Beauty

[RedRedHair]

We, as women, are constantly bombarded by all forms of media advocating it's imperative that we slather ourselves in a multitude of products before we go out in the public.  It's all about moving their goods and taking the money out of our wallets.  Can you imagine what would happen to the multi-billion dollar beauty industry if women said enough of this nonsense?  Am I opposed to cosmetics?  Absolutely not!!!  I am opposed to those who prey on the insecurities of others by making think they are flawed.

[ccassaday]

For me it's not perfection. I just love the process of putting on makeup. It's relaxing and fun to just sit and play.

[SahmIam]

The search for "perfection" has been going since the beginning of time; these are just a different way for society to express and see it.

[Poodlepet2]

RedRedHair, I disagree with commercialism being the push-the search for perfection in womanly beauty has gone back centuries and centuries.....long before there was mass media and commercial cosmetics, there were all kinds of recipes for beauty products, and in reading those recipes-some are insane- the word "perfection" is freely used....

Right now, I am spending a lot of time reading about day to day life in Edwardian and the Victorian periods when so much was written in women's magazines about feminine perfection on absolutely every level it would make you yawn with boredom and recoil in horror-especially what was written by the men of those times. (If you have time, look up "The Guttenberg Project" : they are doing a splendid job of scanning written material of all kinds.  Be sure to look up books by Mrs. Beeton, and anything having to do with women's health.  You will find the men had definite ideas and tied feminine health and beauty so tightly together......well, it's amazing that more women didn't take their own lives in despair!)

What is going on-the theme of perfection-is nothing new.  What is new, however, is the mass media propelling it forward, but the theme is an old one......

Poodlepet2

[NativeJax]

I enjoy making sure my face/skin is taken care of. I didn't start when I should have but I make sure I do now. I wear makeup but it's not heavy and I consider myself lucky that I do not feel I need to look perfect.

Unless makeup is on so heavy or gothic looking I rarely notice whether someone looks "perfect".

What I worry for children has nothing to do with makeup, my worries for them are less on social issues and more financial....jobs, skills, social security, healthcare, sexual predators...makeup never enters my mind regarding self image.

[JustJazzmom]

There's a Twilight Zone coming up soon on ME-TV titled "Number 12 Looks Just Like You". It was first broadcast in 1964. 

Read the synopsis here: 

In a future society, all young adults go through a process known as "The Transformation," in which each person's body and face are changed to mimic a physically attractive design chosen from a small selection of numbered models. The process gives everyone a beautiful appearance, slows deterioration due to age and extends a person's lifespan, and makes the recipient immune to any kind of disease.

The motive of the Transformation is social harmony. According to Professor Sig, a psychologist with the Transformation service, "Years before, wiser men than I ... saw that physical unattractiveness was one of the factors that made men hate, so they charged the finest scientific minds with the task of eliminating ugliness in mankind."

Eighteen-year-old Marilyn Cuberle decides not to undergo the Transformation, seeing nothing wrong with her unaltered appearance. Nobody else can understand Marilyn's decision, and those around her are confused by her displeasure with the conformity and shallowness of contemporary life. Her "radical" beliefs were fostered by her now-deceased father, who gave Marilyn banned books and came to regret his own Transformation years earlier, committing suicide upon the loss of his identity. When Marilyn becomes upset, talking about how the transformation makes everyone beautiful and therefore the same as everyone being ugly, they offer her a glass of "Instant Smile".

Despite continued urging from family, doctors, and her best friend, Marilyn is still adamant about refusing the operation. She insists that the leaders of society don't care whether people are beautiful or not, they just want everyone to be the same. Her pleas about the "dignity of the individual human spirit" and how "when everyone is beautiful, no one will be" have no impact. After being driven to tears by the inability of anyone to understand how she feels, she is put through the procedure and (like all the others) is enchanted with the beautiful result.

Dr. Rex, who operated on Marilyn, comments about how some people have problems with the idea of the Transformation but that "improvements" to the procedure now guarantee a positive result, thus indicating that there may be modifications made to the mind as well. Marilyn reappears, looking and thinking exactly like her best friend Valerie. "And the nicest part of all, Val," she gushes, "I look just like you!" The last shots are of her, admiring herself in the mirror and smiling.

[skuggles]

It's called competition. Being the most successful container for passing on genetic material. I don't bother with it. I was slow to fully appreciate the concept or  I had already put "mind over matter." I'm still trying to figure that out. But I have put my "stuff" out there just the same, and I'm not sure how succesful the line will be.

[Poodlepet2]

Shanus, you have had me contemplating this all day, and you know what? I think there is far more latitude to for girls and women than there was even in the 60's..... I was a child, but I remember distinctly adult women wore makeup and dressed one way: all the same.  On the other hand, teen age girls and young women had an entirely different style-but still, pretty much the same: bell bottoms, tie dye.....not much makeup-if any.

If you really stop and think about it, you see it all these days from no makeup to glitz and glam.... There is a lot I could buy and wear from a store such as "Forever 21"- and nobody would pay any attention whatsoever. 

I think young women are smart-my now 22 yr old daughter knew what Photoshop was and the magic of photography long before I really did.

She has played with makeup and clothing styles-not always to us, her parents, liking either, but we decided to not make a big deal out of it.  If anything, that was an outward sign of her expressing her individuality-a good thing.

I think we older women have a bigger problem-myself included.  When I finally found a skin care regimen that really did something for me and safely turned back my "appearance clock"-and not to mention my continuous exploration of makeup techniques, I really do feel more confident and better about myself-but here's the thing.

I find myself not comparing myself to models in magazines or actresses on television, but I seem to compare myself to other women I see around me. Why, I don't know....who am I competing against? What for?

When I really think about it on a very deep level, I would say I am a product of my mother's indoctrination of how a well groomed woman looks combined with mass media.

Seventeen Magazine might have meant to bring positive messages to girls, but it had a very deleterious effect on me back in those days.

Wow, this really is a complex issue!  I think in the end, a strong, grounded female in a young woman's life who supports a young girls choice of expression and guides her is the best guarantee that she will grow up to rejoice in her individuality.

Shalom,

Poodlepet2

[Tinkrbl44]

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@Shanus wrote:

Maybe when women started taking selfies, or was it YouTube makeup tutorials or maybe HD TV.....I see an unattainable quest for perfection. Most foundations are full coverage leaving faces one color & flat (not realistic from this artist's POV). Dimension and color must be added back w/ bronzers, blush, contouring and highlighting.

When perfection is still not achieved, there are color correcting powders and creams and products to take down shine or add back that youthful glow. 

If shading doesn't correct lines from nose to mouth or moisturizers and brush on products that dry over crow's feet fail to flatten them out, there's BOTOX and fillers. 

I fear the result will be erasing our individuality. What example is that setting for young girls? Will they feel that who they are and what they look like is never good enough?

Your thoughts?

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@Shanus

???   I don't think selfies or makeup tutorials have much to do with it, and who sees themselves on HD television?

This isn't some new thing ..... when I was a teen, all the models in Seventeen, Glamour and the others were all airbrushed.    

Don't think it'll affect our individuality, either.    Wanting to be the best you that you can be doesn't erase individuality, unless I missed the point. 

[NJgirl 1205]

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@RedRedHair wrote:

We, as women, are constantly bombarded by all forms of media advocating it's imperative that we slather ourselves in a multitude of products before we go out in the public.  It's all about moving their goods and taking the money out of our wallets.  Can you imagine what would happen to the multi-billion dollar beauty industry if women said enough of this nonsense?  Am I opposed to cosmetics?  Absolutely not!!!  I am opposed to those who prey on the insecurities of others by making think they are flawed.

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@RedRedHairI think you need to give women a little more credit.  Nobody is taking money out of my wallet and I know the same goes for most women. Nothing wrong with trying to look your best.  Women will never say enough to beauty and as far as I am concerned that is a good thing.  The billion dollar industry means a lot of competition and a lot of products to try.  Love it and don't have any plans to change.  The nice thing is that competition has also led to very liberal return polciies, so no need to waste money on what one doesn't like.