and we’re worried about sex education
Oh, I really don’t like it when I have to heave my weary self back on my old, pious person horse and declare something a sad indictment on where our vanity has taken us. But this deserves a saddle-up: MAKEUP CLASSES AT HIGH SCHOOLS, SPONSORED BY A COSMETIC BRAND!!!
We debate the role of magazines and models and TV in making young women feel insecure about their looks, but we allow this.
32 all-girl schools around the country have signed up to this branded content. What next? Quadradic equations brought to you by some iphone app?
What’s the issue, you might ask. Young women access this kind of content daily. Makeup tips – rather innocuous, no? Actually, no. Guising this as learning in the school environment normalises the imperative to improve our looks. When information like this is laid on in a forum reserved for learning that’s compulsory we confuse things. Actually, no, we make it quite clear: that enlarging your eyes with a dot of white in the corners of one’s eyes, and emphasising one’s cheekbones with rouge applied below one’s apples is something we should be doing.
Am I ranting for no reason? What do we think?
No you’re definitely ranting with good reason….someone has to rant about this before we start letting corp bodies into our primary schools for some retail indoctrination. I’m not sure what concerns me the most here – allowing our kids to become hostage audiences whilst in school, or the early sexualisation of girls and the subsequent body issues. It would appear self regulating in PR Marketing initiatives is working about as well as Advertising when it comes to this issue, we are def not getting it right.
Upon first reading this I thought that’s great I wish my school had run that program and then I thought about how much I loved going to school often looking like crap and getting away with it because I went to an all girls school and ‘i had no one to impress’. In actual fact I’m just pretty lazy and always felt that on the few days when I did wear makeup that became my focus rather than monetary policy or institutionalisd inequality. But more than that, doesn’t this remind you of the force-fed home economics of the 1950s? And Where the hell did the liberalisation of women and burning bras go?
You’re right Sarah! That is terrible. The fact that it is sponsored by a brand sickens me even more.
Girls have enough pressure to look perfect without the school sanctioning it. At my public high school, makeup was banned (I graduated 3 years ago) and that’s the way it should be.
I agree with Belle, this is something I would expect to see in an episode of Mad Men.
this makes me angry!
where is the beauty in tweens (and even teens) being dollled up 2 the nines trying to be older than what they are, aching to be accepted and classified beautiful, stunning,gorgeous and the list goes on.
where has true beauty gone, the simplicity and innnocence of being who you are, looking exactly the way you are? im speaking to myself aswell here!
dont get me wrong i love make-up and wear it everyday, but only now realising caking on my foundation loads of mascara, eyliner, blush, some bronzer and finishing of with a shiny gloss is only hiding what i truly look like… im realising less really is more!
we are stuffing up the younger generations innocence, pushing them forward not letting them enjoy each stage…we are teaching them that it always matters what we look like…even at school?
so warped
Oh – this is just horrible and sending young girls the terrible message that they are not ok as they are and require all these ‘tips’ and ‘help’ to make themselves acceptable, attractive, ok.
You’re not ranting for no reason at all Sarah. Rant away. We have to do all we can to bring attention to these sorts of things so hopefully they can be shut down……and (at least in my world) replace with lessons on how to develop inner confidence, self esteem and positive body image. No makeup required.
that’s appalling . . .of all the things we could be using school time to teach