I appreciate your comment, and empathize with negative reactions to articles about makeup, due to ‘the history of media/sexism.’. I discuss style, not quality of appearance. Empowering isn’t a word I’d use, so I couldn’t defend that if I wanted to. The choice to wear or not wear makeup isn’t good/bad, nor is it brave/weak.

Makeup is an art-form and a tool for self-expression — especially for public figures on TV. I write about male-identifying figures as much a female-identifying. My last essay was about Giuliani and Trump. They’ve got lewks.

Made-up faces give information. Anyone, whether natural or made-up, no matter the gender, is beyond fine. The choices we make about make-up are fascinating to me, even as I understand the trappings of writing about it. It’s my career, so I’m all in. *perhaps a wee bit obsessively.