Where It All Started


In 2012 I started to hear about a documentary called MissRepresentation.  There were several screenings organized in my city so one night I finally decided to go see it.  

The documentary is a brilliant look into how women are portrayed in the media.  This particular screening was being hosted as a fundraiser for an organization which supports young girls, women and their families who are struggling with eating disorders, so I was more than happy to donate my $75.00 to see it.  What a perfect setting to raise more awareness seeing as one of the contributing factors for those who suffer from eating disorders is the irrational and unrealistic portrayal of women in media.

The lobby was filled with beautiful women, and some men. I noticed how perfectly so many of them seemed to be put together and I felt my own self-concious meter going up. I quickly slid into my seat trying to make myself invisible. 

The documentary was brilliant and everyone gasped and groaned at all the appropriate spots.  A panel discussion followed and I felt that familiar gnawing in my gut of wanting to say something but judging whether what I had to say was of any value. Finally passion won out and I made my way to the front to await my turn....which never came as they had to wrapped up the Q&A shortly after I got in line. 

What I wanted to say was, to all the women in the audience, would you agree to stop wearing makeup for just one day? Stop buying all the things we buy in order to fit in to some image created by some machine?  Instead, I left inspired, frustrated, and feeling impotent. 

Seeing this film made me think, things have not really improved since women cast off their bras in protest of oppression. In 2006 Dove put out its first revolutionary video demonstrating the extent of scrutiny and alteration a photo undergoes before it hits the magazine page.  Since then, Botox, implants, age defying serums are a part of the new normal.  And now women aren't the only one's striving for "perfection".  More and more men are beginning to use cosmetics and undergoing surgical procedures.

The beauty industry feasts on our constant pursuit of perfection.   But who's deciding what's "perfect"? The beauty industry!  By pointing out potential flaws, we are set up to buy whatever solution they can offer.

The other darker side of this incessant obsession with our bodies is the objectification that results as we reduce ourselves to nothing more than a sum of parts that need to be improved upon so that we can fit in and get noticed.  A woman is only as good as her looks.  In the past 20 years we see feminine power being equated with how much women own their sexuality.  The impact?  While more and more women are fiercely embracing their sexuality and are empowered in choosing how to use it, the unintended impact is that women are still being objectified.  Rather than a woman's message, her intellect, her character, her creative spirit, her ideas being the thing that earns her a place to be heard, it is how much flesh she shows and how beautiful she is to look at.  It's subtle and insidious and I can only direct you to the film to see how this happens. 

So that night, I left that theatre wondering, "What can we do?!?!" How is this ship ever going to turn around? Then I sat down with a beautiful, talented and intelligent friend. We discussed the woes of so many women. The pressure to be perfect which consumes our time, energy and money trying to achieve what media is telling us ought to be, not to mention the impact it has on those women who simply know they will never measure up . Then she told me of her own private project - No Makeup May - where she embraces her "ugliness" for one month by refusing to hide behind the mask of media perfection. And I it hit me, "THAT'S IT!!!"  What if I created a platform that encouraged women to go makeup free in the month of May to see what they discover?!

I shared the idea with a few women and the idea evolved and so, I started the blog, made my commitment and the first "official" No MakeUp May" happened.   Now, I realize that this idea is not unique, that their are pockets of people around the world who do it.  Which is why I want to centralize it to create one arena, a collection of voices who put their own radiance forth and refuse to allow media to define beauty and power. 

Allow me to be clear, I AM IN NO WAY AGAINST MAKEUP OR COSMETIC SURGERY!  No MakeUp May is an exploration of what comes up when I put the eyeliner down....or the foundation, or mascara, or whatever.  It's about discovering the essence of what our relationship to makeup is.  For some it's a creative outlet, for others it's a sign of self care.   Unfortunately, for many, it's a way to cover up the flaws that signal to the world that 'I'm not good enough to show up exactly as I am'.  

Will you join me?  Whether if it's 31 minutes or 31 days, will you dare to go naked and look inside to see what you find?  Join the community and let us support one another.  Together we can turn this ship around!

Nicole 

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