Can I be a feminist and work for a beauty products company?
So, I recently went to a Mary Kay party and talked to the beauty consultant afterwards. She thought that I would be interested in becoming a beauty consultant for MK and it is starting to sound like a good idea based on the flexibility, independence and nice bit of side money I could make. My only qualm, besides paying $100 for the starter kit just as my student loan payments are due, is that I have trouble imagining being comfortable being a feminist and trying to convince women to buy beauty products. Any thoughts??
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Makeup isn't inherently anti-feminist, as I think a lot of people were talking about in an earlier community post on the topic. I don't know anything about Mary Kay -- are you allowed to sell it from whatever angle you choose, or do they give you lines you have to say or something? That is, would you be allowed to choose to sell it as something that can make the woman feel more confident about herself rather than something that will make the woman more attractive to men? I think if you can play up the angle of "You should buy this for you" and downplay the angle of "You should buy this to please men," then you should have no problem being both a feminist and an MK beauty consultant. :)
This.
This is exactly what I wanted to say.
Yes, as long as you choose your choice, there is no need to examine why you made it. Please. Is selling make-up a feminist act? No. Can you be a feminist and sell make-up? Yes. Paying your rent is a feminist act. Buying groceries and gas is a feminist act. If people are in the position to abstain from making a living in an anti-feminist manner, more power to them. Unfortunately, the world is what it is, and we make a thousand compromises everyday. I encourage the OP to drop the make-up line as soon as she is able, if she gets to the point that she is able.
Yes, as long as you choose your choice, there is no need to examine why you made it. Please.
I don't really understand what you meant by that. Could you explain it a little further?
I believe this is what was being referred to:
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/women_now_empowered_by_everything
Make-up isn't inherently anti-feminist. There are many women who just want to know how to look their best, and as long as you aren't telling them that they're hideous without product XYZ or that they need product XYZ to get a man, you're fine.
That said, money is money and people with money and enough time to work a job with a less flexible schedule should check their privilege before they start revoking your feminist card.
It's a good idea to examine where they get their idea of "the best" from, though.
I meant to quote "their best".
Even so.
Is our self image not irretreivably intertwined with the way others view us? A lot of self image is tailoring our look to the way we want others to see us. Which of course means interacting with a sexist society. By supporting a gender inequal image are you may not be contributing to gender inequality but you would certainly not be helping to dispell it.
I think the only way you can be really comfortable with selling make-up is if you can do so in a way that you think has equal value to men and women. What I mean by that is attempting to sell it by appealing to values you think both men and women should share, and not just those that only women under the patriarchy would have.
That's not to say that you shouldn't pick your battles. Nor that compromise isn't needed sometimes in the short term, but you should be aware when what you are doing is a compromise. Otherwise you fool yourself into thinking that everything you choose is a feminist act. The consequence of which is reinfocement of the patriarchy. It's more complicated than that. Examine your motives and be honest with yourself.
I guess what I'm saying is that you can be a feminist and sell make-up but the act of selling make-up is not a feminist one.
I don't think there is anything wrong with selling make up. I would caution however, since you mention that the $100 hurts a bit, that you're not likely to make much money. I've had several friends try to sell Mary Kay or Avon and found themselves in a cycle of spending a lot of time with little or no compensation. It's largely a pyramid scheme. Unless you truly have a knack for selling, a base of friends and family who love makeup (and aren't already loyal to another seller) or absolutely love Mary Kay products then think carefully about if the reality of making money from this.
Mary Kay sucks. They test on animals and A LOT of people are allergic to their cosmetics. It's like the number one brand for allergens. I don't know if it's just the weird chemicals they use or what.
Also, don't expect to make a lot of money. You might make back your $100, but it probably won't be much more than that.
According to the Mary Kay website, they do not test on animals.
A lot of companies who "don't test on animals" outsource a research agency to their products without the company name.
Bath and Body Works does the same thing.
yeah, what it is is that they do not test the finished product on animals but they purchase supplies needed early on in the process from companies that DO test on animals. the body shop also does this.
Thanks for the great feedback everyone!
You'll want to examine the values of the company and how they apply to your values. If MK is all about looking sexy for your SO, then it's not the company for you and you may want to sell for someone else (say M*A*C, who markets make up as art) instead. It'll take some exploration around the company's website to find their values inherent in their company, but even the way they phrase their selling/advertising materials will give an idea of their corporate beliefs on their products.
of course you can work for a beauty company and still be a feminist...you may want to reconsider the company you want to work for but beauty products are not the devil...
as long as we all feel strong and empowered it shouldn't matter if you wear make-up or not.
Don't do it! It's a pyramid scheme. Eventually you'll run out of people to sell to.
I don't think that selling makeup is inherently anti-feminist. But just to give you a heads-up, the Mary Kay company has weirdness in it. A friend of mine was doing it a little while ago, and I was present for her "swearing in" ceremony. Nobody told her it was going to happen ahead of time. It wasn't hazing or anything dangerous, but she had to recite this long oath about how she'd "set aside her jeans and put on a suit." The overall impression I got was that they are going for a specific image of womanhood, and that there's a lot of pink involved. I don't know how this works out in the end, between corporate meetings and salesperson autonomy- because my friend gave up on it after about a month. But be aware of some potential antipathy to feminist values in the company.