Sometimes yes, sometimes no

I have to admit I find it very empowering when I bother to put it on.  I'm talking about makeup.  'The Current' had a very interesting debate about the pros and cons of the war paint women wear and I really come down on both sides of the argument.  After years of having to wear it every day for work, I relish not having to put it on most of the time.  But every now and then I love putting on my face and stepping out. 

And there are some places I would never go without it.  Such as Mass or out to lunch or dinner.  But schlepping to the grocery store or the pool, I never wear any.  I once had to return made-up to the pool to collect something I had forgotten, causing the women at the front desk to nearly fall over in shock.  That's what a huge difference makeup can make.  Peering into a brutal mirror first thing in the morning I often say, "Can you imagine being a man and this is the best you're going to look all day!"

The women debating the issue on the radio this morning made very sound arguments for both sides -- that it was empowering and that it was also degrading.  Personally, I feel empowered when I am all made up and dressed to the nines with a great pair of high heels on my feet.  But I would not want to have to wear it, which is what I did for 40 years going to the office.

I hail from the first "women's lib" generation -- the late sixties -- when we discovered the pill, threw away our bras and let our hair go natural.  Back then it was sort of "de rigeur".  But I found the natural look didn't really suit me, so I gradually allowed makeup and hairdo back into my life.  Frankly, I think women should do whatever they feel comfortable in doing.   

I worked with a woman who had only recently re-entered the workforce and she told me that for all the years she had stayed home, she dropped everything at 4:30 to get dressed and made up so she could greet her husband looking her best.  Poor thing, she died very young -- the self-inflicted stress having probably killed her.  But she looked great in her coffin. 

Happily, my husband couldn't give two hoots.