२६ जानेवारी, २०२१

"After years of smuggling his obsessions into reviews or radio programmes, he was finally able to publish whatever was on his mind..."

"... from racism, propaganda and freedom of speech to make-up, birdwatching and the price of clocks. The most sombre topics rubbed up against brainteasers, jokes and nuggets of trivia. Orwell had opinions about everything under the sun and they were all worth reading even if you disagreed with them, which many Tribune readers did, loudly and often." 


George Orwell wrote an essay about makeup?! I like the way his Tribune column sounds like a blog, but what I really want is to find that essay about makeup. I've looked, but so far, no success.

IN THE COMMENTS: Leland said: "I think you are referring to 'As I Please'" — yes, I am — "so perhaps his column on American Fashion Magazines?" MaybeHere's that full essay, from 1946. It mentions lipstick and nail polish, but though it's heavily opinionated, he doesn't really opine on makeup. It's more about the natural physical attributes of the models, the clothing, the style of writing, and the absence of men :
Someone has just sent me a copy of an American fashion magazine which shall be nameless. It consists of 325 large quarto pages, of which no less than 15 are given up to articles on world politics, literature, etc. The rest consists entirely of pictures with a little letterpress creeping round their edges: pictures of ball dresses, mink coats, step-ins, panties, brassières, silk stockings, slippers, perfumes, lipsticks, nail polish—and, of course, of the women, unrelievedly beautiful, who wear them or make use of them. 
One striking thing when one looks at these pictures is the overbred, exhausted, even decadent style of beauty that now seems to be striven after. Nearly all of these women are immensely elongated. A thin-boned, ancient-Egyptian type of face seems to predominate: narrow hips are general, and slender, non-prehensile hands like those of a lizard are quite universal. Evidently it is a real physical type, for it occurs as much in the photographs as in the drawings. Another striking thing is the prose style of the advertisements, an extraordinary mixture of sheer lushness with clipped and sometimes very expensive technical jargon. Words like suave-mannered, custom-finished, contour-conforming, mitt-back, inner-sole, backdip, midriff, swoosh, swash, curvaceous, slenderize and pet-smooth are flung about with evident full expectation that the reader will understand them at a glance. Here are a few sample sentences taken at random: 
“A new Shimmer Sheen color that sets your hands and his head in a whirl.” “Bared and beautifully bosomy.” “Feathery-light Milliken Fleece to keep her kitten-snug!” “Others see you through a veil of sheer beauty, and they wonder why!” “An exclamation point of a dress that depends on fluid fabric for much of its drama.” “The miracle of figure flattery!” “Molds your bosom into proud feminine lines.” “Isn’t it wonderful to know that Corsets wash and wear and whittle you down… even though they weigh only four ounces!” “The distilled witchery of one woman who was forever desirable… forever beloved… Forever Amber.” And so on and so on and so on. 
A fairly diligent search through the magazine reveals two discreet allusions to gray hair, but if there is anywhere a direct mention of fatness or middle-age I have not found it. Birth and death are not mentioned either: nor is work, except that a few recipes for breakfast dishes are given. The male sex enters directly or indirectly into perhaps one advertisement in twenty, and photographs of dogs or kittens appear here and there. In only two pictures, out of about three hundred, is a child represented. 
On the front cover there is a colored photograph of the usual elegant female, standing on a chair while a gray-haired, spectacled, crushed-looking man in shirtsleeves kneels at her feet, doing something to the edge of her skirt. If one looks closely one finds that actually he is about to take a measurement with a yardstick. But to a casual glance he looks as though he were kissing the hem of the woman’s garment—not a bad symbolical picture of American civilization, or at least of one important side of it.

AND: Commenter lezlies found it — "The Freedom to Wear Makeup":

One of the big failures in human history has been the agelong attempt to stop women painting their faces. The philosophers of the Roman Empire denounced the frivolity of the modern woman in almost the same terms as she is denounced today. In the fifteenth century the Church denounced the damnable habit of plucking the eyebrows. The English Puritans, the Bolsheviks and the Nazis all attempted to discourage cosmetics, without success. In Victorian England rouge was considered so disgraceful that it was usually sold under some other name, but it continued to be used. 

Many styles of dress, from the Elizabethan ruff to the Edwardian hobble skirt, have been denounced from the pulpit, without effect. In the nineteen-twenties, when skirts were at their shortest, the Pope decreed that women improperly dressed were not to be admitted to Catholic churches; but somehow feminine fashions remained unaffected. Hitler’s ‘ideal woman’, an exceedingly plain specimen in a mackintosh, was exhibited all over Germany and much of the rest of the world, but inspired few imitators. I prophesy that English girls will continue to ‘put filth and muck on their faces’ in spite of Mr Henriques. Even in jail, it is said, the female prisoners redden their lips with the dye from the Post Office mail bags. 

Just why women use cosmetics is a different question, but it seems doubtful whether sex attraction is the main object. It is very unusual to meet a man who does not think painting your fingernails scarlet is a disgusting habit, but hundreds of thousands of women go on doing it all the same. 

Meanwhile it might console Mr Henriques to know that though make-up persists, it is far less elaborate than it used to be in the days when Victorian beauties had their faces ‘enamelled’, or when it was usual to alter the contour of your cheeks by means of ‘plumpers’, as described in Swift’s poem, ‘On a Beautiful Young Nymph Going to Bed’.

I'm pretty sure Orwell was joking when he said "it seems doubtful whether sex attraction is the main object." I'll give that my tag "charming bad logic." If X does not cause Y, then a person doing X cannot be intending Y. That's a silly assumption, so it seems doubtful whether Orwell's main object was for us to believe it. You're supposed to laugh at the deluded, ineffectual women.

३३ टिप्पण्या:

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

George Orwell wrote an essay about makeup?!

They didn't say he wrote an essay, they said he had an opinion.

Here's an opinion expressed in 1984:

"He had never before seen or imagined a woman of the Party with cosmetics on her face. The improvement in her appearance was startling. With just a few dabs of colour in the right places she had become not only very much prettier, but, above all, far more feminine."

Lucid-Ideas म्हणाले...

Orwell on birdwatching:

"The East Asian Cotton pygmy-goose (Nettapus coromandelianus) has always been at war with the Eurasian Amur Falcon (Falco amurensis)."

MayBee म्हणाले...

I loved walking by his house in Notting Hill. I hardly ever just walked by. I always stopped for a second, like you would if you spotted a celebrity. What a genius that man was.

320Busdriver म्हणाले...

I listened to the audio clip and determined Trump lives rent free in this dorks head.
No thanks

Laurent म्हणाले...

It may be this? https://newrepublic.com/article/119494/george-orwell-lambasts-american-fashion-magazines Republished by New Republic.

Leland म्हणाले...

I think you are referring to "As I Please", so perhaps his column on American Fashion Magazines?

Rick.T. म्हणाले...

"The East Asian Cotton pygmy-goose (Nettapus coromandelianus) has always been at war with the Eurasian Amur Falcon (Falco amurensis)."
-------------

Well played, sir.

rhhardin म्हणाले...

Women look better without makeup. I'd be surprised if Orwell thought otherwise. Maybe he's queer.

Nonapod म्हणाले...

I think you are referring to "As I Please", so perhaps his column on American Fashion Magazines?

For some reason I read that with Andy Rooney's voice in my head.

Lucid-Ideas म्हणाले...

@rhhardin

"Women look better without makeup."

Not all women.

narciso म्हणाले...

Who thought it would be a how to manual


https://mobile.twitter.com/ArminRosen/status/1353722209941016577

lezlies म्हणाले...

From his 'As I Please' newspaper column. The title (assigned by the editor) is "The Freedom to Wear Makeup."

One of the big failures in human history has been the agelong attempt to stop women painting their faces. The philosophers of the Roman Empire denounced the frivolity of the modern woman in almost the same terms as she is denounced today. In the fifteenth century the Church denounced the damnable habit of plucking the eyebrows. The English Puritans, the Bolsheviks and the Nazis all attempted to discourage cosmetics, without success. In Victorian England rouge was considered so disgraceful that it was usually sold under some other name, but it continued to be used.

Many styles of dress, from the Elizabethan ruff to the Edwardian hobble skirt, have been denounced from the pulpit, without effect. In the nineteen-twenties, when skirts were at their shortest, the Pope decreed that women improperly dressed were not to be admitted to Catholic churches; but somehow feminine fashions remained unaffected. Hitler’s ‘ideal woman’, an exceedingly plain specimen in a mackintosh, was exhibited all over Germany and much of the rest of the world, but inspired few imitators.&bbsp; I prophesy that English girls will continue to ‘put filth and muck on their faces’ in spite of Mr Henriques. Even in jail, it is said, the female prisoners redden their lips with the dye from the Post Office mail bags.

Just why women use cosmetics is a different question, but it seems doubtful whether sex attraction is the main object. It is very unusual to meet a man who does not think painting your fingernails scarlet is a disgusting habit, but hundreds of thousands of women go on doing it all the same.

Meanwhile it might console Mr Henriques to know that though make-up persists, it is far less elaborate than it used to be in the days when Victorian beauties had their faces ‘enamelled’, or when it was usual to alter the contour of your cheeks by means of ‘plumpers’, as described in Swift’s poem, ‘On a Beautiful Young Nymph Going to Bed’.

http://alexpeak.com/twr/tftwm/

Nonapod म्हणाले...

Just why women use cosmetics is a different question, but it seems doubtful whether sex attraction is the main object. It is very unusual to meet a man who does not think painting your fingernails scarlet is a disgusting habit, but hundreds of thousands of women go on doing it all the same.

As has been observed ad infinitum since Orwell, most of the choices women make with regards to fashion generally aren't primarily about appealing to men. They're about other women. Whether you're talking about clothing, shoes, nails, hair, makeup, men generally don't care that much.

Meade म्हणाले...

Lucid-Ideas said...
@rhhardin

"Women look better without makeup."

Not all women.
---------------
Make-believe all women.

Mr Wibble म्हणाले...

Just why women use cosmetics is a different question, but it seems doubtful whether sex attraction is the main object. It is very unusual to meet a man who does not think painting your fingernails scarlet is a disgusting habit, but hundreds of thousands of women go on doing it all the same.

Cosmetics serve multiple purposes. One purpose is to appear more attractive, usually by emphasizing certain characteristics associated with health and fertility, such as fairer skin or plump lips. The other purpose is to distinguish the wearer from other women, with the hope of attracting attention from men.

Men can do the same thing, usually with a bit more subtlety, such as style of clothing, facial hair, or accessories such as their choice of car.

Sebastian म्हणाले...

"even if you disagreed with them, which many Tribune readers did, loudly and often"

Still a free country, then.

narciso म्हणाले...

Crimethink



https://mobile.twitter.com/MaajidNawaz/status/1354064243746869249

rcocean म्हणाले...

Racism? I don't think Orwell knew what the word meant. He disliked Colonialism and bigotry. Cf: (Shooting an elephant) Two entirely different things. But anyway, thanks Comrade.

Joe Smith म्हणाले...

'"Women look better without makeup."

Not all women.'


The most beautiful women, the ones who stop you in your tracks, don't need it.

When they do use it, it's only because they're showing off.

rcocean म्हणाले...

woman look better without makeup.

Yeah, and they never look fat in that dress either.

Most woman look better with GOOD makeup. That's why they wear it.

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

"They didn't say he wrote an essay, they said he had an opinion."

Technically, you're right. It only says he was "able to publish," not that he did. I'm making a leap. A leapette.

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

I'm interested in these columns he wrote for the Tribune at that particular time, but if we can use "1984":

"In and out of the dark doorways, and down narrow alleyways that branched off on either side, people swarmed in astonishing numbers—girls in full bloom, with crudely lipsticked mouths, and youths who chased the girls, and swollen waddling women who showed you what the girls would be like in ten years time, and old bent creatures shuffling along on splayed feet, and ragged barefooted children who played in the puddles and then scattered at angry yells from their mothers."

That could fit the subreddit Men Writing Women. Jeesh.

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

"Women look better without makeup."

On TikTok, there are so many videos of ordinary or kind of bad looking women who put on makeup and seem devastatingly beautiful.

On video... so reality-based viewers have room to think I bet that looks frightening in person.

Who knows?!

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

Thanks for finding the essay, lezlies. I've put it on the front page.

Thanks to Leland too.

Joe Smith म्हणाले...

"On TikTok, there are so many videos of ordinary or kind of bad looking women who put on makeup and seem devastatingly beautiful."

That's why I say that really gorgeous women are still gorgeous without makeup.

I prefer none to very little myself but I'm a guy, so what do I know?

Narr म्हणाले...

As long as the subject is feminine beauty, I'll just add that the most beautiful women I've ever seen were often enough also the most unique looking; too many women try too hard to look like some other, ideal woman, without appreciating their own.

Narr
Most women look better with some makeup for the same reason they look better in heels.

n.n म्हणाले...

My vote is that women wear makeup, generally accessorize, to stand apart, or with, the community. Men accessorize, too, but in different modes. Both sexes will use accessories to compensate for real and perceived shortcomings (i.e. confidence).

n.n म्हणाले...

I vote for the wonderful feminine "plumage", the color, the form, the softness, the nature, which accessories may complement and enhance.

Lucid-Ideas म्हणाले...

"On TikTok, there are so many videos of ordinary or kind of bad looking women who put on makeup and seem devastatingly beautiful."

Oh, it gets much worse. You haven't been catfished till you've been catfished by a chick who's figured out how to work the beauty apps and camera angles. I'm talking like this but worse.

When I was still in the game, which wasn't too too long ago, this was already ubiquitous. I don't mind men or women cheating a little so long as they're upfront, but you're still not allowed call women out on it.

The spleen I got in texts when I wouldn't see her again prove that.

n.n म्हणाले...

Diversity of individuals, minority of one. Stand up to color judgments, not limited to racism.

walk don't run म्हणाले...

“There are no ugly women, only lazy ones,”

Helena Rubinstein

Leland म्हणाले...

I'll give that my tag "charming bad logic."

If you haven't read The Art of Donald McGill including the "Conventions of a Dirty Joke"; then you might enjoy that essay too: "A dirty joke is not, of course, a serious attack upon morality, but it is a sort of mental rebellion, a momentary wish that things were otherwise."

I suspect you have read it.

Lurker21 म्हणाले...

"After years of smuggling his obsessions into reviews or radio programmes, he was finally able to publish whatever was on his mind..."

Now is that Orwell? Or Fred Allen?