caucasian Female Facial Attractiveness, an image of women wearing makeup was considered to be “healthier and more confident” than those of the same women without makeup. The women who wore makeup were even thought to have a “greater Earning Potential” and hold a more prestigious career than those without it. The main point of this study was not to dive deeply into the reasoning for their subject’s assumption, however, they were taken into consideration in Nash’s writings. As of now, it is possible that society associates a women’s use of cosmetics with “higher status jobs” such as office-based occupations, rather than “less bureaucratic jobs” such as childcare or factory work. This is because a women’s use of makeup implies a heightened social status, a lessened obligation to manual labor, and a need to put their best face forward in situations such as business meetings or important social exchanges. (pg 502) From these experiments, it is obvious that our society’s attitudes toward cosmetics are beginning to shift to a more understanding and tolerant view of a women’s use of makeup, even to the point of expecting and encouraging it to be applied on a daily basis. This is a great difference from the American cultures past ideals of feminine beauty and their reception of a woman’s ability to accentuate herself.
   
           There are many obvious reasons to wear makeup: to decorate, accentuate, or even minimize and hide certain features. However, the issue is not just skin deep, for the American culture’s increased use of makeup has edited many women’s self image to a point in which they do not truly see or accept themselves when they look in a mirror until they have highlighted, shaded or concealed all of the “less desirable” aspects of themselves.

One’s self-image is simply the way in which one sees themselves or their role, as described by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. For many American women, makeup is more than a superficial application; it is a way in which one expresses their own self-image. The face they put on becomes the image of themselves that they identify with, rather than their own face without makeup.
In the article, Appearance work: Women’s everyday makeup practices, the researcher, Natalie Beausoleil, finds that women who wear makeup on a daily basis begin to recognize themselves as the mask that they apply to their face. These women also admit to believing that they are “not being themselves” when they are not wearing makeup(pg 170), for their ideal version of themselves they present to the world is the one they eventually come to identify with.

In their research article, “Who wears Cosmetics?” Individual Differences and their Relationship with Cosmetic Usage, Julia Robertson, George Fieldman and Trevor Hussey Buckinghamshire from Chilterns University College, found that those who express “anxiety, self-consciousness, introversion, conformity, and self-presentation” are more likely to form a bond with and wear cosmetics regularly to accentuate themselves than those who more readily express “extroversion, social confidence, emotional stability, self-esteem, physical attractiveness, and intellectual complexity”. (Robertson, Fieldman, & Hussey, 2008, p. 41). Whether we are making a bold statement of our views, or just trying to cover our own insecurities, in reality, we are just trying to reflect a better version of ourselves that we would be comfortable presenting to the world. Because it is insecurity and one’s longing for acceptance that drives them to apply makeup, it is very easy to identify with this more pleasing image of oneself allows as it increases their sense of confidence, and gives them a better sense of control over one’s social situations.
However, how exactly are these insecurities fabricated? Through the many fashion magazines, blogs, and posts on social media, American women are constantly bombarded with examples of feminine beauty, perfection, and    to compare themselves too. Our brains often require a frame of reference in order to imagine an ideal version of ourselves. This is often where many women’s habits to pick and choose features from other women on magazines and beauty blogs they fantasize of possessing come from. According to Virginia Blum, Professor of English at the University of Kentucky, in her article, Becoming the Other Woman: The Psychic Drama of Cosmetic Surgery, it is often that, when you don’t feel beautiful enough, “the rest of the world looks like an array of perfect examples of just what you lack.” (page 1) 

      American women are constantly guaranteed, bated, and often persuaded by the continuous advertising on our television, popup ads on any given website or YouTube video, and all forms of social media that a better version of us lies somewhere just within reach; that we can make her our new reality, if we just buy their products.

Despite our induced desire to be individual, our natural inclination to join the crowd greatly overpowers this longing. Each member of humanity is constantly searching for something to be a part of, searching for community and instinctually (and often unconsciously) adapt to each new culture we are dropped in for fear of being outcast. Some examples of this are as simple as picking up an accent when visiting another part of the world, or when a child learns a bad habit from a friend. However, Beauty companies are more than happy to indulge both of these incredibly human longing.
In one of his better known articles, Why Johnny Can’t Dissent, Thomas Carr Frank, American political analyst, historian, and journalist, wrote very passionately about the topic of unconscious conformity in our purchases and styles.  “We consume not to fit in, but to prove[...]” that we are  “rebels[…]rule-breaking and hierarchy-defying”. American women are continuously being influenced by companies and corporations, even through our attempts to escape them. In our personal quests to be individual, independent, and unique, we are unwittingly becoming a part of the same market as the large portion of our population is swayed by how incredibly innovative and original the model’s lip style on the latest fashion Instagram is.
Rather than reading the newspaper or the newest fashion magazines, the American population is now hooked on Twitter, Instagram, and most of all, YouTube. It is here that people find their idols in alternative art, music, and cosmetics. However, these individuals who are so highly praised for their unique style and techniques are really funded or sponsored by the same corporations who are making an incredible amount of income from creating self doubt in possible consumers through their advertisements.
According to Brodie Lancaster’s interview of one of the newest “Beauty Gurus” on YouTube and first male Cover Girl ambassador in 2016, 21 year- old Michael Finch; as well as earning money through advertisements included before or during his videos, also makes a great deal of income from “brand sponsorships”. Finch explains to the interviewer that a brand sponsorship is “ just brands reaching out to you to promote their products.” Because YouTube has become so popular in the American culture, women often consult it for various reasons, mainly assistance in their cosmetic use. According to the Statistics Portal, the trend of viewing beauty content on YouTube has increased from 0.63 billion to 88 billion views from 2007 to 2017. Considering how popular YouTube had become in the last decade, it is really no wonder that large companies are using it to advertise their products. As people look to vloggers like Finch for guidance in their cosmetic decisions, it is a very bold but effective business move for Beauty companies to use these rising “YouTube Stars” in order to sway the female American population in their purchases compared to their past use of magazines and billboards. 

          Throughout America’s relatively short history, the American culture has undergone many changes and reforms not only in our views, ideals and general beliefs, but also in the ways we express them. The female population of America has used cosmetics in the name of self-expression, liberty, and empowerment. However, new techniques in advertising by Beauty Companies have made this claim hypocritical and in many cases, close to meaningless. American women are once again being manipulated by the expectations of others based on their appearance, as well as what it is they personally wish to look like through advertisements designed to shape these personal ideals. As women were originally expected to be without makeup, it is now engrained in the American culture that successful and confident women are always made up and professional, that a woman’s beauty should equate that of America’s next Top Model, and in order to achieve this necessary goal, we must seek knowledge from so called “Beauty Gurus”, and use the products they suggest. It is apparent that the life of an American woman can become so focused on the aesthetics of our world that we tend to glance over the true meanings and implications behind them, as they have to become associated with many of our beliefs and ideals. It is through these alteration in our social norms, our population’s self image, and our methods of marketing to others, that the use of cosmetics has contributed in shaping the culture of American females of the present; one face at a time.



Bibliography
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Merriam-Webster, Self-image, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/self-image, April 22, 2018
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