This morning I woke thinking about my beautiful Nana and how she at a very young age defied her mother by removing her foot binding. This ante meridiem thought process was a consequence of an article I had glanced upon on roadtickle.com called 'Most Painful Cultural Beauty Practices' last night. It got me thinking, there may be beauty practices that we deem ancient and barbaric that exist in different cultures today and in the past but now in 2010 what are the practices that women indulge in?
Last night before I laid my head to rest I brushed my teeth with my electric toothbrush for exactly two minutes (this recommended time by dentists is a feature to the device and not another addition to my obsessive compulsive behaviours), rinsed with mouthwash (I don't always floss but who is perfect?), washed my face with a foam cleanser (the only kind I like because I hate when cream cleansers leave residue), ran a cotton ball of rose water toner across my face and finished off with moisturiser. This morning, like every other, I jumped into the shower to wash my hair and body, repeated what I do in the night minus the toner (I don't know why I don't tone in the morning but I just don't), moisturised my body, added deodorant, a spritz of perfume, rubbed my favourite
No.4 hair texturiser into my hair and finally got dressed from my many items in my wardrobe. Now I must admit that I wear very little makeup, in fact because it's summer time I only really wear eyeliner, mascara and some tinted lip balm, and only when I feel so inclined. Mostly I go bare faced. This is my daily routine for beauty and hygiene. There are others though if I really think about it harder. Getting my haircut, going for runs (I maintain that this is for health and stress relief but I know deep down its partial vanity too), eating a little less than I'd like to and declining that piece of chocolate that's being passed around (rarely happens but you may catch me on
an off day). There are much more I'm sure but its very early in the morning.
Amongst all the things Katharine Hamnett said, the one thing that will remain in my memory was the answer she gave when asked why is fashion important. She simply replied that it was for sex and attraction, to be desired in the most primordial manner. I agree, having been taught the facts to prove it from my short academic career in scientific study.
Wait a cotton picking second. My memory serves me strangely. Male lions with the healthiest manes attract the best females of the pride, there's been animal social hierarchy documentation of this. Male peacocks have the beautiful feathers not the peahen. In fact my dictionary says:
Often in the animal kingdom, the male sex is in need of powerful physical attraction through outer beauty, not the female. This is due to the simple fact of math; +20 million : 1, sperm to egg ratio even though the natural sex ratio at birth is estimated to be close to 1 : 1 males to female. Ergo females are the precious cargo. So how did human nature and society switch it the other way around?
Honestly, I don't have an answer and I don't have the time to research it though in a different lifetime I would get up, walk to Trinity and demand they give me a Postgraduate so I could dedicate my next years finding the answer. Is it a human male conspiracy conjured up by the male population to profit from the beauty and fashion industries? Did the male homosapien evolve to be smarter and more beautiful? Personally, I don't think so (I'm sorry boys but I'm slightly biased). I've thought about it and I'm going to take a wild guess and put my opinions out there. Female practices are the result of male behaviour and change in their perception of beauty. Here are some examples. The demand for botox (2,557,068 documented in America in 2009) procedures has perhaps escalated because of the growing desire of men to be attracted to increasingly younger women has prompted age insecurity. The ancient culture of chinese foot binding was a painful of attraction that represented their freedom from manual labour that would have translated into sexual desirability among elite men. The Channel 4 documentary 'The Perfect Vagina' shone light on the cosmetic industry and its growing supply in the demand for labiaplasty. The programme attributed the growing desire for such a drastic measure to the pornographic industry.
While doing research, I happen to mention this topic to my friend singer/songwriter Stephen Branigan and this was his response: "I actually had a discussion with a mate the other day about girls in all girls schools making more of an effort than those in mixed and we decided that it's cos they're competing with each other." Stephen makes a good point. Darwin proposed natural selection and survival of the fittest in his 1864 book Origins of Species. So not only are we vying for male attention, we seek approval from our own sex and also at the same time compete against each other. Wow.
I am a young female. I have insecurities like any other, I recognise my strengths and weaknesses in both my personality and physical appearance but is my personal view flawed? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder after all. I struggle with accepting my weight and my tummy, the asian lack of crease in my eyelids, the clarity of my skin, my bass (back ass), my triceps and their lack of tone, the list could go on and who do I blame? Fashion magazines? The opposite sex and their expectations? I think from now on I will accept that I am not perfect and that that is what makes me who I am. If I stopped going for my runs, looking at myself in the mirror and participating in my beauty regimes I would have time to rule the world and I know the world would not benefit from my iron fist. I will continue to achieve physical acceptance but for myself and to make myself happy. Not to fulfill any male or social expectation. However, in the society of 2010 it seems hard to differentiate as it looks like personal happiness and acceptance comes in the form of social and economic success.
Stephen also said "I think women like to think they do it for themselves but it's all about attraction. But then I think men are the same these days. Just women are doing it longer." Last year the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery reported that over 9 million American women had a cosmetic procedure compared to 900,000 men. There is an inkling of change however, ASAPS also reported that male cosmetic procedures increased 8% while female procedures decreased 3% from 2008. Maybe far in the future everything will be equal in love and beauty.
