[Katie_UPS]

I'm sure the business woman in question is very successful and inspiring and I commend her for that. I also am not at the championship event. That being said, what I take away from this is that she is a successful woman who has many companies yet choses to show the company that targets women. Rarely are makeup advertisements telling women "you're cool just the way you are, but here are some products that make you conform to stereotypical beauty standards." I get targeted ads, which explicitly say "look younger, hotter, sexier, etc." The only mainstream cosmetics company that "embraces women" is dove, who doesn't sell make up but skin care (which is arguable half cosmetic and half comfort).

Her make up company may not be explicitly saying "hey we want you to be sexier" but by offering make overs and commenters saying "girls are more confident wearing make up", we are saying "you'll be more confident if you are prettier/sexier/etc." I don't see a company offering the boys a place to do bicep curls, bench presses, or push ups (body building is the commonly considered the male equivalent to make up).

And this is inappropriate. In an arena that says "look, your brains are important" and where dean often says "this has more career potential than bouncing a basketball," we are telling girls that they're looks are still a large part of their value. It's not explicit, and that's the point. Make up is most commonly used to achieve the beauty standard (clear skin, large eyes, full lips). By saying that "it's good that make up makes the girls more confident", we're saying that being pretty makes them more confident (and this a huge can of worms revolving around the issue of a girls worth being tied to her appearance).