Day SIXTEEN

Only a few photos today. Munich didn't leave a big impression on me, this might be because we were staying in a Airb&b place outside the city centre, therefore we didn't really talk to anyone else (apart from a very bored and uninterested phone salesman who I bought a sim card from) the whole time we were there.

I didn't plan on talking about this, but I get quite angry when it happens to me - and I am guilty of doing it to other people - and this type of behaviour is a universal problem, so it's worth talking about; I'm talking about appearance. I found that people were noticeably nicer to me when I had makeup on. And that is not fair.

I found that while backpacking, in general the people I approached for help were nice; moving out of my way when walking towards me on the street, explaining things to me and giving me directions, selling me products and just generally harmoniously co-inhabiting the planet with me. But on days that I didn't feel like wearing makeup, I really did feel like I was treated differently. This is a double standard and it really hurt. I would smile at someone or ask a simple question, and they would stare at me or be rather unhelpful, like the sim card guy, and I would leave the interaction a bit confused about why they were so rude... until I realised that I had no makeup on. After discovering this, I paid closer attention to when I wore makeup (but the same clothes, same backpack, same smile) I was shocked to find that people seemed a lot nicer and more helpful.

Now I'm sure this isn't a big revelation to some, or even most, of you. Classic Gamel yarn, of course people treat you differently if you have makeup on.

Looking back on the way I have acted, I know that I have treated people differently because of their appearance in these types of retail environment situations, and I feel really bad about this. Women shouldn't have to wear makeup 24/7! You just have to google the subject to see that a lot of people have opinions on this subject, and yet we are still presented with images of women going to bed or waking up with perfect faces of makeup. We are fooling ourselves. And this is excluding factors such as personal grooming, fashion, hairstyle, glasses vs contacts, skin colour, language and on and on and on it goes! My personal experiences on this topic are so small and inconsequential compared to what some people experience everyday - therefore surely this should be a topic we talk about more.

It's tough being a human some days.