There are a couple of new terms circulating on Twitter dot com that you may have noticed: “bare minimum Twitter ” and “chapstick and mascara Twitter.” What do these mean? Are they basically the same thing? Is one related to the other? We looked into the terms, and it’s all terrible. Really, just leave now. You don’t want to know about Twitter feuds that critique women with depressingly low standards for their partners. Oh, wait, you do? OK, fine. Here’s what it’s all about.
Bare minimum Twitter
“Bare minimum Twitter” is people who congratulate men for doing the bare minimum as a decent human being/partner. An easy example of this is the people who praised the man who talked about loving his curvy wife on Instagram. The critics of “bare minimum Twitter” think that men should not receive accolades for simply existing. We should (rightly) have higher standards, they say.
Here are some other good explanations of the term,:
https://twitter.com/Abdalazizawill/status/935407051974602757
*Video of a Cis Het Man EXISTING in the same room as a masc queer man without trying to harm him*
— ToraShae (@BlackMajiik) November 21, 2017
Bare Minimum Twitter: pic.twitter.com/j5EPVXSWwd
https://twitter.com/TheQueenBLife/status/934532295062679559
Babe you want a bag of chips and a soda from the corner store?
— cat lady🐈 (@jazznocartier) November 21, 2017
Bare minimum twitter: omg nooo pls don’t I’d feel so bad it’s too much to spend on me pic.twitter.com/HVRd2vqfD5
Chapstick and mascara Twitter
In the last week, a couple of viral tweets used the term “chapstick and mascara Twitter.”
https://twitter.com/cakefacedcutie/status/934616917389795329
Here’s the problem with chapstick and mascara twitter.
— Kelly (@kellyblaus) November 27, 2017
Y’all are constantly putting the responsibility on WOMEN for the things MEN do wrong.
Stop waiting on us. Leave us out of it. Become good men on your own before you waste our time with your little boy behavior. https://t.co/89nOcu4VtW
Chapstick and mascara Twitter is very similar to bare minimum Twitter. The term is referring to those women who claim to not need to wear makeup and just walk out of the house with some chapstick and a little mascara—and these women also bash on those who love to wear makeup. The term chapstick and mascara Twitter is pointing a finger at these women and telling them to stop judging women who choose to wear makeup.
https://twitter.com/ESHAXQ/status/844416396348051456
https://twitter.com/tashawashaaa/status/835185674642935808
People have been using the term chapstick and mascara Twitter since last year, but it didn’t really take off on a wide scale until this past week, when people used it to call out women who excuse bad behavior from men. And the reactions to the term have been great.
Chapstick and mascara twitter pic.twitter.com/Tw78T7AHZZ
— SALEM☆MOON (@salemmoonx) November 28, 2017
https://twitter.com/ThatsSondrea/status/935332944536891392
I can’t breathe @ “chapstick and mascara twitter” https://t.co/TWIOhB4uGn
— สะบรีนะ sabrina (@sabrina) November 27, 2017
https://twitter.com/davcha8/status/935171627272335360
Some people are now using the term interchangeably with bare minimum to identify people who praise men for treating women with an ounce of respect.
I honestly feel bad for chapstick and mascara twitter at this point https://t.co/uY0jg5X7B5
— allison (@Tete_CuI) November 28, 2017
https://twitter.com/C4554NDRA/status/935069632402038784
The term is also another way of calling a woman basic.
https://twitter.com/loalexandriaaaa/status/935042501353750529
What’s the difference?
There is a lot of confusion, though, about the terms. Can you be a part of both bare minimum and chapstick and mascara Twitter? It seems like you can, although it’s probably not a good thing if you identify strongly with these groups.
https://twitter.com/hciwtfel/status/935523884962648064
Do you ever have an identity crisis where you aren’t sure if you’re bare minimum chapstick and mascara twitter or not? Bc same tbh
— ⋆.*:･🍃🍁☕️🐿️🌻🍂･:*.⋆ (@app_lejuice) November 28, 2017
Yes, you can be a person who uses minimal makeup AND has high standards for the men in your life. You can also be a person who loves makeup and has low standards for men. But these terms are referring to a small subset of women who are fine with minimal everything, from makeup to positive treatment from men.
