About Me

Hi. My name is Allese and this is my blog.

I am an aspiring writer, social media enthusiast, lover of contemporary art and GLBT activist. I recently graduated from UC Berkeley, married a wonderful man named Simon and live in San Francisco. We have puppy named Riley who keeps me sane.

At the moment this blog is way for me to practice my writing and wrestle with ultimatum-like questions that those in their twenties know all too well; “What type of career would really satisfy me?”, “What is my true calling in life?”, “What is the single passion will see me through the next sixty plus working years of my life?, or more bluntly, “What the hell do I want to do with my life?!”.

The title, Behind The Make Up, is related to my interest in the portrayal of women in mainstream media and visual culture in general. We’re pervaded daily by images that we accept subliminally without considering the underlying messages. I studied the History of Art in school and am fascinated with how images are entrenched political, economic, social, racial, and cultural biases. I think people need to look closer at their assumptions.

I am currently working on a book about women and eating disorders. The book uses humor to flesh out darker topics and describe a very misunderstood disease. I would love to connect with anyone interested in this subject.

I am currently exploring graduate programs: Journalism Masters programs at Columbia and New York University, Technology, Culture and Communication programs at Georgetown and NYU, and, Art History doctoral programs at NYU, Columbia and Princeton. If anybody has attended these programs or similar one’s, I would love to talk to you! If you live in the California bay area, I’ll buy you a coffee!

You can contact me at allesebaker at gmail dot com.