

Rebecca	Gareth

Views #1088 | Intermediate (B1)

Make-up

Rebecca talks about how she was introduced to make-up and her thoughts on it.

Script
Vocab
Quiz

Gareth: Are you happy about it? Now, like looking back are you glad she did?

Rebecca: It was tough love. At the time I hated her and I was getting picked on a lot at school about it, cause I just didn't realize that as a female you have to do these certain things. It was like, this is what acceptable in the community. You have to do this, so I was like I didn't realize it cause I always played with the boys, and none of them did this crap. I was like, why do we have to worry about that?

Gareth: It sounds really sort of old-fashioned doesn't it?

Rebecca: Yeah, but I was actually, you know now thinking about it, I'm happy that she did cause it brought it home to me that to a certain degree you do have to at least live with what your community accepts as standards, like if you what walk outside, you know the community accepts that you have to wear, you know, wear a shirt when you go outside. You can't go out topless. You probably should wear the shirt or you'll get looked at funny.

Gareth: So, if I don't want my daughter to wear make-up, I should actually buy her some make-up and force her to wear it, so she'll do the exact opposite.

Rebecca: I have heard that children do tend to do exactly their parents tell them not to do. I just -- I don't know. I didn't want to wear make-up, so my mom was concerned. I know a lot of people though who have had the opposite problem, like when they're younger, like they're maybe seven or eight and they want to wear make-up because mommy does, and you know, I had a lot of friends who would play dress up. They would sneak into mom's closet and steal all her dresses and her high heels, and steal all her make-up and you know, play dress up. At a certain age it was cute, but my cousin actually was one of them, and she would wear make-up. She was --- to school. She was only in elementary school, so

Gareth: Wow, that's pretty young.

Rebecca: Yeah, there was a lot of anger about that from the teachers and it was not all acceptable so I don't really know when the correct age is to wear make-up but I think at least if they're more mature or more adult like, I guess maybe it's alright once they become -- no longer little girls anymore, then maybe you can let them wear make-up if they want.

Gareth: Well, cheers! Thanks for the advice and I'll use it wisely.

Rebecca: You're welcome.

Learn Vocabulary from the Lesson

tough love

It was tough love.

Tough love is when someone makes a person do something they do not want to do, but by doing it, it helps them. For example, making a child eat vegetables is tough love. The child does not want to do it, but the parent makes them because they love them and they want the child to be healthy. Notice the following:

As a teacher, I give lots of homework. It's tough love.
My dad was really strict but I suppose it was tough love.

pick on

I was getting picked on at school.

When you pick on someone, you make fun on them or tease them. You might joke about how they look or speak. You can pick on someone in a nice way, like with friends, or in a very cruel way, like with childhood bullies. Notice the following:

He was overweight, so he got picked on.
My older brother used to always pick on me.

bring it home

It brought it home to me

When something is brought home to someone, that means they finally realize the importance of something through an example. Often a story, an incident, or some experience can bring something home to someone. Notice the following:

My car crash brought it home to me how special life is.
Not seeing my children all summer brought it home how much I love them.

play dress up

I had friends who would play dress up.

When children play dress up, they often put on their parents clothes to look like adults. Girls tend to play dress up more than boys. Notice the following:

My sister never played dress up. She was a tomboy.
She used to play dress up in her big sister's clothes.

sneak into

They would sneak into my mother's closet.

When you sneak into something, you enter it without permission. We usually sneak into places when no one is looking. You can also sneak out of something, like sneak out of a meeting. Notice the following: