Have you heard of the "makeup¹ tax"? It refers to the time and money women spend on their appearances in the hopes of doing well at work. Many career women fear that if they don't live up to society's expectations, they will lose out on promotions² and pay raises.

你听过"化妆税"吗？它指的是女人为了事业成功而花在经营仪表上的时间和金钱。很多职业女性担心一旦自己辜负了社会（对女性美丽外表）的期望，她们将会失去升职加薪的机会。

The "makeup tax" affects a lot of women. US presidential candidate and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton is no exception. Last month, in an online Q&A session on Facebook, Clinton was asked about her morning grooming³ routine by Libby Brittain, a female Facebook staffer. Brittain complained that she has to spend more than 30 minutes getting ready for work while her boyfriend "zip[s] out the door".

"化妆税"影响了大批女性，连美国总统候选人、前国务卿希拉里·克林顿也不例外。上个月，在脸书的一档在线问答互动活动上，脸书公司的女性雇员莉比·布里顿问希拉里是如何应对日常打扮的。布里顿还抱怨说自己每天要花30分钟以上用来梳洗准备才能去工作，而她的男朋友"开门就能去上班"

"I wonder about how the ‘hair and makeup tax' affects other women–especially ones I admire in high-pressure, public-facing jobs," wrote Brittain, who added that as a "young professional woman" she'd like to know how Clinton handles it while "staying focused on the ‘real' work ahead".

布里顿写道："我想知道‘美发和化妆税'是如何影响其他女性的，特别是那些我崇拜的，身居要职，工作压力大还经常要抛头露面的女性"，之后她又补充说，作为一个"年轻的职业女性"，她想知道克林顿是如何在一堆"真枪实弹"的工作摆在面前时还兼顾美发和化妆的。

Clinton acknowledged that the "makeup tax" is a problem. "Amen, sister," she wrote in her answer. "It's a daily challenge. I do the best I can –and as you may have noticed, some days are better than others!"

克林顿也承认"化妆税"确实是个问题。"你我同在，姐妹，"她回答到。"这是每天都要面对的挑战。我尽力做到最好——如你所见，有些时候做的好些，有些时候不尽人意。"

Olga Khazan, writing in The Atlantic, thinks Clinton shouldn't have treated the question so lightheartedly. The "makeup tax" is very real, Khazan says. Women invest time and money into makeup because it impacts their relationships and their careers. Men also use grooming products, but they never have to worry about the price of makeup.

奥尔加·卡赞在《大西洋月刊》上撰文提到她认为克林顿不应该用这么随意的态度对待这个问题。卡赞说"化妆税"是真实存在的。女人投入大把的时间和金钱化妆，因为这关系到她们的爱情和事业。男人也会用些化妆品，不过他们可不必担心化妆的成本。

According to a Washington Post report, the cosmetics⁴ industry makes $60 billion (384 billion yuan) each year in the US. The personal finance website Mint.com claims that the average US woman will spend $15,000 on makeup in her lifetime. Applying makeup also costs time. If it takes you an average of 10 minutes to apply makeup every morning before going to work, that's an hour per week, or two full days per year.

根据《华盛顿邮报》的报道，美国的化妆品行业每年能挣600亿美元（3840亿人民币）。个人理财网Mint.com说平均每个美国女性一生中要花1万5千美元用于购买化妆品。同时，化妆也是个耗费时间的活儿。如果每天早上上班之前你平均要花10分钟来化妆，那么每周有一小时用于化妆，每年有整整两天用在了化妆上。

Critics might say, "Just don't wear makeup!" But few people can afford to ignore society's expectations. Years of research have shown that attractive people earn more, yet men aren't expected to wear makeup in order to look good.

批评者说："那就别化妆嘛！"但基本上没有人敢无视这种社会期望。一项历经数年的实验显示外表迷人的人挣得更多，而社会并没有期待男人通过化妆变得好看。

According to The New York Times, a 2014 study published in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology⁵ found that both male and female participants thought "regular" women looked best when they applied⁶ a moderate amount of makeup. Another 2012 study found that subtle makeup made women seem not only attractive, but more likable and competent. A 2006 study published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology found that participants were more likely to award "prestigious⁷ jobs" to women who used makeup than to the same women when their faces were unadorned.

据《纽约时报》消息，《实验心理学季刊》曾在2014年刊登过一项研究，研究发现男性和女性参与者都认为淡妆状态下的女性颜值最高。2012年的另一项研究则表明淡妆不仅让女性更好看，还让她们看起来更讨人喜欢和能干。2006年《应用社会心理学杂志》发布的一篇研究发现被试更愿意把优越的职位提供给化过妆的女性而非那些未施粉黛的。

"I wish society didn't reward this," Daniel Hamermesh, an economics professor at the University of Texas at Austin and author of Beauty Pays, told The New York Times. "I think we'd be a fairer world if beauty were not rewarded, but it is."

德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校经济学教授、《美丽有价》一书的作者丹尼尔·汉默许说"我不希望社会鼓励这种行为。如果美貌不被嘉奖，那么世界将更公平，可惜这是不可能的。"