End of the Innocence

My 11 yr old son has started middle school this year (yes, it is possible for a middle-aged woman to have an 11 yr old son) and with the start of his new world has come the start of many new  questions. But something he wanted to talk about the other day left me with more questions than the few he wanted to know. He's noticed girls starting to wear make-up and he cannot figure out for the life of him why any of them would want to "put all that stuff on their faces."  He went on to say that it's REALLY bad  when they have swimming in phy-ed and the girls all end up with, "black circles under their eyes, just like a raccoon." I tried to explain to him that girls think they are making themselves prettier when they use make-up but he just couldn't see the justification in it.
So the thoughts that had me pondering was how and why women do things in reality to impress other women. I mean it really does start in our youth and we carry on with it often up until our last days on earth. (you've all heard of the woman who didn't want to be shown in her coffin or has her special outfit picked out.....)
Are we our own best enemies when really we could be the best of friends? Do we need to constantly and consistently compete against our own gender? Let's work towards breaking the cycle of beauty queens and fashion models.

And just a footnote: We attended an event at my son's middle school last night and the skin of those young adolescent preteens was porcelain like, especially the ones who weren't wearing make-up