Were a man to tell me I don’t look ‘real’ or ‘human’ in my make-up, I’d feel furious.
Also, on the basis of gender equality I have to defend my right of applying all kinds of cosmetics on my face against Vicky McClure.
In support of her role in Trigger Point’s police thriller, the 38 year-old revealed that she was naked to promote authenticity.
‘I didn’t want the character to make a big deal about the way she looks,’ the 38-year-old told Radio Times.
‘She is real and human. Social media puts so much pressure upon people. I would like to put some kind of message out there, showing people that you don’t really need make-up.’
Vicky McClure 38 (pictured) was stripped-to-the-bone for Trigger Point on ITV to demonstrate that people don’t need makeup
Emily Hill (pictured) admits the modern feminist movement has left her questioning if she is a feminist, while saying Vicky McClure’s supposedly feminist assertion could be viewed as decidedly anti-feminist
You can see what she’s getting at. Vicky is trying to restore balance in an age where digital enhancement has made women appear super-smooth and have unrealistically pouty faces on social media. Little girls think they should be able to achieve this.
While this celebrity message may make women feel more liberated than others, it can also cause make-up wearers to feel uneasy.
After all, we women do know we don’t need make-up. It’s something that many of us enjoy. We want to wear it — and not because men tell us to. I have found that too many of these items can make poor friends very nervous.
The rise of Instagram and selfies may have transformed the cosmetics sector into a multimillion pound business, but the truth is that cosmetics have been worn by women for centuries, right from Jezebel to Cleopatra all the way up to Kim Kardashian.
Modern makeup isn’t a trendy trend. However we use it — to conceal blemishes or mask a lack of confidence, or simply to play around with the image we present to the world — those magic make-up brushes help us feel better about ourselves. And that does not render us ‘inauthentic’.
I don’t think I need to look a certain way for men and, equally, I won’t be deterred from looking the way I want to look because it offends other women. As many other women, I do this for myself, and for my pleasure. And I don’t see why that’s so shocking. Would you suggest I only take a bath for someone else’s benefit?
So I can’t help but feel that McClure’s supposedly feminist assertion could be viewed as decidedly anti-feminist.
Emily said no matter what you decide, someone will tell you you’re wrong. Pictured: queen of contouring, Kim Kardashian
Other women go further, telling make-up lovers like me we’re letting down our gender by dolling ourselves up.
There’s a puritanical streak in the modern feminist movement, which has moved on from the straightforward fight for rights.
So much so that I start to fear I’m not a feminist, if my reaction to ‘fashionable’ feminism is that I want to tell feminists to leave women to make their own choices — whether that’s wearing false eyelashes or wanting to be a stay-at-home mum.
In fact, faced with the minefield that is feminism for the modern woman, it’s hard to know what the term even means. Julie Burchill once said that there was only one type of woman: the feminists or the idiots. One was either pro-freedom and equal rights with men. The other was against. It seemed so simple for a time.
Women must be free to choose their own path
Now, you’re faced with terms such as ‘intersectional’ feminism [how women’s rights cross with issues including race and sexuality], ‘pretty privilege’, TERF [trans-exclusionary radical feminist]All other woke denominations are also available. Confused? Confused?
Even more baffling, no matter what you decide, someone will tell you you’re wrong. J. K. Rowling, the Harry Potter author. You’re a bad feminist if you do, as she’s backed female-only changing rooms (a feminist cause if ever there was one) and is perceived as anti-trans.
Didn’t want Hillary Clinton to be U.S. president? You’re a bad feminist because you should always support the sisterhood.
Emily claimed that Spice Girls (pictured), fought to have us wear any clothing in the 1990s. Gloria Steinem School of Feminism believes all women should shun bras, makeup, and body-sculpting exercises.
Don’t believe we’re living in a modern-day Handmaid’s Tale? You’re a bad feminist because you don’t believe every man has the capacity to be a rapist.
It is not surprising that a growing number of people find this kind of feminism somewhat off-putting.
Part of the frustration is we thought — we hoped — that we had resolved so many of these squabbles decades ago. In the 1980s, significant progress was made towards eliminating the Madonna vs. whore discrimination that targeted a particular type of woman who enjoyed her sexuality. You can see this in The Material Girl.
In the ‘girl power’ of the 1990s, the Spice Girls fought for our right to wear anything from babydoll dresses, power suits, Union Jacks, naked baby-bellies and tracksuits — plus some rather fabulous make-up — without so much as raising an eyebrow. Growing up in 1983 with Margaret Thatcher, a woman who used to handbag her rivals while wearing pussybow blouses, feminism meant that I could be equal with men and remove their expectations.
Cosmetics and bras can make you feel more sexy
But in achieving the former we seem to have experienced a schism on the latter — an unresolvable clash between our ‘freedom from’ and our ‘freedom to’.
Disciples of the Gloria Steinem school of feminism want ‘freedom from’ the male gaze.
These women don’t like to be objectified. Therefore, I believe all women should avoid bras, body-sculpting exercises, and make-up. They want to celebrate their bodies as they are.
Meanwhile, others want ‘freedom to’. Freedom to dress how we like (plus speak, do and think), regardless of gender norms.
Emily (pictured) stated that Emily had been a feminist her whole life until she realized she was free to choose what she would like to do.
In other words, bras and makeup make some people feel sexier. Sex, after all, is the reason the human race exists, and we don’t understand why we should feel ashamed.
I always considered myself a feminist until I realised I wanted to decide for myself what I wanted to do — and that some forms of modern feminism seem determined to tell everyone exactly what to think.
It is equality of opportunity that is most important. Not equality of outcomes. Maybe men and women want different things — and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Not to mention the fact that many feminists who dominate views are middle-class or privileged.
Vicky McClure is right, however. Women should be allowed to look however they want, and if that involves not wearing make-up that’s brilliant.
It is a concern that girls may be exposed to Botox and lip fillers. Breast and butt implant removal can also be difficult. However, make-up can always be removed and doesn’t cause enduring harm.
I squirm at the green eyeshadow of my teenage days — but young girls need to have fun and experiment. So even if Vicky ditches her make-up brushes, I won’t be surrendering mine.
The only thing I know is that, as I face this fraught and confusing new cultural battleground, I’ll be doing so with a made-up face.
As my grandmother always said, it’s my warpaint.