I trust you all know who the picture is?
It is hard to find somebody in the blogging world who has not heard of Zoella, and it seems to be that soon it will be hard to find somebody in the world beyond the internet who has not heard of the youtube star.
Arguably Zoe Sugg (aka Zoella) is fastest becoming one of the most famous faces of the internet, releasing a beauty line, a novel deal with Penguin and even having a feature in this month's Vogue.
Not your everyday things - yet from watching Zoe's vlogs she seems so incredibly normal and grounded.
Recently as Zoe has begun to hit the public eye beyond the realms of the internet, and we have begun to see more articles published about the youtube hit, all of which (as far as I know) have been positive, besides one - which I'm sure will stick in most of our heads.
If you don't know the article I am talking about, it is a piece published in The Independent earlier this week, but Chloe Haliton, you can find it here.
First reading the article I felt incredibly frustrated because she implies throughout that somebody who enjoys the fashion and beauty industry cannot be a positive role model for young girls - why? because they like the fashion and beauty industry - apparently. If a girl enjoys these industries they have nothing else to offer... now let's be honest, anyone who is thinking in a one dimensional way now?
Has Zoella not achieved more than a lot of girls will, beyond the beauty industry?
This article dumbs down the world of fashion and beauty, blogging and youtube - it is things like that that give society a negative outlook on women, it is about time people understood you can be passionate fashion about beauty without beauty stupid. There is more to a person than their love for these industries, and even if there weren't (which I think is far from the case with Zoella) at least they're passionate enough about something to have the balls to talk about it to millions.
Personally, I would be pretty pleased if over the many people in the public eye my children choose to see Zoella as a role model - she's normal, she doesn't smoke, doesn't drink, doesn't do drugs, she is creative, hardworking and successful. I know she is not a genius, a rocket scientist, or saving the world anytime soon, but as I said she is normal, and remaining so whilst constantly in the public eye I feel is admirable and refreshing when you consider the main young celebrities who have gone done a bad route.
There is nothing wrong with enjoying the beauty industry, yes there are more important things in life, but that does not mean makeup should be disregarded as something people can't enjoy. It is fun and creative. People need to get past thinking makeup is only used to cover up who we are, I for one do not see makeup in this way. Some days I will wear no makeup, with no consideration of what my plans are, I just might not fancy wearing make up some days, and other days I might wear a full face of makeup - because I feel like it. I don't wear makeup to cover up, I wear it to enhance aspects of my face, to experiment and have fun. Some days it is nice to make an effort, to try to look nice.
Makeup is not the devil. Ye,s Zoella talks about make up and beauty in her videos and blogposts because she enjoys it herself - the same way I speak about beauty product in my blog, because they interest me - does this make me a bad role model?
Also in many of Zoe's video she speak about how she is not a make up artist, how she doesn't always wear make up, and how she is making this videos because they have been requested.
Being a young teenage girl hitting puberty can be scary, you're body, skin, and mindset all begin to alter. I remember when I first began wearing make up, I had no idea what I was doing and I was too embarrassed to speak to my mum about how to put on make up, or what was okay to wear to school, I just copied my friends, who must have been as clueless as me. Thinking back I must have looked an absolute mess. It is an simple as, if young girls want to start wearing make up, they will. At least if they watch Zoella videos they might have some idea how to apply make up, and what is appropriate to wear casually to school - if she has saved a few girls from looking as though they have rolled in Doritos and have two black eyes, then well done her. At the end of the day, a video is a video, you don't have to watch it if you don't want to - but my guess is as Zoe is a beauty blogger/vlogger you'd only watch her videos if you're interested - there is nothing forcing anyone not interested in the industry to watch her tutorial and wear her back to school make up - but the option is there if you want to take it, and if people follow Zoe they will see from her vlog she see's it perfectly acceptable to not wear makeup.
I am going to finish this post up, because I feel I think been ranting about Zoella and make up for ages now. To round it up, personally I think if young girls want someone to see as a role model why not Zoella? I can think of some people far worse to admire.
The fact is Zoe (among others) started her blog and youtube channel, talking about fashion and beauty because there are the things she loves, the follows and subscribers came because so many people enjoy those industries, it's a community you can choose to be a part of, or not.
I feel the writer of that article lacked research, and although Zoe talks about make up because it am interest of hers, she also embraces her natural skin and is in no way forcing other to wear make up. I probably bias as although I am slightly out of the age range of Zoella usual demographics, I really like Zoe, and I feel she has done nothing to deserve the bad press.
If you have nothing nice to say, do not say anything at all.
I'm a pretty hardcore feminist and I must say that I think it's weird that this article seemed to stress that Zoe is supposed to be a /feminist/ role model. Because I'm not sure if she's ever made a statement either way on whether or not she is a feminist. I think there are a few valid criticisms of her, but I don't think makeup is one of them. Makeup is fun and can be a great way to express yourself in a safe manner (which is what teenagers need!). And I think anyone who is pretending like women DON'T need to learn these skills is delusional. As much as we say people are fine the way they are, we live in a culture where if I don't wear makeup (as a 26 year old woman) people ask me if I'm tired or sick... we expect women to look put together and made up and then try to tear them down if they look like they've tried too hard!
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