Wednesday 5th December

I asked a woman once why she wore make-up, and she described it as ‘putting on the war-paint.’  Is that really how women see the world, and their place in it?   I know that women are far more conscious of their appearance than men, who without women’s nagging would easily sink into early bachelordom.  Women are also conscious that they are being observed the whole time, whereas men are seldom aware of it; the only time men worry about how they look is in formal settings, where they generally want to blend in and be as inconspicuous as possible, whereas women, again in general, want to be noticed, to be admired even.  But who is it for, all this dressing up, this wearing of jewelry, this heavy dowsing with scent, this pancake make-up, who are they presenting this image to.  In certain settings it is probably men; if they are in a nightclub or on a date, or if indeed they are single or between men.  But most of the time I believe it is for other women.   Men can happily wear the same suit, or in my case jeans and jacket, for a whole week and not worry what anyone thinks of them – though a clean shirt each day is a requirement, but they could all be white for all anyone cares.  But woe-betide the woman who wears the same clothes to work every day, because you can be sure other women will notice.  And so it is with makeup, which on all but the most beautiful women does nothing to improve their looks at all.  But it does give them confidence, it is a mask they can hide behind, a projection of how they want to be seen, but mostly it is war-paint, a sign to other women that they are ready for the struggle, the daily cat-fight, and without it they are making a statement – that they do not care about their image, that they are not playing the game, that they don’t care about their appearance, that they have lost (or maybe actually won) the war.