Get Ready With Me to Survive Another Day!
Trigger warning: discretion is advised
https://youtu.be/gAg0QwCLVRI
"Get ready with me" must be one of the most popular recent trends on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. This trend shows people getting ready to start their days, but mainly shows women doing their makeup and venting on a topic. There are two ways of viewing this trend: This trend might promote the use of makeup to "feel pretty" or portray people starting to get ready with a "clean face" when in reality they already have foundation on, causing increased feelings of unattainable beauty and self-image issues. Another way to see this trend is to see how some users use their "get ready with me" as a way to capture the viewer's attention to talk about a serious issue, using beauty as a weapon. Another positive way this type of performance is used is to get a little more motivation to go on about getting ready for your day. For many people struggling with ADHD paralysis, doing a get-ready with me or a timelapse recording their progress sometimes helps them overcome this barrier.
My project is a "Get ready with me" where I shakingly do my makeup while talking about the struggles of being an immigrant living alone in America, without any outside financial support among other struggles faced by a burnout Senior applying for Master's programs. Furthermore, my project also talks about how some makeup items are used to hide severe things caused by burnout such as a pale face due to not sleeping or eating. Makeup allows women to look subjectively beautiful to the patriarchal standards, even if their health does not reflect so. This "get ready with me" thoroughly shows how much a woman must perform, because, despite all the things on my plate, I am still expected to look beautiful if I don't want to hear the dreadful comment "You look so tired". This piece reflects how every day of my life is a performance trying to balance all these issues and smile when hearing all the comments from people who can only see my performing self: because "nobody likes complainers", "you should prioritize yourself" and "it is all about time management".
At the very end of my performance, I stated that "Marina would be proud, so would Yoko Uno" because they were the artists who inspired me to do hard things and use vulnerability (or strength depending on how you see it) to challenge society. Much like Marina's piece "Rhythm 0" and Yoko Uno's "Cut piece" I also put myself in an extremely vulnerable position, and even though, unlike their pieces, I was still the "primary actor" of my performance, it still speaks volumes on how it tells the story of a young woman trying to get ready to live in a world which was not made for her, where she must perform. A little more down the end I also did one of Yoko Uno's instruction pieces where I said:
"Cry. Put concealer on.
Imagine if you didn't.
But it is ok that you did.
Now just blend that concealer"
This short piece reflects a young woman imagining if she had not put concealer (makeup) on to hide her crying eyes (where hide is a synonym to conceal). It states that it is also okay that she chose to do so because sometimes it is more energetic to have to deal with people asking why you look upset than it is to be upset alone. The following sentence said in a firm but not rude voice "Now just blend that concealer" reflects the tone of her subconscious saying "if you are doing something, you better do it right".
Quotes that inspired my work:
"But a piece always starts with an idea that I don’t like — something I’m afraid of — and going into the unknown."
"But at the time, if I read criticism, I couldn’t leave the house, even though I knew the work was good."
"I' clutter everything to the point that it’s disgusting, and I go into a moment of denial, and then I clean everything until there’s nothing left."
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