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Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s the patriarchy

The more makeup you wear, the less human you seem. That’s the rather depressing conclusion of a new study published in the journal Sex Roles, which looked at how cosmetics influence the way we perceive women. Researchers asked 1,000 people (most of whom were from the UK and the US) to evaluate women’s faces with and without heavy makeup. They found that both male and female participants rated women wearing a lot of makeup as less human, less warm and less moral. Gotta love that internalized misogyny!

The study’s findings are even worse for those who prefer a dramatic smoky eye to a loud lipstick; “faces with eye makeup were attributed the least amount of warmth and competence.”

“It might be that faces with heavy makeup are perceived as possessing less human-like traits because they are visually processed in a way that resembles how most objects are processed,” Philippe Bernard, the study’s lead author, explained. Bernard, a researcher at the Free University of Brussels further noted that while there’s a growing body of research showing how sexualized images prompt the dehumanization of women, less attention has been paid to “whether subtler forms of sexualization such as makeup” influence objectification. As it turns out, all it takes for a woman to be reduced to an object is a touch too much eyeliner.

Don’t chuck out your cosmetics quite yet, however. According to a 2011 study by researchers from Boston University and Harvard Medical School, women who wear a “professional” amount of makeup in the office are seen as more competent, capable, reliable and amiable than women who sport a bare face. (It’s worth noting that the study was funded by Procter & Gamble, which owns cosmetic brands like Olay and SK-II; so take it with a pinch of bath salt.)

While wearing “professional” levels of makeup may help you at work, you do have to be careful not to look too nice. A 2019 study found “attractive businesswomen are judged as being less truthful than less attractive women”. Mind you, another study found that attractive people earn more than their plainer peers and that “grooming accounts for the entire attractiveness premium for women”.

We haven’t even started on how your hairdo affects how you do in life. There are various studies which suggest women with long hair are seen as being “high maintenance” and of high “reproductive potential”. Long hair can also signal “decreased forcefulness” and can be seen as less professional. (Which might be why Ivanka Trump recently got a bob.) Hair is even more complicated for black women, of course, who are often forced to conform to white beauty standards to be seen as professional.

Being a woman means constantly walking a tightrope between being invisible and being objectified. You’ve got to be nice, but not too nice! You’ve got to be attractive, but not too attractive! You’ve got to wear makeup, but not too much makeup! Perhaps it’s time to slap on the warpaint and make our own rules.

Self-centered men love high-status cars

Assholes are drawn to expensive German cars, according to science. A new study by researchers from the University of Helsinki found that self-centered men who are argumentative and disagreeable are more likely to own high-status cars such as a BMW or Mercedes. If you’ve got a Merc it doesn’t automatically mean you’re a jerk though – the researchers also found that conscientious personality types are also driven to high-status vehicles. Here’s the interesting bit though: the link between conscientious personalities and a penchant for pricey cars was found among both men and women but the connection between self-centered personalities and high-status cars was only found among men. The researchers aren’t sure why this is, but it could be because cars are traditionally more of a male status symbol.

The men who take breastmilk from babies

In Uganda, and some parts of Tanzania and Kenya, there is “a growing culture” of men drinking their partners’ breast milk. This obviously isn’t about taste – it’s about male entitlement. The Guardian notes that the practice is “being linked to gender violence and coercive behaviour”.

Turkey proposes a ‘marry your rapist bill’

The law would allow men who sexually abuse children to avoid punishment if they marry their victim. Gender-based violence is endemic in Turkey; 38% of women have suffered physical or sexual violence from a partner according to the UN.

Game over: should men stop talking sport at work?

According to one HR expert, office conversations about sport make women “feel left out”. Ann Francke, head of the Chartered Management Institute, told the BBC that excessive sports talk is a “gateway to more laddish behaviour”. There’s been a backlash to her comments because – shock horror – a lot of women like sport.

IBM’s first female CEO is stepping down

Virginia Rometty, who has been in the role since 2012, will be replaced by Arvind Krishna.

Hadley Freeman interviews Kelis

The R&B singer talks candidly about being “assaulted from a business perspective [and] then being assaulted in the home”.

The queer history of plants

All you’ve ever wanted to know about sapphic violets and the pansy craze you can read here.

Female nurses paid less than their male peers

Even though nursing is predominately female, women earn 17% less than men.

Man disappoints 27,722 women at once

E-commerce billionaire Yusaku Maezawa made headlines recently when he extended an invitation for a “special woman” to join him on Elon Musk’s Big Falcon Rocket for a trip around the moon. The romantic moonshot was going to be turned into a reality show because, I mean, who wouldn’t want to watch an intergalactic version of Love Island? A total of 27,722 women applied for the position of Maezawa’s girlfriend – alas none of them have been selected because the billionaire has now cancelled the reality show for “personal reasons”.

Elton John bought a “ton” of Gwyneth Paltrow vagina candles

Goop recently sold out of their famous vagina candles and apparently John is partly to blame; he “bought a ton of them”. No, I have no idea why either.