If you have a Facebook, you’ve probably seen the #nomakeupselfie trend going around. Women post pictures of themselves without makeup and then nominate others to do the same.
The first few posters specifically said it was in honour of International Women’s Day, and it wasn’t until it had taken over my newsfeed for a few weeks that one selfie made a vague reference to cancer, and I knew this was yet another slacktivism trend.
Slacktivism is defined on Urban Dictionary as: “One of those feel-good Internet campaigns that doesn’t actually help anybody or have political impact. It’s your way of pretending to care while sitting on your butt in front of a computer playing WoW.”
A prime example is when women started updating their Facebook statuses with a single colour and no other explanation. The idea was to reveal the colour of your bra in order to raise awareness for breast cancer.
Never mind that it didn’t actually help the cause of breast cancer research, and never mind that no one knew what the colours meant. Slacktivists get to feel like they’re helping by doing nothing.
Let’s be clear, before I start lambasting it: #nomakeupselfie started in the UK, and actually did manage to raise millions for cancer research. Yay! However, here in North America, it just got turned into another method of manifesting everyone’s latent narcissism.
The trend bothered me from the very beginning, but I could never articulate why, and I wasn’t sure if it was just a kneejerk negative reaction to yet another Facebook trend. When I started thinking about it, I realized that there were a host of problematic aspects at play.
First, let’s not pretend that there are people out there who don’t know about cancer. No one is looking at these selfies and thinking, “Oh my God, breast cancer is a thing? Why have I gone my whole life without knowing this?” Awareness campaigns for things like cancer are superfluous, unless that awareness also involves donating. And if you’ve seen the documentary “Pink Ribbons, Inc.” (which I recommend), you’ll realize that research is required before donating. But that might be too much effort for the slacktivist.
Second, it’s a trend that purports to be empowering for women, but it actually is the opposite. It’s saying that women are more beautiful without makeup and they shouldn’t wear it. But at its core, feminism is about choice. Women should be able to wear sweats or dresses all the time without being judged for it. It’s the same with makeup: some women like it, some women don’t. The important thing is that nobody is shamed for whatever choice they make.
And the #nomakeupselfie thing is saying this: “You, makeup-wearing harlot, are not advanced. You are still so silly and backwards to not want to go without makeup. And also, you’re setting the women’s movement back.” There’s also a sense of smugness: “I am so beautiful that I can be comfortable revealing my makeup-less face to all 1,500 of my Facebook friends.”
Okay, maybe that’s a little harsh, and I know that’s not what the posters are thinking. But as someone who wears makeup every day, that’s what it feels like. Personally, I think I do look better with makeup. I don’t have clear skin so wearing foundation helps me feel confident. My eyes are my favourite feature, and I feel like eyeliner brings that out. I like the way I feel while wearing makeup. Why am I being shamed for that?
Lastly, the whole “every woman is beautiful” movement is problematic in itself. Let’s be real: not every woman is physically beautiful. And not every woman will believe she is beautiful. Rather than repeating an impossible statement so much that it loses any meaning it had to begin with, why aren’t there campaigns centred around how women don’t have to be beautiful to have worth? Women are implicitly and explicitly told all the time that appearance is the most important thing about them. Why are we not combating that instead?
The #nomakeupselfie trend is doing more harm than it is good, and its original meaning has been lost to time. It’s time to pack it in and in its place, work on not judging others for their legitimate choices.