The Meaning of Lipstick
Everyday the acts of feminism and diversity are more visible in a society that is dominated for traditionalism. Makeup is interpreted in different ways today. For a group of persons is self-expression and rebellion of old standards but for other people it is a creation of empowerment by companies to produce more profit. This debate is relevant in the society because both sides has arguments that support their point of view. Wear make is not a recent action for humanity. In the past, makeup was considered as symbol of social status, but today it transmits more than just money. Make up creates an atmosphere and send a message to other people. The significant of this topic is analysis how society perceive woman today and how much the society has advanced in take off wrong standards and meaning on makeup. To be able to make the proper analysis of the topic was chosen two contradicted point of view about it. One of them describe wearing make up as a positive action that express yourself and the other one shows the same action as an illusion created by people for money. In the first essay “Why Wearing Lipstick Is a Small Act of Joyful Resistance” by Erika Thorkelson (2018) the use of pathos strategy is very well used by the writer because she manifests her feelings and in the second essay “Wearing Makeup Is Not A Feminist Statement” by Erica Galluscio (2017) effectively uses logical thinking to prove the argument.
“Why Wearing Lipstick Is a small Act of Joyful Resistance” by Erika Thorkelson (2018) describes her feelings about herself when she uses lipsticks and the message that it sends to other people through personal anecdotes. The first anecdote is about the color of lipstick that a politician wore in a debate and how this red express love and solidarity with the audience. The author shows makeup as a symbol of twenty century and she quotes other authors with opposite view. They describe makeup and certain types of clothes to accentuate femininity and it creates an environment with a sexual connotation. But, when she back to her point she talks about the power on a lipstick that it is visible in the name of it as poetry, from cheerful to violent. Lipstick attract the attention to the mouth and says to other read my lips. The author explains that many women wearing makeup is not for finding a mate, it is about visibility and self-expression in a world still dominated by masculinity. The most important anecdote is about the rules of makeup when she was a child. She talks about her neighborhood and the occasion when women wore makeup and how they did it. One day she received a gift that was a colorful palette of makeup and she saw the opportunity for transformation into her own alter ego. After that, her mother took the initiative to teach her how to use make and they went to a popular store where she received advices, but the result of this moment was not convincing because she could not obtain he same result which was inexpressive. Many years after, she used a orange-red lipstick again and she felt comfortable with the vibrant color. Now, her new favorite color express beauty and mystery, and she feels connect with a feminist community like little act of resistance in a dark moment.
In “Why Wear Lipstick Is a Small Act of Joyful Resistance”, Thorkelson uses in efficiently way pathos strategy trough anecdote that shows her feelings when she lived these moments. By focusing on emotions and details about them, she builds her arguments and explain very graceful. A good illustration of pathos is When the author narrates how she felt when she wore make in her childhood, she transmits how good she was, how comfortable and how the world had to saw her. Another example could be her disappointment when the makeup that her mother give her did not achieve her goal. In other words, Thorkelson believes that makeup has power and this persuades to the reader to believe her argument. She appeals to a personal anecdote to connect with the audience.
“Wearing a makeup is not a Feminist Statement” by Erica Galluscio (2017) talks about a feminist who wear makeup daily but she is against of wrong concept created for people that use feminist statements for making money and they do not help to the real opaque community. She explains that the concept of empowerment is used by oppressed people that sale products as empowered, but they do not fight with the real oppressive system. She explains when a company obtain a benefit of products and when a company use the oppressed community for making money. For he is not possible that a T-shirt with a motto contributes with the feminism and the use of manipulate language in the names of lipstick change feelings. She describes it as an obligation of woman to use certain products. She wants to reconcile both sides, but she says that the first step to do it is understanding that use makeup is not a feminist action.
In “Wearing Makeup Is Not A Feminist Statement”, Erica Galluscio uses logos strategy very effectively to convince the readers that her point is relevant. For example, when she talks about how companies use a minority and oppressed community as a motto for products, they manipulate people to make profit by themselves because they do not help these communities. Another example is when she describes the language used when some lipsticks are called that manipulate people just for profit. The best example is when she says that some words on a t-shirt do not contribute to change the problem and people must fight with the bases of the oppressive system. The essence of this argument is logical because it reveals how marketing creates an illusion of feminism but it does not solve any issue.
In conclusion, pathos strategy by Thorkelson and logos Strategy by Galluscio are used efficiently in order to explain their arguments. Thorkelson persuades the readers by emotions and anecdotes that anyone can feel identify. In the other hand, Galluscio shows a logical thinking about it is not empowerment through examples that how people manipulate oppressed groups. Both arguments are very well arguments, and both describes good point of view that has to be exanimated to understand the society today.
