Oh, the Irony

It's kind of ironic that I'm about to write this given that my last post was about my dream of professional blow outs everyday.  If you don't regularly read Healthy Tipping Point (or do, but haven't checked it out today), you should do so as soon as you have a chance. Caitlin wrote a really thoughtful post this morning about a project she's starting on February 1 with Molly Barker, the founder of Girls on the Run: The Naked Face Project.

In Caitlin's words:

For the next 60 days, Molly and I will give up all traditional feminine Beauty Habits – including wearing any makeup, removing any body hair, altering our hair from its natural state (dying, curling, straightening), wearing uncomfortable feminine clothing (high heels, tight skirts), wearing jewelry (with the exception of wedding bands), painting our nails, using anti-wrinkle or anti-acne lotions, wearing deodorant, or styling or cutting our hair for reasons other than function.  We plan to blow dry our hair (because it’s the winter), brush our teeth, wear sunscreen, and dress appropriately – but comfortably – for the occasion.

Why? (Ok, cop out but I'm not going to even try to match their eloquence.) In Molly's words:

[We (Molly & Caitlin)] have built our entire lives around authenticity…using our experiences, thoughts, time and intelligence…to transform cultural norms around beauty and gender…to help little girls and big girls, alike, see that they are beautiful just the way they are…that beauty really is an inside job…that when we love the BIG US on the inside, the outside will, as an outcome, be loved too!  Our power is in our authenticity and our strength of character...It is a very complicated conversation and can rightly so, be a hot topic for many people. I have no idea what the outcome of this sixty day journey will be, but I do know that I will be digging deeply into some things that potentially frighten me…like looking older, somehow seeming less sexual/sensual/desirable, not feeling complete or professionally buttoned up.

The comment about feeling professionally buttoned up struck a chord with me.  I work in an industry where first impressions are everything, the outer package needs to inspire confidence in your clients or you're dead in the water.  I do think a lot about what the outer package says about people I interact with at work.  My mom  used to say when I was growing up, "if you really cared, you would remember y /do x, etc." Professionally this translate to (for me): if you cared about the job, you'd show up looking like you care about the job. I'm also believe in the saying, dress for the job you want.

Two caveats about both of the statements above though, what does it MEAN to LOOK like you want the job? And while I believe in dressing for the job you want, I don't always like it. Believe me, there are some days where it take a lot to muster the effort to do so. Given these two things, it's interesting to stop for a second and question what this means and what our motives are for why we do what we do as women.

I started to write every other thought I'd ever had on this topic in a single post, but thought I'd treat you to a multi-post week and so I'll be back tomorrow with some more thoughts on this. In the meantime, check out Caitlin and Molly's posts!