Most of you know that I still doom-scroll goth subreddits, because the drama always gives me ideas for articles. This is no different; a girl has claimed that a mall in her home area of Virginia kicked her out for looking ‘too goth’. I have been wanting to write a screed about how friends don’t let friends wear white-face make-up and this pops up out of the blue!
She was told by the mall security guard that she had to leave the mall because her make-up obscured her features. I used to go to malls all of the time in the late 80’s/early 90’s with friends to hang out because there was literally nowhere to congregate out of the sun and we were never kicked out. However, we didn’t wear white-face. In fact never in my life have I worn it. Back ‘in the day’ it was considered a very theatrical look and even in the clubs of that time I can count on one hand the number of people that I saw wearing it. I guarantee that there are more people wandering about wearing white-face right now than there was 30 years ago.
There are ways to look pale without resorting to white-face. All you need is a foundation shade that is a few levels lighter than the colour of your skin. That way you can easily blend it into you neck without it looking like a white mask. Honestly, that is what the vast majority of us did back then. When I could afford to buy MAC I started using their lightest shade. These days I very rarely use foundation. If I am feeling extra fancy I will wear lipstick and eyeliner and that is it.
The thing with looking over the top and theatrical while out in public is that you will get shit for it in one way or another. It sucks that people are assholes but you have to have a thick skin. Remember when the influencer Black Friday wasn’t allowed to enter the Louvre because of her very theatrical look? There is a time and place for it. In the end you can wear whatever make-up you want, but sometimes there are going to be consquences for that choice. The world that exists online is not the same world that exists outside your front door.
EDIT: Here is an exchange the chick and another person had on her Reddit thread. She is underlined in green. This got a little juicy…and racist. Fucking hell!