Despite the fact they’re up and at work before the sun’s alarm has even gone off, morning TV presenters always look so put together.
Kamady Rudd is one of those people. A news presenter on WZZM, a local news station in Michigan, she’s up at 2.30am (!!) every morning and puts on a full face of makeup, something she describes less as a choice and more a “requirement” as a woman working in TV.
Which is why what she did next is even more interesting.
After reading a study on how women’s appearances affect how competent they’re perceived to be, Rudd decided to give up doing her hair and makeup for TV for a week.
“I was a guinea pig in my own experiment! This week I didn’t wear any makeup on air. I wanted to see how it would affect my confidence level, and wanted to see if I’d get any negative feedback,” she wrote.
Interestingly, the reaction was the exact opposite of what she had expected.
“I expected to get some nice insults, if that makes sense. The ones like, ‘We love your energy, but you look like you’ve been really tired’,” she told Glamour.
“I couldn’t have been more wrong. A woman messaged me on Facebook—she noticed I’d been wearing no makeup for a few days and complimented it.”
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Rudd wrote on Instagram that everyone was “sweet, supportive and kind”.
“My confidence on air didn’t change, to be honest, I totally forgot about my bare face once my day really began. In conclusion… no makeup (for me) = nothing different,” she wrote.
When you take a closer look at all the women you see on your TV screen, you’ll quickly realise that while it may seem like a small change, it’s a radical one.
Interestingly, Tracey Spicer had the exact opposite when she conducted a similar experiment in 2014.
Prompted by the question “Mum, why do women put on make-up and men don’t?” from her then-seven year-old daughter, the TV presenter and journalist decided to go ‘cold turkey’ on the extensive beauty routine that had become her norm.
“‘You’re looking tired. Are you feeling sick?’ This is what I’ve been asked after turning up to corporate meetings with frizzy hair on my head, several strays poking from my chin, and no make-up. People have looked at me strangely. One colleague has even burst out laughing, ‘Woah, that’s crazy hair!'” she wrote in a 2014 column for Daily Life.
While there had been challenges, Spicer said she loved the freedom,
“But I couldn’t be happier, because I’ve bought myself an extra hour a day: more time to play with the kids, ride the paddle board and strum the guitar. Oh, and work. I’m definitely more productive. The best thing? I feel like the real me, instead of a painted doll.”
Rudd says she hopes women and young girls takeaway the message that you don’t have to be ‘on’ all the time.
“I really wanted to prove to myself that I could cover a story with as much focus on the actual story as normal, without worrying about my appearance. That is what local news is about,” she told Glamour.
“I want to make sure I’m giving people my best effort in the morning, no matter what. It’s all about proving the work we do, and the actions we take, are more important than what we look like.
“I’m all for makeup, or no makeup. Whatever you want to wear is, and should always be, totally up to you.””I really wanted to prove to myself that I could cover a story with as much focus on the actual story as normal, without worrying about my appearance. That is what local news is about,” she told Glamour.
“I want to make sure I’m giving people my best effort in the morning, no matter what. It’s all about proving the work we do, and the actions we take, are more important than what we look like.
“I’m all for makeup, or no makeup. Whatever you want to wear is, and should always be, totally up to you.”