Pamela Anderson Going Makeup Free Is a Statement

Pamela Anderson is currently in Paris at Fashion Week making the streets her own runway, and she's doing it in an unexpected yet refreshing way. Dressed to the nines in the latest designer fashions and sitting front row at shows like Isabel Marant and Vivienne Westwood, Anderson hasn't worn a lick of makeup, putting her bare skin — freckles and all — on full display.

It's a decision that has been met with some surprise but mainly praise, particularly from other celebrities. Jamie Lee Curtis shared a series of images on Instagram of Anderson, calling it a "natural beauty revolution" and an "act of courage and rebellion."

Whether it's actually "courageous" for someone to step out sans makeup — especially when it's a reality for so many women, including stars like Alicia Keys since 2015 — is up for debate, but the moment is worth talking about, particularly in the case of Anderson, who for decades has been highly scrutinized and sexualized for the way she looks.

Since rising to fame in the 1990s and early 2000s, Anderson has been expected to look a certain way — read: blond, busty, "sexy" — for nobody but men. For years, countless male-hosted interviews (if that's what you want to call them) often centered on her looks and specifically her breast augmentation. Later, in her Netflix documentary, "Pamela, a Love Story," Anderson addressed these "disturbing" instances. "I always hoped something would come along where I would do something [that] would be more interesting to people than my body," she said.

So, yes, Anderson is simply showing up to Paris Fashion Week without a layer of foundation and a swipe of mascara. It is not revolutionary, because it is, after all, just makeup. Still, attending perhaps one of the most prestigious events in fashion baring it all — only this time, in a way that is on her terms — feels like a small act of defiance. It seems she is done attempting to fit into a man's idea of what a woman should look like and is instead embracing what she wants to look like.

In an interview with i-D before the Victoria Beckham show, Anderson shared a bit more about her headspace at the moment. "It's all about self-acceptance. This is the chapter of my life I'm trying to embrace now. . . . Since I've really just kind of walked out the door as me, I feel like a relief; just a weight off my shoulders. And I actually like it better — I'm dressing for me now, not for everybody else."

Now that is a statement worth celebrating.