Lipstick Socialism
Beauty is people’s choice
I like a news story that makes me smile: a smug, all-knowing, self-satisfied smile. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the 28-year-old Democratic Socialist Latina who recently won the House primary in Bronx/Queens district, name-dropped her lipstick brand, and it sold out:
On June 15, Ocasio-Cortez wore her distinctive red lipstick during a debate with Crowley, and when her Twitter followers asked her to name the shade, she delivered the details with an emphatic “I GOT YOU” and a lipstick emoji.
So deliciously subversive! The loud young voices may scream about gender neutrality (per cursory scan of Medium writers). Politically attuned couturiers may design clothes “beyond menswear and womenswear”. Preschools may ban sex-specific words like mom, dad, boy and girl, but, at the end, all socialist women want is a lipstick that pops.
Alexandria’s certainly does. Her surprise upset, her race, her youth, and her ideology propelled her into national spotlight, but it’s the bold, sensual red coloring her mouth that made her a star. Without it, she’d be another Barbara Lee or Maxine Waters.
And, get it, the lip color is called besos, Spanish for kisses. Not Leninist, not Mao’s handshake, not scarlet purges, not onward to the victory of the socialist labor, but, in the language of Latin lovers, kisses! So eternal and apolitical, it hurts.
So it sold out. Did you know it’s $22? Twenty-two bucks. Somebody is sure making a profit.
When I go to Sephora, one of the retailers carrying Stila, I stick with the store brand makeup, which is about half the price of Alexandra’s. To me, Sephora is a rare treat. I usually buy Revlon, which is cheaper still. The drug store experience is not as exiting, but the quality will do.
I’m not averse to pampering. Even though we are the upper middle class housepoor, paying for the Bay Area’s socialist policies, I find ways to splurge on skincare. Actually, it helps me save in a long run. I found the product (Pevonia Stem Cell line) that works out so well, I no longer need facials.
But $22 for lipstick? I always wondered who can justify that purchase.
Socialists, that’s who!
Alexandria, who grew up in a top 10 wealthiest zip code in the country, probably views luxury as a norm. Do her followers have similar attitudes towards riches? Apparently so.
It helps to feels entitled to grooming products. Many young women today demand free tampons, for instance. They are probably emboldened by free birth control: a few years ago they asked for it, and they got it.
Alexandria’s own platform is all about freebies — education, medical care, whatever else your heart desires. Why not lipstick then?
The refrain of the current crop of so-called feminists is that women somehow deserve free contraception and other girl stuff. What’s implied by the word deserve, however, is that the items are earned. Not entitled by the virtue of having a set of female reproductive parts, but earned. Through selfless socialist labor, presumably. Like toiling in some field, milking cows, or mining.
In the Soviet Union we were endlessly instructed that a) we are to work, and to work hard, so that our most-just political system will win, and b) we don’t need the trappings of capitalism like the latest makeup fashion.
Yet Alexandria’s lesson seems to be that one shouldn’t have to work to earn exotic luxiries. Could this attitude towards labor and consumption be, in her mind at least, that elusive difference between socialism and democratic socialism that the newly nominated face of the Democratic Party failed to articulate on The View?
There was a lot of noise lately regarding the young people supposedly choosing socialism. Neontaster nailed it:
Alexandria’s lipstick socialism is pure greed coupled with the sense of entitlement projected by some of the wealthiest people in the history of the world.
And the herd mentality. The alpha female graced socialist masses with the name of the beauty product she chose, and they all me too’d her. One fan even suggested, cultushly, that Stila should rename the lipstick after the politician:
If Stila is smart, they will. And they will hire the newly minted congresswoman to model it, too. Socialists will be excited because she’s their gal, and capitalists will be equally excited because capitalism has won. (Again.)
But before all the winning, a word of caution for socialist ladies: just because your icon can rock the in-your-face red, doesn’t mean it will work for you. Alexandria was a bartender, she knows how to use looks to her advantage. She can handle fiery hues. Many women can’t; they should stick with neutrals.
One of the reasons capitalist marketplace created so many choices of lipstick, in fact, is so that consumer can chose the product that compliments her skin. Some look better in cooler shades, others — in warmer. Those inspired by the Congressional nominee’s choice of lip pigmentation, should do themselves a favor and find a shade that works for their complexion. And get it in a cheaper brand, too.
My advice to young women is to forgo lipstick socialism in favor of creativity, thrift, and individualism. Impossible? Not at all. I am a big fan of dressing well on a budget. I went vintage in my youth, and I still dress second hand quite often. Most of my wardrobe is from Ross and TJMaxx, although I shop the Anthropologie sale rack whenever I can.
When I want an outfit that stands out, I don’t overspend, I get creative. My shopping habits were considered countercultural twenty years ago, but to me it was common sense fun. Today’s socialists splurge and copycat.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez campaign commercial gives me hope. In the opening shots we see the young woman getting all dolled up. She is humanized. She wears heels. Her lips are a bright spot; they are womanly.
Despite their own best efforts millennials are not austere killjoys. They like the good life. They choose beauty. That’s a start.
