Lipstick & Femininity: New Book Explores Gender, Sexuality & Self-Adornment
What does it mean to participate in femininity? And what happens when that participation – or rejection of it – becomes a site of cultural contention? These are questions at the heart of , a new book by Eileen G’Sell, a professor of College Writing at Washington University in St. Louis. The book, part of Bloomsbury Academic’s “Object Lessons” series, arrives at a moment when societal conversations around gender, adornment, and power are particularly charged.
G’Sell’s exploration isn’t a celebration of lipstick, nor is it a condemnation. Instead, she uses the seemingly simple object as a lens through which to examine the complex and often contradictory expectations placed upon women. As she wrote in a statement, “[‘Lipstick’] is for anyone who has ever wondered why femininity is so fraught, why ‘appearing girly’ can be so stigmatized in certain quarters, but also so mandated in others.” She continues, “I want this book to encourage readers to challenge their assumptions about feminine adornment — painting the face specifically. Humans have painted their faces, tattooed and shaved their bodies, for thousands of years. Why and how is the act so charged in terms of gender today?”
The “Object Lessons” series, co-founded in by Christopher Schaberg and Ian Bogost, is known for its unconventional approach to non-fiction. The series tackles everyday objects – from jet lag to whale songs – offering concise, thought-provoking analyses that blend personal reflection with cultural critique. Schaberg, currently the director of Public Scholarship at WashU, and Bogost, a distinguished professor and co-executive director of the Office of Public Scholarship at WashU, envisioned a space for writers to explore the “hidden lives of ordinary, everyday things.”
G’Sell’s journey to writing began with a conversation with Schaberg in . “I was known as a WashU professor who publishes frequently in public forums like Jacobin, The Baffler, and Hyperallergic,” G’Sell explained. “During our conversation, I expressed admiration for the book series, and he said, ‘Well, Try to write one!’” The choice of lipstick as her subject felt natural, given her long-standing interest in the intersection of self-adornment and femininity. “I always knew it would be lipstick, given that lipstick is such an iconic, but also contentious, object — and it overlaps so well with larger conversations about gender, sexuality, femininity, feminism, and power — conversations I’ve been part of for years with my film and visual art criticism,” she said. “I also happen to have long loved lipstick, such that I thought my personal story and voice would be relevant.”
The book itself is built around a wide-ranging series of interviews. In the summer of , G’Sell surveyed nearly 100 women and gender-nonconforming individuals, aged 18 to 78, from around the globe. “I wasn’t aiming for quantitative data to aggregate and make deductions from,” G’Sell clarified. “Rather, I was looking for voices, stories, and perspectives that differed from my own.” This emphasis on individual experience is central to the book’s approach, aiming to move beyond generalizations and explore the nuanced ways in which people relate to lipstick and, by extension, to broader societal expectations around femininity.
G’Sell is careful to emphasize that isn’t about advocating for or against the use of the product. “The book is not advancing the idea that everyone should enjoy lipstick or that everyone should wear it. Like all vestiges of femininity, lipstick is fraught! That’s why it’s exciting to write about.” This nuanced perspective reflects a broader trend in contemporary cultural criticism, one that seeks to unpack the complexities of seemingly simple objects and practices rather than offering prescriptive judgments.
A book launch event, hosted by the Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department, the Association for Women Faculty, and the Office of Public Scholarship at Washington University in St. Louis, will be held on , at Goldberg Formal Lounge. The event will feature a panel discussion with WashU faculty and students, focusing on the themes explored in the book. G’Sell will share excerpts from , but the event will primarily highlight the voices of those featured within its pages, including many of her former students.
Eileen G’Sell’s background is rooted in both academic rigor and public-facing criticism. She holds a BA from Knox College, an MA from the University of Rochester, and an MFA from Washington University in St. Louis. Her work has appeared in publications ranging from Poetry magazine and The Boston Review to The Baffler, The Los Angeles Review of Books, and The Chronicle of Higher Education. She also serves as the movie critic for The Hopkins Review and contributes regularly to Hyperallergic, Reverse Shot, and The Riverfront Times. In , she received the Rabkin Foundation award for visual arts journalism, a testament to her ability to connect art and culture with broader social and political concerns.
With , G’Sell adds another layer to her already impressive body of work, offering a timely and insightful exploration of femininity, adornment, and the enduring power of everyday objects to reveal deeper truths about ourselves and the world around us.