Women Who Wear Makeup Appear More Competent
It’s not going to win awards for promoting gender equality, but a recent study suggests that women who wear makeup are seen to be more competent, amiable and trustworthy – and likely to get ahead in the workplace…
Though there have been multiple studies investigating how classic beauty is seen by others as an indicator of intelligence and that women feel more confident wearing makeup, it is the first time researchers have made a connection between cosmetic use and perceived capability…
There’s also a word of warning for makeup enthusiasts say the experts, a secondary conclusion indicating that women who opt for a glamorous look over styles considered more professional or natural appear to be less trustworthy. Which only further serves to highlight the disparity in expectations placed on women in the workplace and greater society, according to Carina Garland, a gender and cultural studies lecturer at Sydney University.
“The responses to glamorous makeup versus more professional makeup show that fine line between the idea of a right and wrong kind of femininity. Which I think is unfair. It’s quite interesting that men’s competency in the workplace isn’t critically questioned in the same way,” she says. “The study isn’t terrible, it’s actually quite useful because it does tell us what the burden of femininity is really about. But rather than suggesting that women should invest in a good lipstick and some eye shadow, it should be the impetus to question why we attach these cultural values and meanings around women and makeup.”
- Luke Malone, Makeup: the key to success? (fully study here)
GAH.
(Source: theage.com.au)
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