Going for that perfect “dead” look? Try adding some Sleepwalker eye shadow with some Bordertown in the crease. For extra deathliness you can try adding some Ghost Town to the lips.
Sounds crazy right? Not so much to MAC..
Exploitation in the name of beauty has sadly become a reality as evidenced by MAC Cosmetics’ release of the Rodarte Makeup collection. At first glance, the collection may seem innocent and unassuming, but greater insight to the collection tells a different story. With names of products like “ghost town,” “factory,” and “pale,” what was once inspiration for beauty, becomes much more entangled in deeper issues of exploitation.
Inspiration for the collection was drawn upon Rodarte designers Laura and Kate Mulleavy’s road trip from El Paso to Marfa, Texas. Upon their journey, they were struck by the “ethereal landscape and the impoverished factory workers floating to work at dawn in a sleepy, dreamlike state.” Out of context, these drawn upon inspirations may seem enchanting and glorified; however, the true background story of this inspiration is quite horrific in nature. In essence, the ‘inspiration’ for this collection was based off the mass femicides in Juarez that have been ongoing since 1993. The majority of the victims are women between the ages of 12 and 22 who work in maquiladora factories. While there have only been around 400 reported cases of women; many local residents estimate as many as 5,000 women have been killed. Given the current state of the police force in Mexico, the femicides have been given extremely minimal attention in the face of greater issues ongoing in Mexico, such as the drug wars; thus resulting in the underestimated amount of reported cases by police. Furthermore, inspiration for names such as “sleepless” and “sleepwalker,” was based off the fact that, because of the constant threat of rape and murder, women factory workers are forced to undertake the cover of night to travel to and from work just to get there safely.
Such glamorization of the wanton and unrecognized murder of women in Juarez for pure profit is completely unacceptable. MAC cosmetics, with their frequent release of new collections, are pure money-makers. Such that, the fact that MAC would take advantage of the plight of women in Juarez for money is of little importance to them.
In the face of such an egregious mistake in the release of this collection on MAC’s part; it is uplifting to know that the public would not stand for the release of this collection. Upon the initial promotion of the collection, there was uproar from the fans of MAC who disapproved. In response, MAC decided that it would change some of the most offending names in the collection and donate $100,000 to a non-profit organization benefiting the women of Juarez. However, after even further backlash, it was decided that the entire collection was to be pulled completely (the money would still be donated though).
While it’s comfortable to know that the public won’t stand for such a flagrant err in sensitivity; it’s unfortunate that this collection never fazed the creators as even being the slightest bit offensive. Clearly, there is so much focus on the profit aspect, that no attention is paid to whether or not such a collection is even socially acceptable. Furthermore, the initial advertising that was made for the collection brings into the question as to why no one ever stood up before the public backlash in questioning what might be seen as a sensitive topic to some. The women portrayed in the advertising photos essentially look like they’re dead. With their sunken in eyes and walls that look like blood is streaming down them; it is difficult to see how this type of photo could be celebrating beauty when the names and photos of the collection so blatantly connote a sense of death.
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