MARIA DANIELLA B.

SANTOS |1

The Beauty in the Soul and the Strength of the Mind

The concept of beauty has surpassed numerous obstacles to get to where it is now. It

has continuously evolved to meet the aspirations of each generation. In the past, beauty was

merely being created in the image and likeness of God. As time passed, humans have found

ways to give each one the option to either enhance a feature in their body that they are proud

of or to mask whatever imperfections they have. This is more commonly known as the use of

cosmetics. More often than not, beauty is associated with women because through the course

of history, women were seen as delicate and pure which is how beauty was defined as back

then. Although in the 21st century world, beauty now comes in all forms and sizes. Beauty is

not bound to specific stereotypes anymore. Beauty became a form of self-expression in both

leisure and labor. Though the use of cosmetics is primarily to express one’s self and to boost

self-esteem, it is used to gauge the level of respect a person deserves in the workplace, and to

measure productivity levels of a working woman.

Cosmetics are products used to enhance either the appearance or the odor of the

human body. Its use dated back to the earlier civilizations such as Ancient Egypt and Ancient

Rome. In these time periods, they used different forms of cosmetics to be used in rituals, to

enhance beauty, and to promote good health. However, their source of these cosmetics was

not the forms of make-up available at present. The Ancient people used raw materials such as

thyme, lavender, rose, olive oil, sesame oil, and almond oil instead. Moreover, according to

History of Cosmetics, there was a special type of female slaves who were tasked to help their

masters to be more beautiful. These female slaves were called Cosmetae. Besides the given

purposes provided, the Chinese used to distinguish the social classes by means of the color
 MARIA DANIELLA B. SANTOS |2

that the people stained their fingernails. During the Chou Dynasty, “royals wear gold and

silver, with subsequent royals wearing black or red.” Those in the lower class were forbidden

from wearing bright colors on their nails. By doing this, the social classes were still

incredibly distinct from one another.

Looking forward from the past to what is happening at present. Cosmetics are being

used to accentuate a particular feature, to hide flaws, and to create a “character” (Stroud,

2014). In fact, the Cosmetic Industry serves as a home for the makeup brands such as Max

Factor, Avon, Maybelline, and Urban Decay. However, as mentioned above, one purpose of

Cosmetics is to hide the flaws of people. In hiding these flaws, a new version of a person is

created. Moreover, the individual upon seeing themselves with make-up eventually is more

inclined to choose wearing make-up.

One of the reasons behind that is peer pressure. It may seem a long shot because of

how simple this is to be a factor in the situation, however—statistically speaking—this holds

true.

“Self-respect is undeniably something of great value. Perhaps those who

lack it know this best: to lose respect for oneself and then struggle to regain

it, to be robbed of one’s dignity and to try to live without it, to have to fight

to maintain a sense of one’s worth in a world that denies it, to find that

one’s self-respect is so fragile that even the most ordinary events threaten to

topple it—to live like this is to be painfully aware that a strong and

confident self-respect is vital to the ability to live a satisfying, meaningful,

flourishing life.” (Dillon, 1995).

In a study[A] made by Abigail Afable, Micaela Marie Quiambao, Kimberly Robiños,

and Raffy Jay C. Villapaña, forty respondents were asked for the reasons why they wore
 MARIA DANIELLA B. SANTOS |3

make-up. Among the three choices that were given—attraction, beauty enhancement, and

self-esteem—twenty-five out of the forty respondents chose the third option. Do the math,

and that garners a sixty-two point five percent result. If the data gathered were to be

interpreted, it would mean to say that these twenty-five people wear make-up because they

want to feel good about themselves which raises another set of questions.

What then is their point of comparison? What is the standard of beauty and who sets

this standard? The answer, though it may or may not be subtle, lies in the product itself. In

order for the cosmetic industry to continue earning money, they manipulate the people into

changing the standards of beauty over time. A few decades ago, being sexy meant that a

person had curves in all the right places. A few years back, being beautiful was being a size

zero. At present, the standards of beauty have been redirected to having pouty lips,

contouring like there’s no tomorrow, and highlighting the area around the eyes. Where else

do we get the inspiration for having these standards of beauty other than the models that were

handpicked to represent these platforms? Along the main roads in the city alone, there will

almost always be a poster or a billboard every few kilometers of a product being endorsed by

anyone in the entertainment industry. Most of the time, it is not the product alone that is

being endorsed. There are times when it is the lifestyle projected which is endorsed. By

attacking the insecurities of people, the industry is able to continuously benefit because of

how much products an average citizen—specifically a woman—is willing to pay in order to

feel that false sense of security of fitting in with what is deemed as beautiful (Fox, 1997).

Another choice that was mentioned in the study was “beauty enhancement”. Eight out

of the remaining fifteen respondents agreed with this sentiment. Why is that? Perfectionism is

deeply rooted in each person. It may be considered one of the slightly taboo realities in life.

Perfectionism is “a disposition to regard anything short of perfection as unacceptable”

(Merriam-Webster, n.d.). Through the use of cosmetics, people were able to enhance what
 MARIA DANIELLA B. SANTOS |4

they look like. In doing so, they are able to cover up their physical flaws. People with slightly

smaller eyes have mascara and eyeliner available. Those who have relatively thinner lips

have the option to use different lip products such as lipstick and lip pencils in different colors.

For blemishes such as freckles and pimples, concealer is at their reach. The list goes on and

on with how much bigger the cosmetic industry is today.

Before, there were just four key products when it came to applying make-up:

foundation, lipstick, blush-on, and mascara/eyeliner. Moreover, in the 21 st century, the

appearance of much more specific and rather complicated forms of cosmetics have been

introduced to the public such as BB creams, CC creams, primers, bronzers, and the contour

kit. Since these products are available and easily accessible to the people, there are tendencies

that so much money is spent on these products. Also, the beauty enhancement that these

products were created for may cause damage to the skin of users in the long run; especially

users with incredibly sensitive skin.

Also, in the study, the remaining seven respondents answered that they wore make-up

for attraction purposes. Although in the study, it was not explained what form of attraction

these respondents meant. Attraction can be made into two smaller categories: attraction in the

relationship sense and attraction in the professional sense. Across different sources, it gave

almost the same information about how men prefer women wearing make-up than little to no

make-up. The reasoning behind it may be because that when wearing make-up, it seems as if

that a woman is presenting her best self as compared to if she had little to no facial make-up

on. Given this information, it can be inferred that physical attraction between two people can

be altered and/or influenced due to the appearance of the woman. In the professional sense

however, “employees’ attractiveness can often be an effective selling point, and part of a

strategy to “brand” the seller through a certain look” (Rhode, 2014). Thus, physical attraction

is an advantage for companies because if the appearance of a woman manages to capture and
 MARIA DANIELLA B. SANTOS |5

keep the target market, the business continues to earn more. This then brings up the fact that

yes, women do work, although, they work for different reasons.

One reason as to why a woman works is because there is a greater demand for

workers. At times of crises where the men are sent out to protect the land, it was always up to

the women to make sure that the business continued as seen in the era of Industrialization,

World Wars 1 and 2, and other situations related to it, though that is not at all rainbows and

sparkles. Women experience discrimination at work due to their gender. It may even start at

the very point of selection of workers. During job interviews, those conducting the review

will most probably end up asking if whether or not a woman would still continue working in

the event that she gets married. Some higher-ups would also be a bit hesitant in giving a

woman a more challenging role because of the societal construct that most people have

grown up to believe highly of (Singh, n.d.). In addition, there are companies and/or offices

wherein even though a man and a woman share the same job and credentials, the man has a

slightly higher salary just because he is a man.

Another reason as to why a woman works because of the decrease in family size. In

an average family, there are roughly four or five people as compared to the bigger families

before which have at least seven people. In doing this, the woman is capable of providing

help in the finances of the family. On the other hand, for most working women, they still

have jobs when they arrive home. Most wives are still expected to be the stay-at-home wife

that they were expected to be. Working women have to be able to juggle their work, their

roles as women of the household, and for most, their responsibilities as mothers to their

children.

Here is the million-peso question: What does make-up have to do with working

women? According to research, apparently the appearance of a working woman is a big

 MARIA DANIELLA B. SANTOS |6

factor on how she is regarded in her field. Nicole Williams, a career expert at LinkedIn, tells

Business Insider that “[t]he problem with appearance is that it translates to

performance" (Giang, 2013). In fact, putting on make-up enables you to earn more respect,

trust and affection from co-workers. “It increases people’s perceptions of a woman’s

likability, her competence and (provided she does not overdo it) her trustworthiness,

according to a new study, which also confirmed what is obvious: that cosmetics boost a

woman’s attractiveness” (Saint Louis, 2011). This was also confirmed by a study done by

researchers at Harvard University, Boston University, and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

(Madell, n.d.). In other words, a woman’s capability and level of productivity is measured at

first glance by the way she presents herself; whether or not she is wearing make-up. It is

relatively easy to understand why the way a person presents themselves can measure their

productivity. However, whether or not a woman is wearing make-up should not be a means to

assess her capability to work nor her level of productivity. Anything work-related should be

handled as professionally as possible for both sexes. It is in these situations where in spite of

living in a more technologically advanced period, there are lapses in time wherein people are

not able to regard each other with respect. At this day and age, respect should not be seen as a

privilege. Instead, it should be somehow of a basic human right. However, if this is the reality

of how some women are treated in their fields, there should at least be some sort of action

taken to compensate for these situations.

At the heart and soul of every solution lie not immediate and rash decisions which

may lead to violence. In its core is education and understanding. If there was someone to

blame, it could not be the cosmetic industry since some women and men are genuinely

interested in using make-up; not for their occupation but for their own contentment and self-

appreciation. It would also not be those in charge since most people have been instilled with

the patriarchal way of thinking. No one is to blame. However, it is better for all to use a tool
 MARIA DANIELLA B. SANTOS |7

that may not be as immediate as violence yet may be of equal if not more. Education is still

the most that people can do in order to prevent such a thing from happening in the future. A

proposed solution/plan of action could be for gender-sensitivity seminars to be held.

By gender sensitivity, it is the level of awareness, the appreciation of the need to

maintain at reasonable levels the gender differentiation between the male and female. The

fact that to some extent, men can do what women do equally and vice-versa should be

acknowledged and understood. Although, it does not mean than women should insist on

doing everything the man does and vice-versa. Otherwise, when gender differentiations are

completely obliterated, gender sensitivity will also disappear with it. This will lead to some

un-naturalness. To remain gender sensitive, we have to keep the gender peculiarities in focus

to a reasonable limit (N.a., 2013). According to a Gender-Sensitivity Seminar made for the

WHO/SEARO staff, they formulated a policy which says:

WHO Gender policy in year 2002:

To Contribute To Better Health For Women And Men Through Health

Research, Policies And Programs Which Gives Due Attention To Gender

And Promote Equality And Equity Between Men And Women

One of its objectives is to promote health equity and gender equality between men and

women throughout the life course. In the presentation, it clearly distinguishes Gender

Equality from Gender Equity which will lead to advocating and practicing both human and

women’s rights (WHO, 2016).

Given all these information about the purpose of make-up, its relevance to working

women, and gender-sensitivity talks, awareness about such realities is spread to everyone. It

is time to stop looking down on women who express themselves whole-heartedly for despite
 MARIA DANIELLA B. SANTOS |8

what is perceived of them personality-wise, that should not reflect how they are treated

professionally in their respective fields of work.