My friend feels that she ought to eschew makeup lest she appear
worldly. She also wants to wear a head-covering to show her
submission to her husband. However, her husband has said that he
likes her to wear makeup and doesn’t want her to wear a head-covering.
My friend wants to know if the verse “it is better to obey God rather
than man” applies to this situation.
PW
Dear PW,
Since I am an unmarried maiden-in-waiting-at-home, I asked my mother for her advice in this matter. She wears a tasteful minimum of makeup, but wears it every day. Even when all we are doing is canning peaches. She says that the Feminists teach the makeup is a form of slavery and that’s why they don’t wear much of it. Based on that alone, we should be counter-cultural and wear tasteful makeup.
I asked my Father what his opinion was on this question. He said that some women look worse with make-up and some women look better. He made a hospital visit with Pastor Backlow one time and they went to visit Mrs. Green who had just had her gallbladder taken out. He didn’t even recognize her when he walked in the room because she had no make-up on. He said, “Pardon me, sir” and proceeded to shut the door. Thank goodness Mrs. Green was heavily medicated and doesn’t remember Father doing this. He said that she as a good example of someone who benefited from make-up and that he was thankful that Mr. Green was in favor of make-up.
I looked up one of Pastor Backlow sermons in my Sermon Notes Notebook and he had one sermon called “Jumpin’ Jezebel” that addressed makeup. His first point was that makeup should be attractive, not alluring. It should accentuate a woman’s feminine features, but not cause undue attention to be drawn to her. Red lipstick is definitely out. So is green eyeshadow. His second point was that makeup should be distinctive, not distracting. So, we should neither look like Feminists with no makeup and short hair, but neither should we look like someone from Hollyweird with makeup caked on.
There was a third point but (this happens to me all the time) I thought he was wrapping things up and he was really going into his third point. So, I was stuck at the piano without my notebook while he gave his third point and the invitation.
I hope this helps.
In Modest Apparel,
CMG
