Rave Ministries is coordinating “No Makeup November” during which women and girls of all ages put away their makeup in order to remember that they are made beautiful by God. Promotional poster photo courtesy Rave Ministries
This image is available for Web publication. For questions, contact Sally Morrow.
(RNS) As countless men grow mustaches this month to raise money and awareness for men’s health issues, women and girls of all ages have put away their blush and mascara, seeking to remember they are beautifully made by God — even without the makeup.
“I think a lot of times we get so caught up in ‘God made the world and the trees and the beauty and nature’ and we see God’s handiwork in the leaves changing in the fall, or we see his handiwork at the beach,” said Becca Daniel, team leader at Rave Ministries.
“What we forget is we’re told in all those other Scriptures that God made us, down to the last detail too.”
Women and girls from 37 states and seven countries are participating in “No Makeup November,” which is coordinated by Rave Ministries, a Christian girls ministry associated with the Churches of Christ.
Although 1,000 people have registered at Rave’s website, Daniel estimates that the number of women participating in the challenge is closer to 4,000.
“This campaign in no way is an anti-makeup campaign, because let it be known that it is not the makeup that we are battling,” said Rave’s website. “Instead, it is a culture that we are trying to fight. A culture that tells our young girls, mothers, and yes, even grandmothers that they are not close to being good enough.”
No Makeup November follows in the footsteps of “Movember,” when men grow mustaches during November to raise awareness and funds for men’s health issues, and “No Shave November,” which raises awareness and funds for cancer prevention.
Although No Makeup November is not about raising money for a cause like prostate cancer, Daniel said it’s still an awareness-raising campaign.
“It’s bringing awareness to true beauty and to taking off the mask,” Daniel said. “I believe that there’s a need because of the culture that we live in. It’s just very much beauty-saturated: ‘beauty’ meaning what’s on the outside.”
Becca Daniel, team leader at Rave Ministries, originally did not want to participate in the challenge, but said she has grown in her confidence by doing so. Photo courtesy of Rave Ministries
This image is available for Web publication. For questions, contact Sally Morrow.
Rave Ministries first coordinated the campaign a year ago after Lauren King, another team leader and Daniel’s sister, saw videos made by Brooke Ferguson, a student at Lipscomb University. Ferguson had gone without makeup for 40 days during the summer of 2011 and made video blogs about the experience.
This November is the first year the campaign has really taken off, Daniel said.
Participants have built a community across the world as they encourage each other over Twitter, Facebook and Instagram using the hashtag #NMN. The team leaders at Rave have also posted regular devotionals and other words of encouragement to participants.
“There are some people who don’t go out of their house without it on,” Daniel said. “It has been difficult for some. Overall, I would say the most difficult place for girls and for women — for women especially — the place that is most difficult to go is church. And I found that ironic. I find it ironic because that’s the place where we’re supposed to feel the most comfortable about the way God created us.”
When her sister proposed that Rave run No Makeup November, Daniel did not initially want to participate. Although she did not wear makeup often, she needed it to feel put together for special events and work.
But now Daniel is glad she joined the event.
“Personally, I’ve learned to be just confident,” Daniel said. “God made me. He made my eyebrows, my eyelashes. He made my freckles. He made me.”
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I applaud any attempt to counterbalance or undermine the industry that demonizes natural beauty. Body and personhood acceptance are critical in this culture where women and men are stalked at every turn with the message that you are not good enough, beautiful enough, man enough or rich enough.
We’ve bred a viral beast that gnaws on people in private and public and many are rich through the suffering they’ve caused. I hate it and support it and we are all guilty. I hope that how god made me isn’t an excuse either.
Nature isn’t natural. Being eaten by a bear is the possibility of nature but it isn’t the natural way God intended humans to experience a bear. Body odor is part of nature too but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t wash. So much of these types of campaigns begin to undermine themselves when they end up collapsing the house that has the foundation they are trying to fix. I hope that can be avoided. The Movember movement is an example of how a good idea can begin to take on shades of stupid generalizations. As if a man is more of a man or a better man, or a more generous man, because of hair follicles. Masculinity and femininity can become pimped for profit by the good and the bad.
I have never been a fan of makeup or any other socially dictated way in which women are expected to change or alter their appearance in order to please…who? Mostly big corporations that play on and promote these ‘expectations’ by implying that a woman who does not use makeup or shave off most naturally occurring hair is somehow unattractive. NO woman should ever fall for that. Be confident in your own natural appearance. Confidence is the single most appealing trait in a woman as far as I am concerned. Think about what a person (male or female) who looks down on a woman for not shaving her legs or under her arms or for not wearing makeup is actually imparting about themselves. They are projecting their prideful, often hurtful and unwarrented prejudices and biases upon others for virtually NO justifiable reason. They are imposing their vanity upon others with much corporate support. I applaud your efforts to fight back in this matter but make it for more than a month!
Oh and…I like makeup, shaved legs, toothpaste, deodorant, toenail clippers, dental floss, q-tips. I think pajamas are for bed not street wear, socks shouldn’t be worn with sandals, thongs are something that should go on your feet, corsets or spanks seem punitive and I really like Victoria. Hate me, I know I’m evil.
Eric…I’m pretty sure you are not evil. Toothpaste, tonail clippers, dental floss and q-tips are all health aids. Deoderant serves a non intrusive function. But make up and shaving would be fine if they were options…but they are basically expectations imposed on women…as much by other women as men from what I have seen. But as long as appearances mean more than substance to many people nothing will change. And it is not evil…it is just human nature….the shame is who takes advantage of, promotes
and profits from it.