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Unread 27-04-2014, 16:01
Jasmine Zhou Jasmine Zhou is offline
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FRC #1678
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Join Date: Jan 2013
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Location: Davis, CA
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Re: Jane Cosmetics at 2014 Championship

I didn't hear or see Ms. Tilton at any point in time, so I can only talk about their exhibit in the pits and the way it presented the company.

I generally don't wear makeup, and I'm having some issues with my eyes right now that mean I couldn't have gotten my makeup done. (Which I probably would have, assuming there was time, even with the teasing I would expect from my team for acting so out of character. I like being able to dress like a slightly different version of myself.)
But I was still curious, so I stopped by their booth on Thursday or Friday. I talked with one of the exhibitors, and basically said, "This is the last thing I would have expected to see here. Why are you here (what do you hope to achieve)?"
The answer I got was something to the effect of "We are trying to empower young women by showing them that they can be both beautiful and smart/involved in STEM." Which is a good sentiment, that you don't have to give up part of your identity to be a part of this community. But it rubbed me the wrong way by implying that we aren't already pretty, that it matters, or that there is only one standard of beauty (that, of course, just happens to be helped by their products).
I also didn't get a very good vibe from their exhibit, because it was set up too much like a makeup store (as opposed to a demonstration of their technology, though I'm not sure what that would have looked like) for comfort, so that probably didn't help. Any time it feels like someone is saying "Buy this!" it puts me a little bit on edge.

That being said, because it's the last thing I (and, I assume, others) expected to see associated with FIRST, I agree it would be a good outlet for recruiting from a slightly different segment of the population. They just need to tweak the subtext and premises of their message.