“If waking up and doing your make-up gives you life . . . you should do it.” So pronounces New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as she smooths cosmetics on her eyes. Filmed by US Vogue on the subject of her daily beauty regimen, the 30-year-old politician makes no apology for her love of prettifying.
“I used to think that I would be taken less seriously,” she says as she debates the merits of a glitter eye. “As the youngest woman in Congress, and as a woman of colour, it’s so hard to be taken seriously . . . I used to think shimmery eyeshadow . . . isn’t going to help me out. People already try to diminish me . . . as young and frivolous and unintelligent. But, she says, admiring her reflection in the mirror: “The shimmer looks fire!”
Like many women, AOC wrestles with the politics of beauty. She detests a patriarchal system in which “women who wear a decent amount of make-up . . . make more money”, and how upholding traditional female beauty standards can lead to compensatory gain. But, on the other hand, she’s a proud Latina woman who loves to experiment with her appearance and has an epic make-up kit. It’s a mad irony that a woman with the translucent complexion of a newborn should blast through some 18 different products of a morning — including a Fenty contouring stick, colour corrector, brow pencils, an eyelash curler, as well as her signature Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in “Beso”, a 24-hour battle armour in fiery tomato red. But, hey, she looks smoking hot thereafter. So who am I to judge?