"Maybe She's Born with it. Maybe it's Maybelline"
Fabricating Authenticity - Jason W.M. Ellsworth
Tara Baldrick-Morrone [+]
Brown University
Tara Baldrick-Morrone is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Critical Classical Studies at Brown University. Her current research focuses on how twentieth-century American scholars and politicians used ancient Mediterranean texts to restrict access to reproductive healthcare.
Description
In this chapter, Baldrick-Morrone takes aim at two contradictory ideas: that women are supposed to wear makeup because that’s what women are supposed to do, and yet wearing makeup can put women at a disadvantage when looking to gain or have their authority recognized. Drawing on different studies, Baldrick-Morrone argues that existing bias favors looks and appearance over a woman’s credentials or previous experience when evaluating whether a woman is capable of occupying a role of authority.