For years people have been criticizing women’s use of make-up.

“You look fine without it!” “I want to see the REAL you!” “You don’t have to wear make-up all the time!” “It’s such a waste of money and time!”

So then why is it that when a woman shows up to a “white carpet” event without any make-up on at all, people jump at the opportunity to criticize her appearance and shun her for not wearing make-up?

In case you’re unaware of what I’m talking about, then allow me to fill you in. At this year’s VMAs, famous singer and leader of the #MakeupFree campaign Alicia Keys attended the event without wearing any make-up.

Shocking, I know.

Overall, Keys was met with support and admiration but still faced harsh criticisms for what she did. Tweets popped up left and right shouting things like “It’s the VMAs…. Put on mascara,” “Alicia Keys needs to stop with that no make-up f***ery. USE THAT SHIT. It helps!!!” and exclaiming that Keys has “gone too far.”

So why, in a society where make up has been under more and more scrutiny, do people find that it is their place to criticize a woman who chooses to go to a big event without wearing make-up? Buckle your seat belts kiddos, I’m going to tell you about this little thing called “misogyny.”

The definition of the word is “ingrained prejudice against women” and our society is FILLED with it. Alicia Keys’ criticism is just one example of this. There’s the fact that the wage gap is a real thing that is still happening. In fact, according to a study done earlier this year in the spring, on average most women earn 79% of what a man makes and that’s just the overall average. Compared to white men, Hispanic women make 54% of what a white man makes. Native Americans and Native Alaskans make 59%, Pacific Islanders make 62%, Black women make 63%, white women make 78%, and Asian women make 90%.

You may say that there’s more to the issue than just these numbers, that this doesn’t look at specific jobs, or that it’s impossible. Well, a Skidmore College psychologist performed an experiment in 2014 with two identical resumes being passed around to STEM employers and professors. One resume used the name Jennifer while the other used the name John. The results showed that Jennifer was perceived as less competent and as a result employers were less willing to hire or mentor her on top of offering her a pay that was, on average, 13% less than what John was offered.

Not to mention that tampons and pads, essential items to help women get through their periods, are taxed as a luxury. In California, people pay about “$7 per month for 40 years of tampons and sanitary napkins” that adds up to over $20 million annually in taxes state wide, despite suffering from this wage gap.

I’m sure you’ve all also heard about these stomach turning rape cases like the Stanford rapist who has just been released after three months for good behavior. If he had gotten the victim pregnant and if she decided to carry the child to term, he would enjoy parental rights in 31 states. Meaning he would have some sort of custody over the child, visitation rights, and would overall still have some sort of right to be in the child’s, and consequently the victim’s, life. Legislation titled “Rape Survivor Child Custody Act” was passed in 2015 that over turned these rights.

Let me rephrase that, last year our congress suddenly decided that this law should be passed to protect victims of rape that can have children.

This is all just the tip of the iceberg. Women who come forward about their rapes are still met with backlash, slut shaming, and injustice. We’ll know all about their rapists before we know anything about them. People were calling the girl from Stubenville a huge slut and exclaiming that the young men who raped her shouldn’t suffer because of her. One player even returned to the football team. Someone made a Facebook support page for the Stanford rapist’s family, making posts about teaching your daughters not to get drunk and how unjust it is for people to be calling the rapist names. And people went on that page to actually offer their support and sympathy. To the man who raped a girl behind a dumpster and had his dad write a letter to the judge that described this rape as “20 minutes of action."

Socially speaking, not only are women expected to look beautiful all the time with make up or just less noticeable make up, employers can legally make dress codes that say women must wear makeup in order to look more professional. That may not seem like a big deal but because of this it gives the employer power to pass up a person for a promotion or refuse to hire them if they consider this a necessity to their job. And of course, if they’re wearing such a good amount of makeup that they look like a super model they should expect to be catcalled as they walk anywhere.

God forbid they post a really flattering picture of themselves either, lest they become prey to the creepy guys that will out of nowhere comment about how sexy they look, send unsolicited pictures of their penis, and talk about what it would be like to have sex with them.

I can just see it now, all the guys rolling their eyes at this piece. I can even see some of the women shaking their heads at this “nonsense”. But you know what nonsense is? The fact that women can’t talk about their experiences without it being immediately over ruled by a man is nonsense. The fact that women can’t say things like “men can be so gross,” without being met with a sea of angry men who do nothing but whine about the “friend zone” screaming about not all men being like that is nonsense.

The fact that a 19 year old Olympic swimmer literally broke a world record and had to share headlines, as an afterthought, with the fact that Michael Phelps was tied for a silver medal is nonsense. The fact that the US Women’s Soccer team is the number one team in the world and still gets paid significantly less than the men’s team (not even getting paid at all if they lose a game) is nonsense.

The fact that a woman without makeup on can’t go to an awards show without being ridiculed for it is nonsense.