Comments on: MAC and Rodarte Collection and the Women of Ciudad Juarez

By: Becky

Becky — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 04:05:37 +0000

Thank you for highlighting this. I’m English and only came across this news story after seeing a film about it on Youtube.

By: Only A Cosmetic Apology? MAC 's Juarez Controversy & Fauxial Awareness

Only A Cosmetic Apology? MAC 's Juarez Controversy & Fauxial Awareness — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 13:44:19 +0000

[...] Somebody, somewhere, in the organization would have recognized that connecting beauty products to a town defined by violence was not hip, not cool, and beyond a bad idea. Somebody would have recognized how profoundly this [...]

By: Lizzie Vanilla

Lizzie Vanilla — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 10:02:40 +0000

Fantastic Blog! This obviously is a massively under reported issue and I agree with you it is in incredibly bad taste to choose names that make reference to such tragedies.

By: healingbeauty

healingbeauty — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 22:00:10 +0000

Styrch – thank you for your comment.

I wouldn’t like to profess to be the expert on which charities are the most active today in Juarez (I wrote my paper 2 years ago and I’d hate to give you the wrong information). However i think a good place to start would be:

Amnesty International: http://www.amnestyusa.org/violence-against-women/justice-for-the-women-of-juarez-and-chihuahua/page.do?id=1108394
Women on the Border: http://www.womenontheborder.org
Casa Amiga: http://www.casa-amiga.org.mx

Hope that helps x

By: healingbeauty

healingbeauty — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 21:48:26 +0000

Eugenia – thank you so much from your comment. It’s wonderful to hear your perspective as someone who, first of all, already knew about the murders, and secondly, whom lives in Mexico. I have tried to give a truthful and factually backed depiction of the situation based on research, but it’s very hard – not living there, I rely really on what I’ve read – and it seems no one really knows the truth.

To hear you say “Not many in the rest of the country really care” is so shocking, although it’s no different to people everywhere else in the world knowing about the horrible things going on in their own countries and elsewhere and doing nothing. It’s hard as an individual to know what to do. Much easier to forget.

I agree that this is a positive thing. It’s given a few women the chance to spread the word. It’s not on a huge scale yet – but I’m hoping it means something and may help in some way. We all hope that Rodarte and MAC will make the real difference by turning this situation around to make a positive out of a negative and promote widespread awareness of the exploitation and violence against women in Juarez. If they could raise money too that would be even better.

Thanks again for your beautiful comment.

By: trac

trac — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 19:38:57 +0000

the promo picture looks like death, truly chilling and the names of the products, well, i wouldnt want to own any of them, Mac has gone too far. Its a makeup range for gods sake.

By: Styrch

Styrch — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 19:36:30 +0000

I too have written something up, but I’m trying mostly to focus on where interested people can go to donate on this cause. Since you wrote your dissertation on this area, do you know of any charities that are at work to which I can link? Thank you.

By: Eugenia Várguez

Eugenia Várguez — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 18:07:45 +0000

Thanks for such impressive article. Thanks for pointing out, things in the Mexican-US border are not that simple and are, in fact, a global issue.

As Mexican girl, when I first read the product names and the collection details on Specktra.net, as I was immediately aware of the connection between the collection and the situation in Ciudad Juarez, I posted my thoughts on this. It was, I believe, more than a month ago.

Now that I see some of the products pictures, I must say it’s tasteless. However, I thankful for this collection. I don’t know if Rodarte or MAC planned this, but I’m really thankful.

I live in Mexico City, but grew up in Merida (a city in the southeast of the country and the largest one farthest for Juarez). When female murders began I was a child and found out about it by newspapers. By that time, people was impressed, astonished, scared and some, angry. Nothing really has been done to solve or stop those murders and people outside Juarez have learned to live with them. Not many in the rest of the country really care. As a society, as country, we haven’t pushed our authorities or done anything to claim justice. The government won’t do anything to stop those crimes until their image in the whole world it’s seriously damaged. So I’m really thankful to Rodarte and MAC, even if this wasn’t intentional, but mostly to all intelligent women and beauty bloggers to put the facts on the table.

As any kind of art, beauty doesn’t have to be superficial, but a powerful tool to inform and discuss and a sign of our culture and society.

By: My Lips But Better

My Lips But Better — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 16:59:52 +0000

I’m so glad this issue is getting some attention from the brand. I hope they do what’s right in this situation.

Here’s the post I wrote: http://mylipsbutbetter.blogspot.com/2010/07/mac-for-rodarte-my-two-cents.html

By: healingbeauty

healingbeauty — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 16:30:34 +0000

@Rebecca – thank you so much, I’ve always wanted to address this issue again since writing it. I’m compiling a list of those who’ve requested dissertation and will email over asap. I’ll also link to your post (I tried to find it before but couldn’t). Thanks again xx

@sara – It’s great to hear from someone from CA. As I mentioned I studied at UCSB for a while. I was surprised that even a lot of the American (and many of them ‘Chicanas’) in the class didn’t know of the situation in Juarez. I certainly didn’t though – and no one I’ve ever told since has. It’s shockingly underreported.
So yes, I completely agree – I’m glad it’s happened so we can open people’s eyes. I’ll add your link to my list. Thank you for your comment xx