Wrote Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who got a text that asked "Do you want to get that little spot on your nose fixed?"
She's quoted in "'I’m Fine With My Body': Danish Leader Responds to Unsolicited Beauty Advice/Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen had just returned from Ukraine when she received a message from a plastic surgeon asking if she wanted to fix her nose" (NYT gift link).
The Times makes this a discussion of the pressure on women to meet beauty standards. I think that's an important issue. I'd like to see it tied to the massive celebration of Dolly Parton, who went to an immense amount of trouble to manifest her ideal of highly exaggerated feminine beauty.
But what I want to talk about is the facial phenomenon often called a "wart." First of all, it's not a wart! I see it's in scare quotes in the translation of the PM's Instagram post. To quote dermatologist in a 2008 NBC article, "The ‘warts’ [witches] have on their nose aren’t really warts at all. They’re fibrous papules, a benign growth on the skin. They’re kind of like a mole except bigger. I don’t know where all that [calling it a wart] got started."
Second, fibrous papules are easy to remove. Why don't people get them removed? It's not like rejecting, say, rhinoplasty. A person might really identify with their big/bumpy nose. That's great. I strongly support the position taken by the wonderful guru of feminine beauty, Babushka:
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36 comments:
Let's not forget the authority on this subject.
"I can’t count how many messages I’ve received over time about my appearance. Especially that I have ugly teeth and thin hair."
I'll take her word for it, but the quote provided was from a plastic surgeon. I don't think that's illustrative of the story the article is pushing.
Dolly was celebrated for character, talent, and presentation. The feminine gender is not a deficit. #NoJudgment #NoLabels
"It costs a lot of money to look this cheap."
-- Dolly Parton
Isn't it funny how these things are only called 'beauty marks' if the woman is already beautiful anyway?
Said of Gandhi ....
It costs a lot of money to keep him looking poor
“It is not a toomah!”
“The Times makes this a discussion of the pressure on women to meet beauty standards. I think that's an important issue.”
I think it’s just one more thing for them to whine about.
I always thought Robert Redford’s moles were distracting. Not because of some beauty standards but because I couldn’t help thinking they could easily become cancerous. They’re easily removed; I don’t understand why he wouldn’t do it.
The beauty mark originated as a European elite method to hide scarring caused by STDs or other diseases (sadly it wouldn't have helped George Danton). Europeans learned to love and still do love their betters, warts and all.
"Isn't it funny how these things are only called 'beauty marks' if the woman is already beautiful anyway?"
The dome-shape things that are called "warts" — but are really fibrous papules — are the same color as the skin. I think "beauty marks" are always dark colored. The alternative word for that is "mole."
Your weight, your body odor, your nasal hair, your moles. Some forms of ugliness that can be controlled, should be controlled. There's passive ugliness and aggressive ugliness........I don't think that men hold ugliness against women in a professional setting. In some ways, it can be an advantage or, at least, less of a distraction,......The Danish PM looks competent and reliable, and her looks don't seem to have held her back.........Should a girl who looks like Bridget Bardot be counselled into taking up the study of particle physics? That' would be a waste, and it's not sexist to say so. I wouldn't advise Mickey Mantle to stop playing ball games and take up accounting.
Cindy Crawford and Ann Francis chose to keep their moles, neither of which detracted from their good looks.
In an interview years ago, Jane Fonda recalled that she stayed as a guest at Dolly's home and never once saw her sans makeup, wig, etc. Dolly would get up early and do all the usual primping, even just hosting her friends.
The Prime Minister looks great, by the way. Here's a photo where you can clearly see the fibrous papule on her nose. I just wonder why she wouldn't get that removed. Here's a plastic surgeon saying he could snip off that unsightly distraction, and she's just saying it's not your place to nudge me to do anything I haven't decided to do on my own. Fine. All respect to her. I just wonder why people don't opt to get those things removed.
"In an interview years ago, Jane Fonda recalled that she stayed as a guest at Dolly's home and never once saw her sans makeup, wig, etc. Dolly would get up early and do all the usual primping, even just hosting her friends."
I read that she would go out doing RV camping with her husband and could be around all sorts of people and they'd never recognize her because she didn't have the makeup and wig and had normal clothing and probably spoke differently too. If your public image is a character, you don't need a disguise to go out as your plain self.
"Don’t go changing, to try and please me"
http://www.saint-petersburg.com/famous-people/anna-akhmatova/
There are stories about Marilyn Monroe being able to go out in public and avoid being recognized just by not acting like the character Marilyn Monroe. Even without doing things with hair, makeup, and clothes, she could switch back and forth and people would respond accordingly — either seeing MM or seeing a nobody. So they say.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/cover-of-elle-slovenia-with-severina-vuckovic-february-2014-id27095-magazines--499055202468318162/
Re Dolly and her beauty rituals: To deal with high level music and entertainment industry types, journalists, managers, agents and assorted parasites, you need to have an interior life that is at a high level of alert for the detection of dishonesty and incompetence. Dolly must have felt she needed the beauty persona as a tool to deal with those things.
She's plenty cute enough.
That was the question, right?
All I can say is that I had one on my forehead and had it removed, not by a plastic surgeon, but my primary care physician. Plus, I'm a guy and was in my 50s when I had it done.
It's all fine and well to like your current appearance, but there is also nothing wrong with trying to improve it. I doubt anyone would think less of her if she had it removed. I would like to think she is among them.
“Should a girl who looks like Bridget Bardot be counselled into taking up the study of particle physics? That' would be a waste, and it's not sexist to say so. I wouldn't advise Mickey Mantle to stop playing ball games and take up accounting.”
Reminds me of a favorite scene from the great high school football series “Friday Night Lights”. Stunning blonde cheerleader Tyra is advised by earnest counselor Connie Britton to concentrate on her studies and get into a decent college instead of going to California and relying on her looks to become a star. Tyra follows Connie’s advice; happy ending. Except of course the actress Connie is speaking to did exactly the opposite. She didn’t get a major role in a hit series based on her SAT scores.
Politics aside, I would never trust Jane fonda on anything. She's a born exhibitionist, egotist, and liar. Her mother was nuts and committed suicide and I think a lot of the craziness got passed on.
Re my 12:58 pm post, this URL might avoid the pinterest pop-up...
ELLE Slovenija February 2014 — Severina
"She's plenty cute enough.
That was the question, right?"
Possibly, "does this nose make my fibrous papule look fat?"
Years ago I had a mole removed from my face. It was done in the office, painless and took about 60 seconds and cost maybe $150 total. I don't know why someone doesn't get that kind of thing fixed. One of the best ways to spend money is making a permanent improvement that's simple and cheap, especially if it's on your face. A lifetime of not dealing with or even thinking about it again for a couple hundreds bucks. Easy one.
Diversity (e.g. color judgment). Maybe, baby. Her choice. His choice. Their choice is a fetus... uh, feature of democracy.
“ Politics aside, I would never trust Jane fonda on anything. She's a born exhibitionist, egotist, and liar.”
Just turn the sound off. Like children, some women should be seen and not heard.
About 2 years ago I had something growing on my forehead. I got a pharmacist to recommend something by saying the magic words "Do you have anything for this?"
It works every time.
Don't tell them I sent you.
I might need that hack to work again.
I don't want it to take off.
Become a TikTok thing.
Jesus Christ of Monte Cristo.
My mother had such a papule on her nose -- just a bit larger -- and somehow she made it thru life just fine. These days I try not to stare in the mirror too long...
Althouse notes: "I'd like to see it tied to the massive celebration of Dolly Parton, who went to an immense amount of trouble to manifest her ideal of highly exaggerated feminine beauty."
Dolly Parton looked beyond that - she noted: "Nobody notices I’ve got a great ass too!"
That woman could not be beat.
One reason we don't opt to have them removed is that, in my area anyway, doctors won't cut unless there's a medical need. Opting to have a bump removed often means paying full price, and we all have our own limits for that.
My hump, my hump, my hump, my lovely lady lumps ...
Is Denmark a deeply unserious country or are we living in a deeply unserious age?
This makes me think of all the scenes in Veep when Selena Meyer has to deal with the over-sharing Finnish PM, Ninna Hakkinen, who happily discusses menstruation, menopause, dry vaginas, and other topics not usually discussed in American politics at Events of State. Maybe the best depiction of the difference between Capitalism and Socialism of all time.
Why don't people remove things from their skin, Althouse? FFS. We and our spouses don't get unnecessary cosmetic improvements paid by our usorious crap private medical insurance because we're so busy paying our tax dollars to subsidize your wall-to-wall platinum plan. We also can't afford any dental or eye care insurance. Jesus wept, try stepping out of your elitist bubbles, at least symbolically, or just shut up about all your taxpayer funded goodies. My husband had melanoma, which you go on about, and though we were younger, we were still already paying out our asses for health insurance. He went for the cash rate, which was still a month of his salary, to remove one melanoma, and our premiums then nearly doubled. Have some fucking decency. You have never in your life worked half as hard as he does, but we pay for you and your husband, and we still can't afford doctors for real problems, no matter which "plan" we "choose." How both cruelly neutral and Libertarian of you. Either grasp at comprehending reality or, seriously, be silent.
OK, after seeing two pictures of here I'm asking "What's the big deal?"
She's not horribly unattractive. So, who cares?
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