MAKE-UP WARS
Are we really getting judged on whether or not we wear a bit of lippy and mascara?
You know there’s this thing going around at the moment about men and boys? The thing that constantly tells us how confusing it is to be a modern man, with all the mixed messages and constantly changing expectations of masculinity? Look like a sex god, but change a nappy… Defend your family, but be able to cry over pictures of kittens…
Look, I feel for them I really do. But, er, hello? Anyone out there giving a thought to just how insanely mad it is trying to keep up with what’s going on with us females?
Let’s start with two recent stories. On the one hand, we have a 30-year-old New Yorker called Melissa Weaver who is said to have been turned down for a job for the cardinal sin of, wait for it, not wearing make-up! I mean how very dare any of us leave the house with bare faces! Melissa wore a smart blazer, simple but sophisticated jewellery and had her hair specially styled. The job was an executive one for an (unnamed) IT company so not even a customer-facing role.
Bewildered as to why she was turned down when she was perfectly qualified, with the right experience and the interview had gone well, she asked the company concerned. And the reason that they gave was her appearance. Which, while discriminating on race, sex, sexuality, religion and age are illegal in the USA, how you look isn’t! Melissa’s reason for not wearing make-up is that it irritates her eyes and skin. Not bad enough to be a medical condition, but uncomfortable. Not that, surely, it’s anyone’s business! It’s 2024!
If you find Melissa’s story a bit of a slap in, um, the slap-free face though, try this one for size. The world’s first beauty pageant for artificial intelligence-generated women has been announced. Known as Miss AI,
the contest will see ladies, conjured up entirely by computers, face off in tests of beauty, technology and social-media clout. With a prize of $20,000 (£16,000) at stake, it’s proving incredibly popular. And funnily enough there isn’t a single entry that isn’t wearing make-up! Who’d have thunk it! In fact, to a bot, they’re all total babes with thrusting boobs, flowing locks and pouting mouths. The blow-up dolls of the 1970s, just with more pixels. In short, all the stuff men quite clearly still think we should all look like! Grrr. Oh, and they don’t wear many clothes either. Bet you’re shocked by that one? So, two stories both carrying the equally scary message – real women aren’t good enough.
It’s a tale probably as old as time, but one that we all thought was beginning to be worn down. Sadly though, it isn’t. Some would say real women are even becoming obsolete in some areas of life, with many companies using Ai-generated females to flog products to flesh-and-blood women. And, perhaps more worryingly, to men. One AI bot social media ‘influencer’ called Emily Pellegrini is so popular and believable, she regularly receives amorous messages from footballers and billionaire businessmen. So maybe, girls, it is time to don the warpaint. Because it definitely sounds like we’ve got a battle on our (manicured) hands!
‘REAL WOMEN ARE BECOMING OBSOLETE’