Fox and feminism?

So a week or two ago, Fox aired "Stars Without Make-Up" or something like that - basically an hour long show catching celebrities without make-up. I didn't watch it so you'll have to forgive me if I get the details wrong. I've always found the "stars without make-up" concept offensive and I see it frequently on the magazine covers at the "kiosk of higher consciousness" at my subway station so I figured the Fox version didn't have anything for me I hadn't seen before. Anyway, apparently the show was so successful that they're planning a part two. And, to add to the drama, apparently some of the featured stars are banding together to take legal action of some sort.

Anyway, I started thinking about the thousands of people that must have tuned in and wondering at the mass insanity that is North America. It seems like a no brainer that, as a feminist, I should raise a call to arms about this show. But the more I think about it, I'm not so sure. Don't get me wrong. I think it's absolutely gross to stalk these celebrities, catch them in their normal everyday life and then plaster it all over TV and make fun of them. Since I didn't see the show, I don't know if it was men and women but I'm going to assume it was mostly women and note it as one more instance where the exterior matters so much more than the interior.

BUT, I think there is something important about seeing celebrities without their make-up. In these days when 50 is the new 40 and everyone between the ages of 35 and 55 seems to look the same on television, I think it's actually crucial to understand that there is a different reality. That even with botox and facial peels and all the rest of it, people do age. Wrinkles do come, skin does sag, the glow of youth does fade. Sadly, the youthful beauty is the only beauty we recognize. Even as women have gained power in Hollywood and the sway of the boomer generation means that more 50+ women are gracing the small and big screens, it seems that the flawless complexion of a 25 year old is still necessary. And when Susan Saranden and Julianne Moore look perfect in their cosmetics commercial, laughing about their eternal youth and beauty (or perhaps how lame the commercial is and to cover the sickly feeling of shame that is creeping up on them as the cameras roll - look close, you can see on SS's face, lol), I do think that we need someone to show that underneath it all, away from the stylists and the lights, they look like regular women.

The next step, of course, is to see the signs of age as signs of wisdom, health, and beauty and to recognize the glow of a happy, contented person as more beautiful than the glow of L'Oreal blush. To paraphrase Naomi Wolfe, instead of covering up our natural glow with foundation and putting on a fake glow with powders and cremes and calling that beauty, we need to see that the true source of beauty is that light that burns within, shines in our eyes and our faces and lights up the world.