This is a beauty blog – not necessarily the right arena for a discussion about moral’s and ethics you might say. Yet I feel I have little choice but to make some comments on this up and coming collaborative collection from MAC for Rodarte.

I’ll start by saying that I’m neither an expert on the working rights of Mexican factory (Maquiladora) workers, nor am I naive to the many other atrocities going on in the world today. But there’s definitely something that just doesn’t sit right about this collection, which supposedly was inspired by the “ethereal nature of the landscape” in areas of Texas.

So what’s the big deal?

Forgive me if you are well versed in the controversy of the femicides and maquiladoras in Juarez, but for the sake of argument, I’m going to assume that, like me (until a few days ago), you aren’t. And I’ll try the best I can to explain the situation as I have gathered from my online research.

Maquiladoras are basically Mexican factories providing cheap export goods to the likes of the USA and various other parts of the world. They are often described as sweat shops – a typical shift in a Maquiladora will start at 4 am and run until midnight. A typical weekly wage will be around $4.50. To be clear, this is actually slightly higher than the average minimum wage in Mexico. However this is unfortunately outweighed by the fact that for the “privilege” of working in a maquiladora, rents are often charged at a higher rate, meaning that workers often live in basic homes with none of what most of us would consider basic amenities such as electricity or running water.

Women make up two-thirds of the workforce in the maquiladoras, being considered to have more nimble fingers and be more biddable than their male equivalents. The female workers are often obliged to prove to their employers by way of negative tests (or used sanitary pads or tampons) on a monthly basis that they are not pregnant, or they loose their job.

Apparently naming an eyeshadow “Sleepwalker” after the groups of women making their way to a shift in a maquiladora is appropriate in the eyes of MAC and Rodarte. I beg to differ. 

 Above – Sleepwalker

This mineralised eye shadow has also caused controversy for its bloodstreaked appearance due to its red veining – for reasons we will come to later. The collection also contains a nail laquer called “Factory”, due to the impact of the maquiladoras on the landscape and the lives of the people in these areas.

You may now be thinking, “So what? There are sweat shops all over the world…”. But bear with me…

Let’s now imagine a town dominated by these maquiladoras, surrounded by inadequate and poorly constructed housing. 

Lets imagine that this is a place where violence against women is not just accepted by the community itself, but also by the police force and local government. 

Lets imagine that this is a town where this violence against women has become so severe that women are missing. 

Lets imagine that the estimated numbers of missing women range from anywhere between 300 to 5000, depending on the source of your information, and how bothered the local police could be to file a report.

Lets imagine some of the womens bodies are eventually discovered, so mutilated and tortured, that they are barely recognisable.

A vision of hell? Sadly not. Welcome to Cuidad Juarez, this city on the border of El Paso, has become known as a playground for those who wish to engage in the abduction, rape, mutilation and slaying of females. The victims are often maquiladora workers.

These “femicides”, as they are known, are blamed on a number of factors – the higher value placed on males culturally, and their subsequent emasculation due to the higher proportion of females employed in the maquiladoras, drug running and dealing and the casual disregard for human life which seems to follow, the fact that some women are forced to consider second jobs in the sex industry to make ends meet despite the “privilege” of a job in a maquiladora.

Also shocking is the way in which the issue has been handled by the police, who are estimated to only file papers on 1 in 8 missing women, as well as by the government and the media. 

Femicide victims are often subject to a moral dissection. Females are seen as “good girls” or “bad girls”. Good Girls are the archetypal obedient and respectful daughter etc, who never goes out after dark because the government advised parents to discourage their daughters from going out late at night due to the increased numbers of abductions then. It then followed that girls (please note the patronizing use of the word “girls”) out late at night were “bad” in some way, ie disobedient, described by the police as “living a second life” or even reported to be “sluts” in the media. 

Some survivors of attempted abductions have positively identified police and government officials as perpertrators, yet their testimonies are burned, and they remain in their positions. The effect of this is that the murders, rapes and abductions continue, unchecked.

The MAC collection for Rodarte contains a nail polish called “Juarez”, as well as a lipstick named “Ghost Town”, and a pigment named “Badlands”, all of which could be said to allude more to the Femicides rather than the landscape seen on a road trip.

I’m also interested in the inclusion of the (normally pro) lip erase in the collection. Presumably this has been used to emphasise the haunted, corpse like, drawn and exhausted look of the model in the promotional picture…

MAC and Rodarte have both made statements regarding the complaints and controversy raised by this collection;

Firstly, regarding Rodarte’s statement – I am willing to accept (in the spirit of fairmindedness) that perhaps the landscape did inspire some of the collection, in the same manner that most mineralised products can be said to be inspired by the land. However I am unwilling to accept that the names selected for the products were inspired by the land – there is no doubting that the collection contains some attractive products, however their naming seems more an attempt to glamourize or even glorify the slayings of the females in Juarez, or at the very least the shocking conditions they work in…

Secondly, regarding MAC’s statement – My main issue here is what feels like the last minute slapping on of a donation of some unknown “proportion” of the profits to Juarez. It is also clear that MAC have not actually figured out how or where best to do this.

I’m no fool – I know this is a desirable collection in terms of the products and colours etc. And that’s why I have purposely kept pictures of the products minimal in this post – I want to focus on the other issues here. MAC is a massive player in the cosmetic industry. As such I actually fear that they have wasted an opportunity here.

Clearly MAC’s work setting up the Viva Glam charity shows that MAC has the ability to achieve great things. They could have used this collection to raise awareness of the issues in Juarez by publicising it more appropriately on their website and in store. They could have publicised the donation of the profits for a specific reason such as providing counselling for the families of victims and setting up a scheme to promote safety for female workers in Juarez. However they didn’t. What they have achieved together with Rodarte is to make themselves look like they are attempting to glamourize the femicides and the working conditions of females to sell makeup, and they have been caught, and they are trying to clear up the resultant PR mess with a few wishy washy promises.

I don’t think this is good enough. I recognise that MAC have apologised. And I appreciate that. However I personally feel that anything short of renaming the products and donating all of the profits to do some good in the Juarez area is a great disservice to the victims of the femicides, their families, and those who toil for little recompense in the maquiladoras.

It has been suggested that the collection should be pulled – personally I’m not sure about that. I won’t be buying anything from it, but I at least have the collection to thank for raising my awareness. As the saying goes “there is no such thing as bad publicity” – In this case, if the collection raises awareness of the issues in Juarez, then that could be considered to be a good thing. For MAC and Rodarte however I feel that the errors in their thinking and their subsequent attempts to patch over the cracks are to little avail.

Several other bloggers will be posting their opinions on this issue on their respective sites;

Common Dreams.

National Organization for Women.

Colourlines.

Style List.
Amnesty International.

Remember – Google is your friend! Searching “Juarez”, “femicides” or “maquiladoras” will give you a wealth of information.

MAC Cosmetics – A Step too Far?

Update – MAC Rodarte Collection.

Women Killed in Juarez.

JUAREZ.

I’d love to know your opinions on this issue – whether you agree with me or not!