Symbol of power, self-affirmation or submission, the lipstick it is not without contradictions. Inextricably linked to the history of women, it perfectly reflects our society and its various political struggles. Lipstick is a tiny, iconic and highly political object.
The tendency to color the lips has existed since the dawn of time and primitive cosmetics. Between superstition, fashion and scandals, lipstick is considered a symbol of power and rebellion at the same time. Powerful women, actresses, drag queens and rock stars around the world have appropriated them over time. From its appearance to the present day, thanks to the support of archive material, animations and testimonies (including TikTok videos and some selfies), the documentary directed by French director Claudia Marschal was born (visible until 29 September on www.arte.tv/it/videos/104860-000-A/sulle-mie-labbra-la-seducente-storia-del-rossetto/), which traces the epic of an object as old as the world.
A story of submission, domination and self-affirmation
Lip painting is an ancient habit. An erotic papyrus preserved in the Egyptian museum of Turin, portrays a woman sitting on a phallic object with a red stick in her hand, revealing that this habit was already practiced on the banks of the Nile at the time of the pharaohs. In 18th century France the court was crazy about make-up and faces, literally redesigned, were adorned with soft colors to distinguish themselves from mere mortals. In the ancient Mesopotamiawhen women and men crumbled semi-precious jewels to apply them on the lips and around the eyes and, returning in Egyptthe pioneer of beauty care par excellence, Cleopatrashe had a red lipstick prepared to paint her lips, made from pigments of beetles and ants.
In Ancient Rome, it is said that the empress Poppea, Nero’s wifehad at the disposal of the ‘beauty experts’ who had the task of taking care of her lips which had to always be painted with the “crimson”, The red lipstick.
All good until the story ran into the dark years of Middle Ageswhen make-up and lipstick are branded as “sinful” and considered the work of the devil.
Taking another leap in time, we find the prince of make-up made with beeswax in the 16th century at the queen’s court Elizabeth I of England, who wore it with great pride. But the Queen Victoria and his puritanical disposition made him disappear again because he was “vulgar”.
And here the first signs of rebellion sprouted: women began to produce the make-up in secret and to sell it on the black market.
From then on, throughout history, lipstick always traveled in tandem with revolutions, changes, counter-current choices.
Symbol of a femininity that no longer wanted to hide, emblem of women’s rights.
The twentieth century
It was at the beginning of the twentieth century that lipstick began to establish itself as a make-up product, first thanks to Roger & Gallet, who produced the first lip balm, and then to Elizabeth Arden who elected him a symbol of the feminist battles of the Suffragettes in New York. It was 1912: it seems that Arden had given her iconic Red Door Red to all the women who passed through Fifth Avenue.
During the world war, US Army women wore it as an integral part of their uniform in one shade, the Montezuma Red, also created by Arden at the official request of the government.
From then on, thanks also to the flourishing of the film industry and its stars, lipstick spread on a large scale. On the lips of Marilyn Monroe, Liz Taylor, Betty Page, Audrey Hepburn… Undisputed icons of a style that was imitated all over the world.
The 70s
In the 1970s, lipstick was cleared through customs as accessory of rebellion even by punk rockers. One above all, David Bowie who always wore painted lips. So the small beauty accessory becomes not only symbol of female emancipation, but of a fluid identitywho wishes to feel free to be what she wants, to quote the words spoken at the concert in Italy of Harry Styles: the singer appeared naked, in fishnet stockings, Gucci loafers and with full make-up, smokey eyes, graphic eyebrows and contouring on the cover of the magazine “Beauty Papers”. A real manifesto of uniqueness that is independent of gender.
Also Damiano dei Maneskin helped clear the make-up for him by reiterating how the hour of’unconventional beauty, a revolution that could have undermined the world of beauty but instead exalted it. The fluid model of the new aesthetic with the expressions of Lgbtqia+ and the equality claimed by Black Lives Matter lead to, for example, fifty shades of skin with special foundations first launched by Rihanna with Fenty Beauty, many unisex products and therefore more than fluid, inner ecology.
- To be yourself, first of all, is the imperative. In this new philosophy that starts from the personality of each of us, regardless of age and physical type, there is the care of the body as well as the mind, attention to hands and hair, the use of brightly colored lipstick and full of character, herbal creams and natural principles. Many products are needed for a completely natural effect: gender natural make up, double-layered eyes, correctors for imperfections, chameleon green enamels on the nails. But, above all, the glossy or very dark lips, like a prince of darkness.
Claudia Marschal’s docufilm
Produced by “Un film à la patte”, the docufilm directed by Claudia Marschal and co-written with Ian Simpson “On my lips – The seductive story of lipstick”, starts in New York in 1912. Twenty thousand suffragette they demonstrated for the right to vote. Their lips were painted red. At a time when lipstick was considered the preserve of women who were “no better than they should have been”, a revolutionary expression of their desire for political freedom. According to legend, when the suffragettes marched past the hall on 5th Avenue, Elisabeth Arden distributed lipsticks to them. This little object became a symbol of power and emancipation.
But the history of lipstick is quite varied. Worn for cultural reasonsper superstitionper assert your authorityto, to indicate superiority and social strengthper follow a trend, through provocation, transgression or submission and conformity. Lipstick can be mainstream and then change quickly: when people stop wearing it, even its absence speaks volumes. Because lipstick is a language.
Thanks to archival material, film excerpts, makeup tutorials and other TikTok videos, the film embarks on a lively visualization of how lipstick has been used over the centuries, revealing its multiple bold ways, still confirming itself today. one of the main cultural and political icons. A little piece of history with a cap.