Women are being ‘scrutinised for wearing make-up’, argues University of Birmingham student, Jasmine Luby Barrow

The student also hits out at men who claim to have ‘trust issues’ because the girl they had hoped to go ‘home with’ had ‘the audacity’ to reveal she wears make-up

(JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images)

A student has been encouraging debate around the topic of young women and make-up after saying she ‘shouldn’t be shamed’ for the effort she puts in ‘to look beautiful’.

Writing for online student publication The Tab, in an article titled ‘I wear make-up for myself, not for men’, Jasmine Luby Barrow - who studies English literature with classics at the University of Birmingham - hit out at people who criticise women who choose to make their faces early in the morning, adding no-one has the right to do so.

Insisting how she’s not trying to escape who she really is - and that her decision to ‘spend half an hour contouring’ doesn’t make her ‘superficial or fake’ - the 19-year-old also blasted men who claim they have ‘trust issues’ because the girl they had hoped to go ‘home with’ had ‘the audacity to reveal they don’t really have gold eyelids’.

Addressing such people, she wrote: “No fool, we don’t live in Barbie’s dream house. We are humans. You haven’t been ‘lied to’ - you’re lucky you even had a shot.”

Society, she added, has become a place where women - both young and old - are bombarded with adverts of ‘an unattainable perfect woman who varies only in eye colour’.

However, she argues: “This woman is beautiful. She has a whole team of people working on her nutritious diet and poking in every individual false eyelash. Yet an everyday woman trying to be beautiful in her own right is scrutinised for putting this amount of effort in.”

Speaking with The Independent about why she felt the need to speak out, Miss Barrow described how she wanted to provoke women to consider why and who they wear make-up for as ‘the reason we do is not something oft-discussed’. She added: “Instead, stereotyped judgements are made on assumptions that men make about women and, sadly, some women make about each other.

“Of course you will want to make an effort for a man you love or are dating. But that, alone, could not be reason enough for a woman wearing make-up when he is not present, for example, if you’re alone, at work - in everyday life.

“Ultimately, I felt the topic of why women should present themselves as they choose needed some empowering support and clarification.”