White women try to "reclaim power" through #vanillagirl and #cleangirl beauty posts??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know when the left collectively decided to absolve itself and especially its white men from any and all misogyny but it is remarkable to see the self-delusion.

Middle class, middle aged soccer moms from the midwest secretly run the left, didn't you hear?

Those teen and early 20s women (both white and not) who earnestly believe this are going to be so disappointed when they hit their 40s and come to find out women in their 40s don’t run anything. Except maybe the PTA at their kids’ elementary school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a 41 year old white woman, who is a makeup and skincare junkie, and chronically online. Everyone in this thread should take a look at the muacirclejerk and muacjdiscussion subs on reddit. There was just a great discussion about cosmetic conspiracy theories.

Here's what I believe:
- the "clean girl" aesthetic is inherently racist
- "clean beauty" is a really successful marketing gimmick to have products go bad quickly and thus sell more products
- "coastal grandmother" is inherently racist
- tiktok is literally empowering POC creators and it's great that racism in the beauty industry is being discussed
- the cosmetic industry is driven by white men capitalizing on women's insecurities
- it's interesting that from my skimming of this thread, no one has brought up the "hemline index" and the effects it can have on the cosmetics industry
- white women in the middle of the country are a legit problem and mostly have massive amounts of internalized misogyny that wreaks havoc on the country
- pale women need to stop whining about being able to find foundations light enough for them

But why? I understand clean girl to be based around excellent skin care and light, dewy, fresh looking makeup. Genuinely wondering how it is perceived as racist.

I would also say internalized misogyny is not just an issue with white women in flyover states. Plenty of woc and “progressive” women on the coasts perpetuate misogyny.

I think the implication, which I do happen to agree with, is that the concept of cleanliness and purity in beauty can be traced to explicitly racist tropes about how pale skin is always more attractive than darker skin (a concept that is both racist AND classist, because only wealthy women who could afford to stay inside and out of streets and fields, and avoid hard labor that might impact their skin, could ever accomplish the goal of having pale, perfect, unblemished skin). There's also a ton of colorism inherent in this, where even in cultures where in theory everyone has darker skin, lighter skinned women are considered more beautiful (skin lightening products have been around for a long time in India and other parts of Asia, and you also see rampant colorism in black communities that is often linked to class as well). It's not really about "excellent skin care", it's about having clear, light skin. Which is racist.

HOWEVER I agree with you about the idea that only white women in flyover states have internalized misogyny or are racist. I also don't think every woman who subscribes to "clean girl" or "coastal grandmother" aesthetics is racist -- these aesthetics prey on everyone's internalized misogyny and racism. The entire beauty industry preys on internalized misogyny and racism, that's the whole point. It's an industry that has an explicit goal of making women feel less than, however it can, and then convincing you that if you just buy this product or service, you won't feel that way anymore. If you think of it this way, it is absurd on it's face to blame average consumers for the problems in the industry. Sure, some influencers and people like Gwyneth Paltrow are profiting and can be held accountable, but the average person subscribing to "clean girl" is just a woman desperately trying to look better because she's been told that if she doesn't, she's failed. That deserved empathy, not an indictment.

So while the beauty industry is absolutely impacted by racism, sexism and classism I think the issue with the npr piece was that the premise is white, American women are adopting aesthetics as a power grab. K beauty was mentioned as appealing because Asian women are stereotyped as submissive and it was stated that white women are using these products as a means to also appear submissive. From what I’ve been exposed to on sm I do not see these trends being used in this way and I believe the argument was a reach and was made with the intention of being inflammatory instead of honest.

These pieces consistently pit young women against each other without making a genuine attempt to explore how complex the global beauty industry is and how there is so much nuance that’s goes into what is “pretty” based on your location and community. Also, so much of how you interpret a beauty trend is based on your own bias. It’s shady to state your opinions and bias as fact and make accusations based on them. I feel this npr guest wanted to reach a certain conclusion and did a sloppy job backing it up.

[Anonymous]

(I say that as a woman also near 40!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is “coastal grandmother” racist lol? There is totally a Black version of coastal grandmother.

The fact that there is "a Black version" is pretty much the whole thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is “coastal grandmother” racist lol? There is totally a Black version of coastal grandmother.

The fact that there is "a Black version" is pretty much the whole thing.

Huh? Ok.

You can’t have it all ways - claim everything is inherently in racial categories, but then that everything in the white racial category is bad, then when you point out a category is not inherently race based, THAT proves racism.

Anyway, Oprah epitomizes Coastal Grandmother.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is “coastal grandmother” racist lol? There is totally a Black version of coastal grandmother.

The fact that there is "a Black version" is pretty much the whole thing.

DP. Huh? How do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t admit to being a 41 year old quite woman who was chronically online on extremely niche sections of Reddit like it’s a good thing. It just makes you very insular in a certain subculture and out of touch with 99.5% of mainstream people.

It's good she admits to it if it's true but unfortunately she thinks it makes her an authority instead of what she actually is -- a sad person with both makeup and internet addictions. But yes, it is "white women in the middle of the country" who are the "legit problem" here.

DP. She didn't claim authority. She laid out her beliefs, which I thought was a more humble stance than many on this thread.

And subreddits are less insular than DCUM, so I don't get why people are judging the poster for that.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like a classic NPR April Fools joke - like slow internet and the resurgence of cassette tapes.
https://www.npr.org/2016/03/27/472067228/nprs-past-april-fools-day-pranks

[Anonymous]

Coastal grandma aesthetic as a means to exert power and dominance is ridiculous.

I would agree that it is probably mostly young white women doing the trend (from what I see) but it is somewhat tongue in cheek and ironic. I do think clean girl and that girl have a wider reach and are shaping beauty and lifestyle trends but I’m not buying that coastal grandma is done as a way for ww to exert power over woc.

[Anonymous]

Someone should send Steffi Cao a link to this thread. Her own posting of the piece on Twitter only got 2 comments and 37 likes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know when the left collectively decided to absolve itself and especially its white men from any and all misogyny but it is remarkable to see the self-delusion.

Middle class, middle aged soccer moms from the midwest secretly run the left, didn't you hear?

Those teen and early 20s women (both white and not) who earnestly believe this are going to be so disappointed when they hit their 40s and come to find out women in their 40s don’t run anything. Except maybe the PTA at their kids’ elementary school.

They run plenty. They run corporations, governments and everything else under the sun. Maybe stop playing into misogyny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know when the left collectively decided to absolve itself and especially its white men from any and all misogyny but it is remarkable to see the self-delusion.

Middle class, middle aged soccer moms from the midwest secretly run the left, didn't you hear?

Those teen and early 20s women (both white and not) who earnestly believe this are going to be so disappointed when they hit their 40s and come to find out women in their 40s don’t run anything. Except maybe the PTA at their kids’ elementary school.

They run plenty. They run corporations, governments and everything else under the sun. Maybe stop playing into misogyny.

A cool thing about this thread is that no matter what you say, you are espousing internalized misogyny.

It's a trap!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know when the left collectively decided to absolve itself and especially its white men from any and all misogyny but it is remarkable to see the self-delusion.

Middle class, middle aged soccer moms from the midwest secretly run the left, didn't you hear?

Those teen and early 20s women (both white and not) who earnestly believe this are going to be so disappointed when they hit their 40s and come to find out women in their 40s don’t run anything. Except maybe the PTA at their kids’ elementary school.

They run plenty. They run corporations, governments and everything else under the sun. Maybe stop playing into misogyny.

A cool thing about this thread is that no matter what you say, you are espousing internalized misogyny.

It's a trap!

Also, you are either doing white trends (racist!) or appropriating non-white trends (also racist!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s supposed to make people anger click and you all are falling for it. Don’t be racist and just go about your business without worrying the about the latest concern trolling article.

+1,000 Full stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know when the left collectively decided to absolve itself and especially its white men from any and all misogyny but it is remarkable to see the self-delusion.

Middle class, middle aged soccer moms from the midwest secretly run the left, didn't you hear?

Those teen and early 20s women (both white and not) who earnestly believe this are going to be so disappointed when they hit their 40s and come to find out women in their 40s don’t run anything. Except maybe the PTA at their kids’ elementary school.

They run plenty. They run corporations, governments and everything else under the sun. Maybe stop playing into misogyny.

A cool thing about this thread is that no matter what you say, you are espousing internalized misogyny.

It's a trap!

Also, you are either doing white trends (racist!) or appropriating non-white trends (also racist!)

Lol isn’t that the truth.