"Facework Masks Required" confronts the performance of femininity as labor. Scissors and string suggest the cutting and binding required to shape the self into something pleasing—smaller, softer, more acceptable. The painting speaks to the emotional work women are expected to carry—smiling, being agreeable, being available. Anger, sadness, and exhaustion are hidden behind carefully curated expressions. Yet the woman’s drained face resists the façade. She looks out with awareness, not submission. From a feminist activist lens, the work reveals that femininity is not natural but constructed—and that performing it comes at a psychological cost.