John Legend’s video of You and I (Nobody in the World) is freaking gorgeous. If you watched it and didn’t get at least a little teary, I’m pretty sure you are lying. It features a whole variety of women of every shape and color and age, which is AMAZING. I could watch the video so many times in a row and still notice something new or find a new woman to swoon over.
Women who box! Women who are butch! Women who are pregnant! Women who were assigned male at birth! Women who survived breast cancer! Women who have Down Syndrome! Women with braces! Women with birthmarks!
I COULD GO ON ALL DAY.
And the very best part of this is the entire time, he’s singing about how amazing she is, so the message is totally 100% that women of every possible presentation are amazing and wonderful.
But. There is one tiny line at the very beginning that just makes me twitch.
“You fix your make up just so. Guess you don’t know you’re beautiful.”
Which sort of takes the idea that she’s perfect and beautiful and turns it so that she’s only beautiful when she isn’t wearing makeup – or maybe that she’s only beautiful if she caters to what he finds attractive.
Interestingly to this conversation, I don’t wear make up. I don’t wear it because I don’t like it. I’m super self conscious when I am wearing it and it’s stressful because I’m freaked out about touching my face or getting it on my clothes or whatever. So I don’t wear make up.
But that has jack shit to do with what other people think about how I look with or without it.
I do not know ONE SINGLE WOMAN who wears make up so that people will find her beautiful. I know plenty of women who wear make up because it makes them feel more confident, or because they like color, or even because they like how they look with it on.
Pros: Amazing amazing AMAZING video.
Cons: My make up has nothing to do with what you find attractive, dude.
Feminism Grade: A-
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