BS Doesn't Just Stand for "Beauty Sketches"

I think pretty much everyone's seen the new Dove "Beauty Sketches" ad about how you are “more beautiful than you think," but, if not, here it is:

I was going to write a response today, but someone else has already done a very good job of summing up what are essentially my thoughts on the matter.  Go read the whole post, but here's what I think is the key point:

“my primary problem with this Dove ad is that it’s not really challenging the message like it makes us feel like it is. It doesn’t really tell us that the definition of beauty is broader than we have been trained to think it is, and it doesn’t really tell us that fitting inside that definition isn’t the most important thing. It doesn’t really push back against the constant objectification of women. All it’s really saying is that you’re actually not quite as far off from the narrow definition as you might think that you are (if you look like the featured women, I guess).”

Maybe you are closer to standards of having a conventionally attractive appearance than you realize. Or maybe you are exactly as homely as you think are. Maybe your crows' feet really are that noticeable. Maybe you're not young, not healthy, and don't have high-status features relative to the standards of the person looking at you. The only reason those things should affect the love your friends and family have for you is if your friends and family are jerks. I know that being pretty really DOES matter – it's a huge social asset. But the problem with being not pretty isn't a lack of prettiness, it's that we live in a society with seriously confused priorities, thanks in part to corporate interests that survive by exploiting our insecurities.

I have a few more additions, though. Aside from this campaign, I'm not a fan of Dove's parent company, Unilever. If there is a social or political issue you care about, google “boycott Unilever” and you too will probably find something not to like: exploitative labor practices, support of oppressive political regimes, complicity in the plight of Pygmies, an uneven environmental track record, animal testing, products of dubious safety, ties to Monsanto, etc.

You'll also find allegations of racism. This is old news, but if you have forgotten or missed it the first time, Unilever also owns Ponds and another brand called “Fair and Lovely,” both of which market skin-lightening creams in Asia. The politics of these products are well beyond the sphere of what I can intelligently discuss, and Unilever is far from the only manufacturer of bleaching creams. But they don't exactly encourage the diversity that Dove ostensibly promotes. I realize, as someone who is about as white as a person can be, that I am not exactly the target audience, and it's not my business to tell anyone (especially someone of a culture and coloration different from my own) what tone they should want their skin to be, but to paraphrase Charlton Heston: Unilever, you can bleach my freckles off my cold, dead face.

Fair and Lovely

Pond's White Beauty:
 

More White Beauty:
 

Pond's Flawless White (this one is super-creepy):

More commentary
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jul/16/unilever-hypocritical-promoting-skin-lightening

Other conflicting messages come from the advertising for another Unilever brand, Axe (in other countries, “Lynx”) body spray. The “real” beauties Dove lauds are most definitely not the admirers one is promised to attract by dousing one's self in this swill. Somebody recently made a mashup of Dove and Axe ads, but it's blocked in the US. This clip sort of shows it though:

So, Dove, asks, “If you could talk to a girl in your life about beauty, confidence, and self-esteem, what would you say?” I'd say wash up with something inexpensive that makes your skin feel nice to you and that doesn't trouble your conscience, and don't let advertising from the world's third largest consumer goods company cleverly exploit your insecurity about having your insecurities exploited. Literally and figuratively, people will say anything to sell you soap.

For those interested in Unilever brands: there are a lot of them, and it's hard to wade through the Wikipedia page or Unilever's “Brands in Action” on their site. The simplest list I found for US brands is here: http://www.unileverusa.com/resource/brandproductlocator.aspx

Drop down the “choose brand” menu.

UPDATE:  There's more good commentary at http://theillusionists.org/2013/04/the-problem-with-dove/ , which also points out that 1) Unilever not only owns both Slimfast and Ben and Jerry's ice cream, but that it acquired them ON THE SAME DAY; and 2) even the "real beauty" ads are photoshopped. Quote from the retoucher: "it was great to do, a challenge, to keep everyone’s skin and faces showing the mileage but not looking unattractive."

St. Ives, Worker of Miracles

Great news for cinephiles:  now there's time to catch up on all those movies you've been missing!  From http://www.unrealitytv.co.uk/reality-tv/towie-lydia-bright-takes-part-in-the-st-ives-seven-day-challenge/"

"According to St.Ives, the average UK woman will spend 91 hours every year applying make-up, the equivalent of three and half days a year – enough time to enjoy over 60 films, back to back."

This is not a makeup bashing post.  I love makeup!  Primarily I think it's fun and artistic, but I'm also grateful to have the option to create a dewy, blushing, pimple-free face, and, in some situations, have more control over the way I'll be perceived.  Nor is this a "natural beauty" bashing post.  I also love not wearing makeup (and hearing media messages about not wearing makeup) because sometimes there are other things I want to spend my time and money on, and also because no one should have to feel compelled to alter their appearance for someone else's benefit.  What I do NOT love is foolish misrepresentations of "natural beauty" as a new unattainable beauty standard.   This is also not meant as a post bashing Lydia Bright (the TV personality pictured below, whom I know essentially nothing about but whom I am sure is under great pressure related to her appearance and how she expresses herself), but the premise of these photos is preposterous.  Supposedly we are seeing the results of Lydia's having undertaken the "St. Ives 7-day challenge," whereby seven days of using facial scrub allowed her "to achieve fresher, more radiant looking skin, giving her the confidence to go without makeup at a makeup free shoot."

Who knew seven days of scrubbing was all it takes?  I have a suggestion, though, about the true secret to natural beauty.  No, no, it's not those aphorisms wrongly attributed to Audrey Hepburn about being a kind person...  In addition to St. Ives facial scrub for seven days, I'd suggest following this authentic ancient ritual for petitioning St. Ives, patron of "natural" beauty.

Prayer to St. Ives

O St. Ives, obtain for me these beauty favors I implore.  Grant me perfect symmetry. Save me from the tweezer and eyebrow pencil, and let my eyebrows grow in tidy orderly arcs.  Normalize my pigmentation:  let my coloration be free of any variation.  Plump my lips; lift my cheekbones; whittle my jaw; shape my eyes, nose, and lips into idealized typical Caucasian shapes.  Intercede on my behalf against dark circles under my eyes, against hair on my upper lip, and against wrinkles and sags. Imbue me with a youthful rosy glow, make me fashionably slim but not too slim, and make me impossibly blonde (except in the hair of my eyebrows and eyelashes which should still be dark enough to accentuate the shape of my uncommonly light blue eyes.)  Above all, St. Ives, take away my pores.  Though I am an adult, make my pores like unto those of a newborn babe.  Make the texture of my skin like unto that of a billiard ball.

Well, maybe it won't totally work...  According to a tweet from Lydia Bright:

JPEG of tweet taken from the Daily Mail, who captioned it "Honest: Lydia opened up about her insecurities to her Twitter followers"

Also, below her chin and a little off to the side I think there's a little freckle or mole or something.  Tsk, tsk!  But I guess it's okay if St. Ives can't truly make us "perfect," since revealing our flaws will help us, like Lydia, grow the maturity and wisdom of self-acceptance.


More photos:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2174803/TOWIEs-Lydia-Bright-leads-way-shows-face-make-free-promote-natural-beauty.html

American Hero, Roy A. Cui

In the embedded video, career image retoucher Roy A. Cui explains the moral imperative behind his decision to endanger his livelihood, and no longer accept jobs digitally altering images of female bodies in advertising and entertainment. Roy is a softspoken guy, and this is a relatively long video: if your head is in quick-clicking instant-gratification web browsing mode right now, come back and watch the video later when you have 9 minutes to dedicate to listening to this courageous and inspiring story.


 

(Or, if you're REALLY impatient, here's a transcript you can read: http://royacui.com/2012/06/28/i-dont-know-what-happens-next/).

Commentary: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jennifer-danielle-crumpton/authenticity_b_1641905.html

More info on the film that inspired this decision: http://www.missrepresentation.org/

Thank you Roy!

Body Type, in Gymnastics and in Belly Dance

Shawn Johnson, 2009.  Photo by Jason Christopher.

Retiring athlete Shawn Johnson talks about the ironic stigma of having an "athletic" body type in her sport of gymnastics:

At her heaviest, when she stopped full-time training and allowed herself to eat typical teenage fare like ice cream and pizza, she received brutal criticism from fans, especially on the sport's message boards, and from the tabloids. "That whole process kind of broke me down and taught me something," Johnson said. "People put too much emphasis on looks."

Most of the time, nowadays, that emphasis isn't so openly expressed. Instead, it's coded, by labeling certain gymnasts—the lithe ones, the ones who aren't built like Johnson—as artistic. In theory, artistry should describe a quality of movement, a connection between the performer's limbs, the music, and the audience. But somehow, the short, stocky gymnasts like Johnson rarely get credit for that je ne sais quoi.

"In America, we'll score the stocky, athletic builds normally," 1996 Olympic gold medalist Dominique Dawes said, in response to Johnson's comments. "Internationally, there still remains a stigma to that type of body type."

Go read the rest of this article:   http://deadspin.com/5915913/athletic-shawn-johnson-retires-how-gymnastics-talks-about-bodies-in-code, then come back. 

I have been told that “of course belly dance is easy for you, because you have the right body type,” the simplistic assumption that curvilinear body lines naturally create curvilinear movements. I usually try to explain that belly dance is (now) (sort of) “easy” for me not because I have the right body type but because I have the right body ability, created through years of training: drawing arcs has less to do with dumbly propelling one’s curves through space and more to do with fine-tuned articulation, made possible by building specialized strength, range of motion, control, and coordination.

But, I can’t entirely discount that body curves amplify curvilinear movements, just as the padding of body fat amplifies shimmies. Likewise, a lean frame and wide shoulders give a distinctive sinuosity to a lot of the currently popular tribal fusion vocabulary. (The weight distribution of this build also lends itself to unmodified yoga poses, a synergistic boon for those dancing tribal fusion). I don’t at all suggest that there’s an “incorrect” body type for any particular style of belly dance, but I do think it’s helpful for dancers to consider the way the way their shapes affect the way their dancing will be perceived. Knowing one’s “type” helps a dancer to take advantage of vocabulary and styling that is “easy” for him or her, and more clearly strategize to overcome the challenges of working against that type. Just as a melody has a distinctive sound when played on different musical instruments, choreography takes on a different cast on different bodies.

But, while the violin may the most straightforward instrument for plaintive melodies, I’d rather hear a plaintive melody played by a kazoo virtuoso than by a lousy violinist; likewise I’d rather see a highly skilled dancer dancing against type than see a novice fumbling through the vocabulary that is “easy” for her shape. In fact, I’d probably rather see a highly skilled dancer dancing against type rather than with it – the belly dance equivalent of JFK's “we go to the moon not because it is easy, but because it is hard.”  But that’s just me. If you’re NOT dancing for someone who has already seen a zillion belly dance performances, understanding and maximizing the conventional perception of your type may be a welcome shortcut to creating successful and likeable dance performances.

"Natural" Beauty: Not Because You Like It, But Because Outer Space Boy Likes You Better That Way

Perhaps you've seen this image online recently.

 

Ladies (and girls, and for that matter men, boys, and individuals who identify somewhere else on the gender spectrum): no matter what you look like, I agree that you're already beautiful without makeup and nice clothes because of the miracle of your unique living, breathing, feeling, improbably alive human body. But I also think you're beautiful in the makeup and nice clothes you choose as expressions of your personality, creativity, and style and I love the artistic ways you celebrate your physicality. And, if your employment or other life circumstances leads you to wear clothes and makeup that anonymize your unique features to make you conform more closely to a conventional beauty standard, I understand where you're coming from and I see the beauty of your craftswomanship.


I understand (and champion) natural beauty not in terms of makeup or the lack thereof, but as the attractive and charismatic quality of confident authentic self-expression.  So if you really care what I think, I suggest, dear "girls," that you show or create the appearance that makes you feel most like the person you are.  But I also suggest that you ignore messages that encourage you to change your appearance for the benefit of someone other than yourself.   

Linked below are several discussions of Outer Space Boy, with plenty of good points made in both the articles and comments.

http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/thanks-but-im-still-team-dolly

http://slacktory.com/2012/06/sassing-back-boys-with-pseudofeminist-handwritten-signs-its-a-trend-nsfw-naked-woman-inside/

http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2012/06/13/notes-from-my-boner-natural-beauty/

A New Model for Models

From Elle Magazine (Canada):

The women in my research want models—regardless of size or age—to inspire them with glamour, artistry and creativity. One woman said it best: “What’s the point of buying fashion if you’re going to look unfashionable?” The underlying message is that fashion needs to sell aspiration, but it is not a standardized model’s age, size or race that is aspirational; it is the clothes, styling and creative direction of the shoot.

Link to article.

News Roundup: Brains, Noses, and Thai Food

In an interview, provocatively titled "The Wondrous World of Three Pounds of Meat" (in reference to the brain), author Jonah Lehrer discusses Imagine, his new book about the roots of creativity.  Highlight:

When it comes to creative problems, if you've got a feeling of knowing then you should keep on paying attention. You should drink that triple espresso, you should chain yourself to the desk. But in any creative process, at some point you hit a wall—you get stuck. At that point, you should go and take a long walk, let yourself daydream. Then a fresh insight is more likely to occur to you. You might even want to have a beer. A study came out showing that undergraduates who were too drunk to drive solved 30% more creative puzzles than those who were sober.

Link to story.

Elsewhere, the Daily Mail reports that nose jobs are on the decline among young Jewish women.  I'm happy for anyone who has a nose they feel good about, whether it's the nose they were born with or a nose they purchased from a surgeon, but I think this is a good sign that more people are accepting a wider definition of beauty.  The Mail suggests:

Today's stars and taste-makers are ethnically diverse and women are encouraged to value the features that make them stand out from the pack.

Finally, the New York Times reports on non-native chefs of ethnic cuisine.  While completely non-dance related, there are still some parallels to the experiences of native and non-native ethnic dancers that may be of interest to readers. 

Distance may allow a chef to explore traditions without the baggage of having to follow Mom’s recipes to the letter, even if the goal is to stay true to the original dishes. “My greatest gift is that I don’t have a Mexican grandmother,” Mr. Bayless said, “so I can look at all Mexican grandmothers as equal. If you grew up with this food, you’ll defend to the death the way your family makes a dish. So sometimes, with lots of experience, you can speak with a bit of a broader perspective.

Full Article:  Cuisines Mastered as Acquired Tastes.

Written from a different perspective, the author of the NYT piece (Francis Lam) follows up in a discussion with a Chinese-American colleague, offering equal, uh, "food for thought."

Francis: Well…would you prefer Stupak to say: "I'm doing food that's not really Mexican, it's a mashup of that and what's in my own head"?

Eddie: This is totally unfair of me to tell someone what to say. But, you asked me a question and I’ll answer it. If I could write his press release, I'd say, “I'm making modern New American food that borrows ingredients and techniques from a Mexican pantry.” Or, make fun of it like Danny Bowien [of Mission Chinese Food] does and basically say, “I love Chinese food. I don't know what I'm doing, but I respect this, that and the other Szechuan restaurant. Please don't consider me a master, I'm just a dude with a tea pot full of dirty girl drinks.” Danny Bowien is a guy who NAILS it in terms of messaging. He does funky hybrid party Chinese food that I think we're all honored to be the inspiration for. Danny hit me on twitter today wanting to put my Hainan Lobster Rice on the menu, do it! I love that people like Danny and Kareem Abdul Jabbar are interested in our culture in an inquisitive and honest way. I think Stupak is the same. His wife is Mexican and there’s a genuine passion, plus who am I to judge. I’m just saying, we need accurate messaging because it’s offensive to the diaspora. The culture needs to consider the villagers.

Link: Is it Fair for Chefs to Cook Other Cultures’ Foods?  Two immigrant sons hash out what it’s like to have your food shunned and celebrated in America by Francis Lam and Eddie Huang

Natural Beauty

From the Irish Examiner:

As 51-year-old mother-of-two, Molly Barker, and her 27-year-old friend and colleague, Caitlin Boyle, met for a coffee in their home town of Charlotte, North Carolina, they stumbled upon a question neither of them could answer.

"Molly is the founder of a self-esteem-boosting programme for elementary school girls, called ‘girls on the run,’ and I’m the founder of a site called OperationBeautiful.com," says Caitlin.

"One day, we were having coffee when I asked Molly, ‘what do you say to the girls when they ask you, "Molly, you say inner beauty is the most important thing, but you wear make-up and wear high heels and dye your hair. What does this mean"?’

"Both of us were stumped for a truly authentic answer, because we had always engaged in those habits and didn’t really know why we did them."

By the end of their discussion, the pair had decided that the best way to find out about those habits and their motivations was to desist from doing them.

Full story.

Body Image Backfire

From an article-length post on BoingBoing today, "Modernizing Modesty:  The Hijab and Body Image"

In an ironic twist, Hijab-wearing Muslim women are falling prey to the same thing their choice of garb ostensibly protects them from: a relentless bombar [sic] of distorted female body images.

 Read more.

Natural Beauty

Two photo essays:

10 Incredibly Hot Women Who Are Larger Than A Size 12
(Glamour photos with tasteful nudity and lingerie--click through at your discretion).

source

To find less cheesecakey images, click through the "link" link under each picture in the post.   Here are some pictures from the website of listee Natalie Laughlin.

source

source

source

At the other end of the spectrum: Forever 21 Hates Women's Kneecaps
(Contains numerous images of women's kneecaps airbrushed away - click through at your discretion.)

source

Actual Face of Actual 42 Year-Old Actress Appears on Magazine Cover

An unretouched photo of Cate Blanchett graces the cover of the current "Intelligent Life" magazine.

One wonders if the same decision would have been made for an actress without Cate's perfectly even skin and dramatic bone structure, but it's still refreshing to see a woman in her 40s be allowed to look like a woman in her 40s.

Natural Beauty

The everyday beauty of the woman pictured below is debatable (her slender build, even skin, and dazzling teeth are exceptional), and, while unprocessed hair and non-white skin are "natural" buzzwords, the obvious thought and effort and the fantasy inspiration that shape this look are the opposite of how "natural" is usually used in the cosmetics industry.  But, I think this photo exemplifies natural beauty:  her radiance comes neither from "flawless" nor "natural" features but from her smile and the individuality of her look.  The amazing hair and makeup in this shot seem custom-made to celebrate the woman showing them.  Bravo!

Photo via Going-Natural.com

Click through to Going-Natural.com, a site full of inspiration and resources for "Going Natural: How to Fall in Love with Nappy Hair."

Diversifying Beauty

Commentary on the absence of diversity at the recently-ended Fashion Week, from a post entitled "Beauty According to Whom?":

[...] from the images I’ve seen, the majority of the young women chosen to represent the world's most celebrated event in beauty and fashion looked nothing like the world. In fact, they had one thing in common: blond hair and blue eyes.

Now let’s be realistic here: In 2012 in New York City, are you trying to tell me there's a shortage of working models of color? I beg to differ.

Read the full post here: http://bed-stuy.patch.com/articles/beauty-according-to-whom.

The post focuses on the under-representation of non-white runway models as a manifestation of our culture's limited appreciation for a wide spectrum of coloration and features.  It's a good article, which I agree with and recommend.  I'd like to add, though, that from my perspective, even the blond-haired and blue-eyed models look "nothing like the world." At least one blonde on the runway achieves an unreal look by not even being woman.

A model of any race or ethnicity may certainly have smooth even skin, a tall slender body, and the grace and stamina for the hard work of runway modelling.  The fashion industry can and should do a much better job hiring from a wider pool. But, how much does increased racial and ethnic diversity among runway models make fashion reflect reality?  A beautiful woman of any race or ethnicity is more likely than not to have acne scars, wrinkles, less-than-perfect teeth, a figure that does not fit into an off-the-rack size 4, or any other number of individualistic characteristics that make her look unique.

Then again, is this true diversity right for the runway?  Probably not.  The individuality promoted at fashion shows is not that of models, but of the designer; models generally function as a blank slate onto which a designer's creative vision can be projected.    While beauty is a requirement for modelling, the particular brand of preternatural beauty favored by the runway is deliberately unreal.   Intriguing idiosyncrasies in a runway model's appearance may occasionally help her career, but are more likely to be a hindrance.

While diversifying the ranks of runway models without question makes a positive contribution to diversifying fantasy representations of beauty, it's not a big step toward widening the appreciation of individuality.  Changing the culture at large ultimately means fostering an appreciation of the transcendent spark that may illuminate each of us--the inner beauty that transforms true individuality in all its permutations of shape, size, color, facial structure, and hair texture, so-called "flaws" and all, into an expression of the beautiful mystery of life itself.

Is this "real" beauty less compelling than the fantasy images of haute couture?  As something that can't effectively be sold or bought, it's certainly less compelling from an advertiser's perspective:  every woman and man can choose to take ownership of "real" beauty, simply by claiming it and acknowledging it in others.  But, once seen as the true, lush, rich experience of life, it touches in a way that fantasy can not.  We're equally entitled to enjoy beauty where ever we see it, in both real life and fantasy.  As authors of beauty, we should put no limits on our imaginations (and the images that inspire them).  My suggestion is that we we are most enriched when our appreciation of beauty encompasses the diversity of the natural and preternatural alike.