Should feminists wear make-up?

Imani Perry, Professor in the Center for African American Studies at Princeton, wrote, “Is (Black) Beauty Still a Feminist Issue?” after reviewing the 2010 Miss Universe contestants online. She didn’t watch the pageant, writing, “I am an old fashioned feminist when it comes to pageants. They turn my stomach. I find them embarrassing and absurd. But I can’t be preachy about my dislike. After all, I love fashion magazines, the ones filled with fantasies of over-the-top consumption and impossible beauty and I won’t apologize for that indulgence, so I have no judgment for pageant watchers. Pageants just aren’t for me.” She describes, however, her shock and extreme excitement to see that Miss Ecuador, Miss Honduras and Miss Nicaragua were all Latinas of African descent. She then dissects her reaction,

“I don’t quite know what to make of my reaction to this brand of Black beauty. What does it mean for me as a feminist? Third and fourth wave feminists have argued that we should reclaim make-up and sexiness, and cast aside the old image of a feminist as a woman with a naked face and hairy legs. Fine, but the reality is that our beauty culture still plays a significant role in women having poor body images, lowered self esteem, and a feeling of intense competitiveness with other women.

I have often found myself wishing that instead of encouraging every woman to feel she is beautiful (which seems to be the central marketing device of most cosmetic companies), that we could find a way to make it such that beauty is not at the center of self-esteem. Who cares if one is beautiful or not? There are so many other ways to be special, of value, attractive, interesting, sexy! As girls, we are sold an idea of an “ideal way to be” that depends far too much on surface and not enough on substance, and we tragically carry that on our shoulders into womanhood.

…

My personal resolution on the beauty issue is this: When images of physical beauty serve to diminish the depth of a woman’s personhood, we should reject them. And when they seem to restore an appreciation of that which has been devalued [in the case of the contestants of African descent], or to be attached to an open sense of expressiveness, play, and fun, then we should feel free to enjoy them. But in either case, our eyes must always be focused on actual lives, not just screens and pages in a magazine.”

What do you think? Should feminists wear make-up? Which comes first – does low self-esteem lead to an obsession with personal appearance? Or does a focus on personal appearance fuel low self-esteem? Is this a “chicken or the egg” scenario?