From "All of a flutter: how eyelashes became beauty’s biggest business/The eyelash business is worth $1.66bn – and is predicted to grow from there. Why are we so obsessed with our lashes? Eva Wiseman reports on their history and significance" (The Guardian).
That article continues with various other eyelash treatments, so I go looking for more on Clare Chambers and "shametenance." I find this from last year: "A Defense of the Unmodified Body: Clare Chambers Interview/We spoke to the acclaimed Cambridge philosopher Clare Chambers about her new book, Intact, which examines and critiques the urge to alter or ‘perfect’ our bodies." Excerpt:
Every time we eat or drink, exercise or rest, engage in personal hygiene or don’t, we’re subtly modifying our bodies. Our bodies can’t be literally unmodified.
But there’s also a deeper reason why the unmodified body is a premise and not a conclusion. Dominant ideals about how bodies should be mean that some of us have bodies that are closer to those ideals than others. Body ideals are structured around sex and gender, emphasise particular racialized features, tend to value youthfulness, and so on. Given that, prizes for remaining unmodified would be prizes for the privileged.
The problem is not with all body modification practices as such (although some practices are risky or harmful, and I discuss that in the book). The problem is with the constant and overwhelming pressure to modify our bodies — the pressure to think of our bodies as always and inevitably failing.
One part of this picture is what I call “shametenance”. Shametenance is all the things that we do to maintain the idea that our bodies are shameful. It includes the ways that our bodies are meant to be kept private or unsayable — I discuss the example of period shame here — and all the things we do to conceal those parts or aspects of our bodies that it would be shameful to reveal. For some people that might be the felt need to conceal wrinkles or gray hair; for others it might be about hiding scars or blemishes; for some it might be about hiding fat and disguising body shape; for others, it’s about concealing disability or constructing a body to fit one’s identity.
My argument is very simple, because it asks us to consider whether we might be able to allow our bodies to be good enough just as they are. It’s about rejecting social pressures, not rejecting all modification. But it’s radical, because it also means refusing shametenance — and this is a very difficult step.
Shame. It's the opposite of pride. See previous post.
Now, that's got me thinking about Martha Ann Alito's idea of a shame flag to signal back to her neighbor, who's flying a pride flag. On that topic, let me just link to the new podcast from the comedian Tim Dillon:
If you actually listened to that — I love it, but you might hate it — you heard the recording of Mrs. Alito saying: "You know what I want? I want a Sacred Heart of Jesus flag because I have to look across the lagoon at the pride flag for the next month exactly And he's like, oh, please don't put up a flag I said I won't do it because I'm deferring to you, but when you were free of this nonsense I'm putting it up and I'm gonna send them a message every day. Maybe every week. I'll be changing the flags They'll be all kinds. I made a flag in my head. This is how I satisfy myself. I made a flag It's white and it's yellow and orange flames around it, and in the middle is the word, vergonia. Vergonia in Italian means shame."
Dillon gets a lot out of "I made a flag in my head" and "This is how I satisfy myself."
AND: The need for pride is the proof of shame. Overcome both.
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What they are actually shaming is women trying to look attractive for men, participating in courtship and finding stable relationships together.
Elizabeth Holmes was Chelsea Clinton with makeup. I dare anyone to find a better example of makeup's power to elevate the unworthy to positions they don't deserve.
The response to a Rainbow banner is an albinophobic shame flag. The response to Pride month is to raise a flag celebrating a parade of lions, lionesses, and their unPlanned cubs playing in gay revelry on the African savanna. That said, civil unions, not political congruence ("="), for all consenting adults.
As for social religion that normalized maintenance, do the Slut Walk? That's so socially conservative. There is a reason why progressive liberalism was rejected by civilized society, and why the contemporary model and protocol are universally favored and conserved.
"Given that, prizes for remaining unmodified would be prizes for the privileged."
This is the heart of why people who have undergone plastic surgery lie about it. Some people have good genes and look younger or fitter or more symmetrically beautiful. DNA has privileged them and they don't need to add or change things. Pamela Anderson is a fascinating example. She's a woman who's used plastic surgery in the past and now eschews makeup. She's privileged in the way she's modified herself and then denied herself modification.
"Pride goeth before destruction, And an haughty spirit before a fall."
Proverbs 16:18
When I see tats - especially on women - I am repulsed.
What is wrong with these people?
The tats are always hideous. Not that there could be a non-hideous tat.
But tats are useful as they brand the tatted person as one of bad judgment, low intelligence and low class.
Pudendum comes from L pudor, shame.
Me: Reads article, makes supercilious expression.
Many of the things women do to make themselves look better are worry over nothing--complicated make-up routines (most men prefer a light touch with make-up), plastic surgery (hardly anyone looks better after surgery and, IMO, no surgery looks better than a well-cared for body aging naturally), too-severe dieting (contra the old adage, you can be too skinny--most men prefer a woman a little overweight to a little underweight).
The idea of taking a drug to make your eyelashes thicker is insane. Who knows what else that drug is doing? And for what? Eyelashes that most men won't even notice?
I'm with Chambers on all of that, but I detect a note of fat acceptance in this essay. That's a bridge too far. You don't just look better when you're fit, you feel better, you're healthier, you will live a longer more enjoyable life.
There are things women do to their bodies to please men and there are things they do to obtain the approval of other women. No man ever cared about fingernails or eyelashes. The vast majority of men prefer women without heavy foundation. Infamously, female models for a female audience tend to have unhealthy body weights while those for a male audience do not. All of this is the product of women’s choices and they can fix it any time they want. In an abstract way, I hope they do but I no longer care.
Transvestites and transgenders.
"What they are actually shaming is women trying to look attractive for men...."
There's no "they" that's doing any shaming. I've linked to a discussion of what a person does to herself out of her own shame and it's a rejection of shame.
You're talking about something, something in your own head, but not something that's in what I linked.
There is one shamer, but not in the part about eyelashes. That's Martha Ann Alito. But she's shaming about the pride flag and what it represents. That's beyond the topic of women pursuing beauty treatments.
By the way, do men find fake eyelashes attractive? I kind of doubt it.
It has always been this way. All is vanity. There's nothing new under the sun. Let 'em be and let nature take its course. In ancient times the sickly and unfit died early and often. Now the mentally unfit can join them in extinction. It's just better this way.
There's no "they" that's doing any shaming.
I figured this was naming the shame-doers:
Dominant ideals about how bodies should be mean that some of us have bodies that are closer to those ideals than others. Body ideals are structured around sex and gender...
The "dominant" ideal-makers meant men, I thought. Could be wrong
The "debate" about body ideals has been going on my whole life. Everyone would be happier if they stop caring so much about superficial things. But, enlightened outlets like NYT will still cover the fashion industry.
I met a young woman of 19 years old the other day who was just stunningly beautiful in every way, I mean top-tier supermodel beauty with perhaps the most perfectly proportioned female body I have ever seen in person, except that she had applied gargantuan fake eyelashes that were ludicrously long and thick. It made her seem quite ordinary, if that makes any sense.
But tats are useful as they brand the tatted person as one of bad judgment, low intelligence and low class.
Actual scientific studies have shown a very high correlation between the number of tattoos and the incidence of AIDS, hepatitis C, cirrhosis, and other markers of poor decision-making.
Most men seem to prefer the natural beauty of a woman, through sickness and health, through pregnancy, too, as age tempers her glamor, until death do them part. That said, do what you can, when you can, if you can, within reason, to present yourself in the best light is advice for women and men alike.
Fake eyelashes = hookers
Black women, Kardashians early adopters.
The lashes things has gotten out of hand. Like eyebrows did several years ago.
"You see the ass on her?"
"Forget her ass, what about those ropes shooting out of her eyelids."
"Hot."
The most beautiful woman I've ever known almost never wore makeup, and often wore overalls to work.
It wasn't the lashes...
Most men seem to prefer the natural beauty of a woman, through sickness and health, through pregnancy, too, as age tempers her glamor, until death do them part.
Yep. After two kids and 30+ years of marriage my wife won't get a second glance from the average leering young man on the street, but it still drives me wild to turn the lights down low and hold her in my arms and kiss her like we were teenagers again.
“Pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source. True humility is the only antidote to shame.” - Iroh
Spend some time trolling YouTube. The sheer number of makeup tutorials for every known deficiency is staggering.
Castor oil helps with thin eyelashes and overplucked eyebrows. Inexpensive and easily available. Added benefit: it seems to promote sleep when applied on the lashes.
Kate said...
"Given that, prizes for remaining unmodified would be prizes for the privileged."
This is the heart of why people who have undergone plastic surgery lie about it. Some people have good genes and look younger or fitter or more symmetrically beautiful. DNA has privileged them and they don't need to add or change things. Pamela Anderson is a fascinating example. She's a woman who's used plastic surgery in the past and now eschews makeup. She's privileged in the way she's modified herself and then denied herself modification.
I really look forward to the future where everyone can decide how they want to look because of plastic surgery.
It should be cheap and accessible.
The future will be better when everyone is attractive.
it still drives me wild to turn the lights down low and hold her in my arms and kiss her like we were teenagers again.
In sweetness and delight.
Ann Althouse said...
"What they are actually shaming is women trying to look attractive for men...."
There's no "they" that's doing any shaming. I've linked to a discussion of what a person does to herself out of her own shame and it's a rejection of shame.
You're talking about something, something in your own head, but not something that's in what I linked.
Meh.
There is one shamer, but not in the part about eyelashes. That's Martha Ann Alito. But she's shaming about the pride flag and what it represents. That's beyond the topic of women pursuing beauty treatments.
Everyone else knows exactly what I am talking about. To the extent feminism and transism/fatism are related the feminist movement didn't change people, it just adopted the trans and fat activism. It is all a grift and it is all about remaking society in a way that benefits a small number of high status men. All of these "isms" are funded by the same small number of people. Feminism did not originate with women. Neither did the trans movement originate with trans people nor did the fat movement start with fat people.
By the way, do men find fake eyelashes attractive? I kind of doubt it.
No.
It is much like men with big muscles. Body builders do it to impress other men.
Most of what women do is competition with other women for perceived attention. What they find is that less attractive women are actually more promiscuous at young ages and the hypothesis is that they have to do more to get attention from boys.
"By the way, do men find fake eyelashes attractive? I kind of doubt it."
No. You might as well put on a clown nose.
I'm old enough that there were dress codes through my years high school. And then, after graduating I worked at Disneyland for a number of years where girls were only allowed a limited amount of makeup. So- for my teens and into my twenties, most of the girls I was around wore very little makeup. It would appear this has had an effect on me when it comes to what seems normal regarding makeup on women- a lot of what I see these days is beyond cartoonish. It boggles my mind that *anyone* finds caked-on layers of makeup attractive.
“Why are we so obsessed with our lashes?”
An answer to the men’s facial hair coming back?
Now do all the gym bros on gear that claim to be "natty".
Everyone knows that the respect only flows if cheating isn't talked about.
I saw a small car the other day, that had a giant pair of fake eyelashes above the headlights.
It did look kind of cute.
You can probably get them thru the Amazon portal.
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