I’ve been thinking all day long of a good April Fool’s joke to play on you here at B&TB, but instead I’ve been unable to shake this New York Times piece I read earlier this morning. So instead of being all joke-y with you, I’m turning up the dial on the serious beauty talk. The article discussed book of photos by Zed Nelson in which he examines the homogenization of the ideal of beauty. He and his project called Love Me blame globalization for the onslaught of cosmetic procedures, lightening treatments and—believe it or not—beauty pageants. And the photos back up the claims. As someone who works in the beauty and travel businesses, you’d think I’d have a strong opinion on the thesis put forth by Mr. Nelson, but I sort of don’t. I’m wavering between the good and the bad arguments. Is there something wrong with everyone trying to look like everyone else? Probs. As children we tend to understand that difference is—well—different. And it looks like that has extended across the globe to adults. Or maybe it’s simply more reflective of the Coca-colonialism that has taken over the world. I mean hasn’t the notion of looking like the colonizers been pervasive for some time now? The fact that people have aimed to look like the ruling class in order to (and I use quotes around the following) ‘gain social respect and money’ been around for a while. But then I think no matter what I think about the fact that women in Iran are getting nose jobs to look more Anglo and South America sells out of skin whitening creams is wrong, the fact is if it erases exoticism and evens the proverbial global playing field, then maybe we should embrace the notion of sameness. But then I think: If everyone was the same then we’d just live in clonedom or on Pandora or whatever the heck that blue planet is called and how interesting would that be? –Jenna Mahoney
Thursday, April 1, 2010
All of These Things Are Just Like The Other...
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4 comments:
definitely agree that sameness is bad for everyone. I haven't seen any of the world outside of the U.S.A. but when I do I don't want to see the same old stuff, styles, and people. I want every corner of the world to be filled with different looks and colors.
i don't believe in fighting against your features. so i'm truly saddened by these stories of women whitening their skin or participating in various other procedures just so they can look more caucasian. it also frightens me to think that eventually, women would just blend into each other because everyone looks the same.
i like to think of it this way: if there was an exhibit in a museum called The Beauty Of Women and they've gathered numerous women from different countries to be "exhibited," would i rather see the exhibit that showcases different colours and features, or would i rather see a number of pale women with blonde hair and blue eyes?
personally, i'd go with the former :)
I always believe people should be themselves, no matter what. Procedures to change someone's appearance are changing who they are and can be bad for them.
Control is huge in the beauty realm. In one sense, the accessability of cosmetics and cosmetic procedures hands over some personal aesthetic control to every woman (or man) who wants it. If you don't like your nose, you can change it. And that's great! Why you don't like it - because you want to look like someone else - is another story entirely. Beauty should be about being you and loving it, but for all the right reasons too.
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