When I was young, I would watch my mother getting ready in the mornings. I would sit on the side of the tub in her bathroom swinging my legs and staring jealously as she applied a bold red lipstick, dreaming of the day that I too would be grown up enough to wear it.
What I didn’t know as a child was the political significance of this simple, startling red and it’s role in women’s histories of rebellion against patriarchal systems.
Firstly, the red lip was part of uniform of the suffragettes, who claimed the bold colour as an act of rebellion and power. As they marched through the streets, Elizabeth Arden would pass out red lipstick- making the product itself a form of protest. It didn’t end there. During the Second World War, knowing that Hitler hated red lipstick, women wore it as a symbol of alliance. Going back even further, Elizabeth I shocked her subjects and subverted popular opinion by wearing a lipstick colour seen at the time as an incarnation of the devil.
Today, red lipstick is worn by women in positions of power acting against the status quo; American politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has made it her signature. In her Vogue beauty secrets video, watched by over 3.6 million people, AOC (as she is known to her fans) discusses the importance of femininity in politics. With her red lipstick and beauty routines she challenges the idea that taking care of your appearance implies frivolity or that you are not suited for power and politics. She made an early decision in her career, as she knocked on people’s doors, that red lipstick would be a way to telegraph assurance. It would be a way for her to be recognised, put together and professional whilst providing a link and boost of confidence from her Latina roots!
This year, statement lips were heralded by Vogue to be one of the top beauty trends, with stars like Taylor Swift and Zendaya making both every day and red carpet red lip debuts. On the high street, Clinique’s ‘black honey’ has been a more accessible modern take that still nods to the Marilyn Monroe classic look.
However you wear it, there is something undeniably special about the simple application of a shade on the lips that links us back to our foremothers and their powerful movements against the status quo.
“Lipsticks” by Manila B. is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.