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Though Alicia Keys decided to join the makeup-free movement [3] and has since been spotted many times with a bare face [4], her choice to do so at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards [5] has clearly struck a nerve. Hordes of enraged internet citizens have come out to slam Alicia and her decision, and now her husband, hip-hop artist and producer Swizz Beatz, is coming to her defense.
"Somebody sitting home mad because somebody didn't wear makeup on their face . . . not YOUR face," he said with disbelief in an Instagram video. "You can do whatever you want to do. She didn't tell y'all to wear no makeup. She's just not vibing with the makeup all the way 100 percent."
It is truly disheartening that Swizz felt like he even needed to remark upon this situation. The fact that people are getting so riled up about a woman's choice to not wear makeup proves Alicia's point.
Though it's 2016, women are damned if they do, damned if they don't: YouTube vloggers and other beauty aficionados face regular makeup shaming [6]. Those who opt out of cosmetics — like Alicia, who was "tired of . . . the constant judgment of women" — are slammed for not adhering to society's beauty standards. Is it just us, or is there no obvious solution here?
We hope that this debate results in some serious introspection. Women, think long and hard about the reason you wear makeup. Is it to make yourself happy, or to please others? And for those of you calling out Alicia, consider why her decision affects you so much.
Swizz said it best: "She didn't want to put makeup on HER face and you mad? . . . You must be mad about a lot of sh*t. Better look in the mirror and get that ass fixed, because if you mad about someone else putting makeup on their face — that's their decision — you got a lot of work to do in life. We all do . . . but you sure do."