Become Someone Else

The one thing I chose to change about myself was whether or not I wore makeup. It was a funny change because on a daily basis I do not choose to wear makeup, unless for special occasions. Since I have been working at my new job though, I have chosen to wear makeup to each of my shifts. During covid, I have not really been leaving my house besides to go to work, making wearing makeup around people or in public my new “norm”.

I have worn makeup throughout my life because I did grow up cheering and dancing so I did tend to wear makeup at a younger age than most. Since I had bad acne growing up I did tend to wear makeup on a daily basis especially to school. As I’ve gotten older and my skin has cleared up though I don’t feel like wearing makeup, I enjoy letting my skin breathe and embracing my natural beauty.

For this activity, I decided to go a couple of shifts without wearing makeup to work. I felt more like myself since I usually don’t wear makeup on a day-to-day basis but my coworkers were used to me always wearing makeup when I’ve known them. I got a lot of “you look tired today” comments or “are you okay?” comments. It was nice to know that people noticed and cared, but funny that those comments were only brought about by the fact that I wasn’t wearing makeup.

A twist on Bucholtz and Hall's linguistic approach to emergence, in terms of identity and gender identity, makeup has strongly been associated with femininity in the past. The act of wearing makeup has maybe had me perceived as being more feminine when really wearing no makeup, I am just as feminine as I. By not wearing makeup, my co-workers were able to see another side of me and I was able to express my more normal, comfortable self by not wearing makeup all the time.

Associated with the emergence principle and the identity of gender and femininity, the positionality principle focuses on the social categories of identity. Again bringing up the gender category of identity has a stereotype of wearing makeup as being seen as more feminine. I noticed that it tended to be my younger co-workers who were closer to my age that would comment about how tired I looked just because I wasn’t wearing makeup more than some of my older co-workers. The age category of being in your teens and twenties has a large focus on appearance especially when it comes to wearing makeup, which could explain why my same age and younger co-workers tended to notice and care more that I wasn’t wearing makeup.

While my co-workers did not explicitly tell me that I looked pasty without makeup due to the fact that people can only see your eyes and above with a mask on, it was implied when I was told that I looked “unwell” or “tired”. Not that I was offended by being called pasty or pale but the indexicality principle involving labeling towards its impact on identity could lead to someone being offended or feeling outcast by being called pasty. The fact that I am white and typically pale is a part of my history and identity due to where my ancestors are from but I am not ashamed of that. I might look more tan with makeup on but that doesn’t change my identity or who I really am.

The fact that I tend to work with mostly women at my job and we do try to look our “best” by doing our hair and wearing makeup brings out the similarities among us and our gendered expectations. The relationality principle identifies the similarities and differences among my co-workers and me whether I am wearing makeup or not. Since my co-workers and I are from all walks of life, we do have differences that make us special and our identities stem from those similarities and differences. Once again pointing out that I am pale or look tired is a way of phrasing that could really impact how someone feels about their appearance and identity. People do take things to heart sometimes and the way people say certain things could cause someone to want to change their identity or who they really are.

The partialness principle helps explain the differences among our identities and how our identities are based on habits but also how our identities do change over time and based on context. For me, wearing makeup is not a strong part of my identity, while I do have friends who feel like they need to wear makeup everyday to like who they are. For my best friend, makeup is a big part of her identity so wearing makeup to her is very intentional and important to her while being habitual for her at this point in life. When I put makeup on I do have intent and it is more of a hassle for me because it is not a large part of my identity.

My transformation was small and like I’ve said I don’t tend to wear makeup besides at work now so it was interesting to see how my co-workers reacted versus my family and boyfriend who always see me without makeup and don't even think or notice that I change anything because my identity is typically filled with a natural look with no makeup.

Before (makeup): After (no makeup):