Jacqueline Arias in Beauty

North West’s dark lipstick is sparking unnecessary outrage

The Kardashian-Jenners receive a lot of criticism for a lot of things—some are for good reason and make for a valid discussion (e.g. Kylie Jenner being a self-made billionaire), while others make you question why people are making a big deal of them. The latter includes the slut-shaming of Kim Kardashian whenever she posted nude photos, and that time North West took a photo of her topless mom. The latest in the long list of drama and non-drama comes from North’s dancing video during her dad, Kanye’s Sunday service.

While Kanye, the band, and the choir performed “Lift Yourself,” North started dancing happily and she looked so darn adorable while doing it. At one point, she even performed with another young girl. Just look at the videos posted by Kim K and The Shade Room.

Several people may have tagged “#MOOD” to North’s video, but there are others who are upset with how the five-year-old looked. Many netizens commented on how she shouldn’t be wearing dark lipstick—or makeup in general—and that she was as embarrassing as her dad.

First of all, Sure, Kanye has done a lot of dumb things (mostly Trump-related) in the past year that a lot of people have called him out for. But those are his faults and problems, his five-year-old daughter shouldn’t be used in one’s hateful agenda against him.

Secondly: We don’t think there’s anything wrong with kids wearing makeup. It’s true that North’s black—it may have been dark brown or burgundy—lipstick isn’t a conventional shade for kids, but it can also be that she’s showing off her own individuality. People who are hating on her and her parents because of this are seen as bitter and against giving kids the choice to express themselves. It’s the same with “fans” being negative toward Ellie Eigenmann’s pixie cut.

Plus, people act like North has never worn makeup before. She was recently on the cover of WWD Beauty Inc. where she had on neon liner and no one made a peep.

This isn’t the first time that netizens have lost their sh*t over a kid wearing makeup. In 2017, the mother of then-three-year-old Liriana was put on blast for letting her put on makeup and posting the videos on Instagram. She told Independent that Liriana is simply having fun and squashed theories that she’s controlling her actions. “My daughter loves doing her makeup for fun. she’s full of personality and it’s an activity she enjoys. I allow it from time to time this isn’t an every day event and after she puts makeup on I give her a bath and it’s over.”

On the other hand, such concerns should be raised when a parent allows or directs their kids to do racy poses and facial expressions while in makeup. For example: A Babble piece once criticized model Katie Price for letting her daughter, Princess, do “sexualized adult poses.” So there really should be guidance on the parents’ part if they want their kids to play with makeup.

Speaking of, it’s also possible that people are imposing sexualization onto North—hence, their negative reaction to her wearing black lipstick. One netizen even claimed that her family is “[whoring her out] for Twitter and Instagram clicks.” But what we see in the video is far from the accusations. Here, we see a little girl dancing and enjoying what she’s doing. She wasn’t forced to wear a revealing outfit—she had on a knee-length black dress and boots, okay?—and she wasn’t gyrating inappropriately, either.

If North wanted to wear dark lipstick to a church service, that’s her choice (with Kim’s guidance, hopefully). It’s not your place to parent-shame anyone or dictate belief, especially since this isn’t your kid in the first place.

Photo courtesy of @mayafogh’s Instagram account

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