Constance Rhodes is going without makeup for the whole month of February. It’s now February 17th. 11 more days to go. Good thing it’s a shorter month. She’s been blogging about it, with daily photos, at truecampaign.org .
As for me, I’ve gone without makeup for months at a time. No big deal. And not a big deal in many parts of the world, right? But then again, I’m a guy. Here’s my comment to Constance:
“As a guy, I have no idea how makeup, or the lack there of, can affect a woman emotionally and even psychosomatically. It doesn’t help that I could care less about my appearance and what others think of me. Thanks for taking the courageous steps to do this experiment, and live to blog about it.”
Plus, living here in “the OC”, there’s a more obvious compulsion about “beauty” and “image” among the masses.
For the back story, it all started with this, A Month Without Makeup – The Experiment, triggered by a documentary movie, America the Beautiful, about America’s obsession with beauty.
Right out of college, I got a job as an electronic technician at a TV station. I'd only been there a few days when I stepped into what I thought was a mens' room – and saw several makeup items on the sink. I thought, “Ut oh,” and looked back at the sign on the outside of the door.
It was indeed a mens' room, but it was the closest one to the newsroom, and no male anchorman goes on the air without his makeup.
[...] Woman going without makeup for a month to make statement about the ‘crisis of distorted self image’ February 18, 2009 TrueCampaign.org (HT: D. J. Chuang) [...]
Hey – thanks for covering the experiment! It has definitely been a wild ride. Can't say I'm not a little eager for it to be over (I think often about how great it will be to put it back on again), but it's been a great learning experience too. To just see if I can face the world without it.
Anyway, thanks, and best wishes on your work.