Hope we're not missing the bigger picture here... Quick! What does an ideal woman look like? I don't have time for your protestations about 'ideal' meaning different things to different people, or being a ridiculous notion to start with. There is an ideal out there and we're all failing to live up to it. Maybe it's the colour of your skin, your height, your bra size or the ink you paid for - there's definitely something getting in the way of you being truly beautiful, of obtaining perfection.
Isn't this the message most of us (increasingly men as well as women) have bludgeoned into us from an early age? One of my first memories of reading magazines is finding one with a recipe you could make up and apply to your face to bleach off freckles (I believe it included lemon juice but beyond that it's lost to time I'm afraid). And as a red-haired child who didn't know anyone else who wasn't brunette or blonde I always knew I couldn't be pretty and ginger. Update 20 years later: red hair is awesome. Just so you know.
Isn't this the message most of us (increasingly men as well as women) have bludgeoned into us from an early age? One of my first memories of reading magazines is finding one with a recipe you could make up and apply to your face to bleach off freckles (I believe it included lemon juice but beyond that it's lost to time I'm afraid). And as a red-haired child who didn't know anyone else who wasn't brunette or blonde I always knew I couldn't be pretty and ginger. Update 20 years later: red hair is awesome. Just so you know.
I learned at a fairly young age what was going on though. That insecurity sells. That a particular ideal of beauty is a boon to companies looking to offload everything from hair dye to tightening creams. If we're all chasing something we can't achieve, we'll never stop spending money.
I think I naively assumed that at some point the conversation would progress. That we would routinely talk more about female politician's policies than their shoes. But my newspapers are full of articles that never go beyond the skin deep.
I think I naively assumed that at some point the conversation would progress. That we would routinely talk more about female politician's policies than their shoes. But my newspapers are full of articles that never go beyond the skin deep.
| I wear make-up. I like clothes. But if we focus on image the whole time, do we miss more important questions? When it comes to women such as Cheryl Cole and Miley Cyrus, you might argue that part of what they do is how they look. And it's true to a certain extent - their image is part of how they make their money. | you might argue that part of what they do is how they look. And it's true to a certain extent |
But everyone who got upset at Miley's new 'sexualised' image that they didn't look beyond their outrage to her cultural appropriation. Not content with telling her songwriters "I want something that feels black", she used black women as, essentially, props to her performance. Commentators treated twerking as something strange and new that had appeared overnight, rather than a dance form with a long history in black global culture (See this fantastic article on xoJane for more)
As for Cheryl's tattoos? Just let it go. Now. Please.
I think they're beautiful, but it's her body and her money. As Squeamish Kate said last time we wrote about tattoos at Squeamish Bikini, "If you can feel classy whilst sharing a Treasure Chest cocktail (and GERMS) in Mahiki you can certainly feel classy with hundreds of pounds of body art. I know which I think is the more sensible choice."
It's not transgressive to decorate your body. It's increasingly mainstream. Heck, even beauty pageant contestants have started to reveal the odd bit ofbody art.
So let's share makeup tips. Let's point out cool clothes to each other, and talk about interesting things we can get inked onto or inserted into our bodies (I am referring piercings, you filthmongers).
But let's keep discussion of looks and appearances off the news pages, please.
Squeamish Louise
As for Cheryl's tattoos? Just let it go. Now. Please.
I think they're beautiful, but it's her body and her money. As Squeamish Kate said last time we wrote about tattoos at Squeamish Bikini, "If you can feel classy whilst sharing a Treasure Chest cocktail (and GERMS) in Mahiki you can certainly feel classy with hundreds of pounds of body art. I know which I think is the more sensible choice."
It's not transgressive to decorate your body. It's increasingly mainstream. Heck, even beauty pageant contestants have started to reveal the odd bit ofbody art.
So let's share makeup tips. Let's point out cool clothes to each other, and talk about interesting things we can get inked onto or inserted into our bodies (I am referring piercings, you filthmongers).
But let's keep discussion of looks and appearances off the news pages, please.
Squeamish Louise
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