enough with the beauty
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
So I was watching Mad Men the other night and a startling thought suddenly occurred to me: I’m tired of looking at beautiful people. Beautiful women in particular, all roughly the same age. Separate from the feminist issue of media images and the psychological issues of self-esteem and body image--all this beauty has become dull and predictable,
Specifically, it occurred to me how much more interesting the character Bobbie Barrett would be (she’s the comedian’s wife, Draper’s most recent dalliance) if she were a little more roadworn, a little less young and fresh under her hardened broad act. Give me a face that has lived a little, please. On a person who still manages to be sexy and sexual.
One reason British television shows and movies are so engrossing is that the Brits are unafraid of character actors whose faces are more interesting than strictly beautiful.
Which leads me, in a roundabout way, to an interesting campaign to get one of the women’s magazines to publish an issue in which the feature photo shoot and cover have no airbrushed imagines. If you join the campaign, you are promising to purchasing at least two copies of the first magazine to rise to the challenge.
Sure, it sounds like a very fat chance. But it’s worth a try, eh what? To join the campaign, click here.
Specifically, it occurred to me how much more interesting the character Bobbie Barrett would be (she’s the comedian’s wife, Draper’s most recent dalliance) if she were a little more roadworn, a little less young and fresh under her hardened broad act. Give me a face that has lived a little, please. On a person who still manages to be sexy and sexual.
One reason British television shows and movies are so engrossing is that the Brits are unafraid of character actors whose faces are more interesting than strictly beautiful.
Which leads me, in a roundabout way, to an interesting campaign to get one of the women’s magazines to publish an issue in which the feature photo shoot and cover have no airbrushed imagines. If you join the campaign, you are promising to purchasing at least two copies of the first magazine to rise to the challenge.
Sure, it sounds like a very fat chance. But it’s worth a try, eh what? To join the campaign, click here.
Labels: beauty, feminism, pop culture, television
girly post
Monday, May 5, 2008
I was out and about shopping for article research on Saturday, and doing a little recon for myself. As usual, I found it a fairly annoying experience.
I had to go to Sephora and Ulta, two mega beauty stores, which just about put me into anaphylactic shock. My god, so many, many, many products for making us better than we are. What a sorry excuse for a woman I am … I use so few of these products. At Sephora, waiting for a cashier requires standing in line in a lane of impulse purchases, like the candy racks by the supermarket checkout. Except all these little doodads are expensive. The least expensive I noticed was some sort of Bliss moisturizer for $8. Everything else was $15, $20, $30. Yikes. Does everyone else in the world really have that much dough to toss around on impulse? What’s wrong with me?
However, in researching this same article, I’ve been spending some time perusing beauty blogs looking for new and interesting products. In particular, I’ve been reading BeautyAddict and actually liking it.
I was interested to note that Beauty Addict has a particular wand up her tush about Maybelline Great Lash mascara, which has long been a beauty icon. She considers it highly overrated. I’ve been using Great Lash since I was a teenager but I was willing to listen. She’s obviously given it a lot more thought that I have.
Her favorite mascara, as discussed here, is Lancome Fatale, but I’m simply not the kind of person who spends $23 on a mascara. However, I was willing to give her drugstore favorite a try. L’Oreal Voluminous costs a couple of bucks more than Great Lash. Wow. I’m sold. My puny lashes looked a hundred times fatter under the influence of Voluminous than with Great Lash. I’ve purchased my last pink and green tube. The times, they are a changing….
I got a $5 coupon from DSW as a birthday present from the company, so of course I had to pop in there to see what I could see. While I was rapidly glazing over among the rows and rows and rows of shoes, I overheard one woman saying to another, “I just want to find a pair of simple…”
I didn’t hear the rest of the sentence but knew immediately that her search was doomed. When you put “just” and “simple” in the same sentence these days, you are setting yourself up for heartbreak. It only sounds like it should be easy. It would be much easier if you said, “I’m looking for something impractical, over-the-top and crapified with too much chazzerai.” Or, “I’m looking for a pair of hot pink patent leather fake lizard sandals with five-inch heels and overly shiny gold buckles.” Those, I almost guarantee you could find. But “just” and “simple”? Good luck, lady.
This is especially true of handbags these days. My goodness, they’re crapified. As far as I’m concerned, nothing makes a purse, shoe or garment looking cheaper and cheesier than lots of big buckles and logos and danglies and snaps and zippers and what-all.
Evidently, though, that’s just me.
Finally, since I was in a mall, I decided to pop into Lenscrafters and look at glasses frames. I’ve been wearing the same glasses for at least five years and I’m ready for a change. I had a shape in mind but of course, that’s a recipe for heartbreak. (I just want a simple…)
What’s completely bumfuzzling to me is that Lenscrafters was filled with dozens and dozens and DOZENS of nearly identical frames. The shape of the moment is a sort of narrow squared shape like these, and that’s pretty much what everyone is making in various colors and fabrications. I like them, they’re cute, they look OK but honestly, couldn’t we have just a little variety? Does everyone need to be on the same bandwagon? It seems to foolish. And it’s definitely frustrating.
That is all.
I had to go to Sephora and Ulta, two mega beauty stores, which just about put me into anaphylactic shock. My god, so many, many, many products for making us better than we are. What a sorry excuse for a woman I am … I use so few of these products. At Sephora, waiting for a cashier requires standing in line in a lane of impulse purchases, like the candy racks by the supermarket checkout. Except all these little doodads are expensive. The least expensive I noticed was some sort of Bliss moisturizer for $8. Everything else was $15, $20, $30. Yikes. Does everyone else in the world really have that much dough to toss around on impulse? What’s wrong with me?
However, in researching this same article, I’ve been spending some time perusing beauty blogs looking for new and interesting products. In particular, I’ve been reading BeautyAddict and actually liking it.
I was interested to note that Beauty Addict has a particular wand up her tush about Maybelline Great Lash mascara, which has long been a beauty icon. She considers it highly overrated. I’ve been using Great Lash since I was a teenager but I was willing to listen. She’s obviously given it a lot more thought that I have.
Her favorite mascara, as discussed here, is Lancome Fatale, but I’m simply not the kind of person who spends $23 on a mascara. However, I was willing to give her drugstore favorite a try. L’Oreal Voluminous costs a couple of bucks more than Great Lash. Wow. I’m sold. My puny lashes looked a hundred times fatter under the influence of Voluminous than with Great Lash. I’ve purchased my last pink and green tube. The times, they are a changing….
I got a $5 coupon from DSW as a birthday present from the company, so of course I had to pop in there to see what I could see. While I was rapidly glazing over among the rows and rows and rows of shoes, I overheard one woman saying to another, “I just want to find a pair of simple…”
I didn’t hear the rest of the sentence but knew immediately that her search was doomed. When you put “just” and “simple” in the same sentence these days, you are setting yourself up for heartbreak. It only sounds like it should be easy. It would be much easier if you said, “I’m looking for something impractical, over-the-top and crapified with too much chazzerai.” Or, “I’m looking for a pair of hot pink patent leather fake lizard sandals with five-inch heels and overly shiny gold buckles.” Those, I almost guarantee you could find. But “just” and “simple”? Good luck, lady.
This is especially true of handbags these days. My goodness, they’re crapified. As far as I’m concerned, nothing makes a purse, shoe or garment looking cheaper and cheesier than lots of big buckles and logos and danglies and snaps and zippers and what-all.
Evidently, though, that’s just me.
Finally, since I was in a mall, I decided to pop into Lenscrafters and look at glasses frames. I’ve been wearing the same glasses for at least five years and I’m ready for a change. I had a shape in mind but of course, that’s a recipe for heartbreak. (I just want a simple…)
What’s completely bumfuzzling to me is that Lenscrafters was filled with dozens and dozens and DOZENS of nearly identical frames. The shape of the moment is a sort of narrow squared shape like these, and that’s pretty much what everyone is making in various colors and fabrications. I like them, they’re cute, they look OK but honestly, couldn’t we have just a little variety? Does everyone need to be on the same bandwagon? It seems to foolish. And it’s definitely frustrating.
That is all.
Labels: beauty, cosmetics, eyeglasses, products, purses, shoes, shopping
if it's friday it must be flotsam
Friday, May 2, 2008
Lots of flotsam today so let’s get busy.
First, shameless promotion: Black and Blue and the AllGood Café tomorrow night. Meet me there! The Dallas Observer advanced the show here.
***
A month or so ago, my brother sent me this link to Missing Money, a site that searches for unclaimed property (i.e. money). He’d searched my name and found money owed to me. I went to the site, filled out the brief form and forgot all about it. Well shiver me timbers and blow me over—a check for $371 turned up in my mailbox last week! Try it.
***
The email subject line said: Press release
The message said: Hope your readers find this press release of interest.
The press release was an attached Word document.
If ever a presentation begged to be ignored, it’s this one. A subject and message that tells me nothing, and an attachment from someone I don’t know. Maybe it’s a perfectly legitimate release with information that my readers would find of interest but I’m not going to investigate. Hit delete, get on with my life. The world is full of cluelessness.
***
Here’s a nifty little tip from the NYT tech blog. If you use Firefox, you can bring up the Quick Find box to search a page by just hitting the forward slash key (same key as the question mark). Seconds saved every week!
***
Texas Tech University psychology department has launched a series of short podcasts about this and that, psychology-ish, featuring interviews with experts here and there. Here’s the homepage. They’re a little homespun sounding but that’s OK.
***
I don’t know why this story is buried on page 3 of the business section, but it’s big exciting news to me. Gas prices are causing people to “stampede” to small car. Can I get a HELL YEAH?
Unfortunately, this is bad news for SUV and truck manufacturers (i.e. American companies). But it's good for the planet, the highways and my blood pressure, since the mere sight of a Hummer makes it soar. I'm very sensitive that way.
***
Another of my pet peeves is the luxurification of the world. Have I discussed that before? How we seem to be devaluing all qualities—quaint, cozy, charming, kitschy—in favor of luxurious? It’s one of my favorite rants, I’m happy to go into it if I’ve neglected to rant it here.
Anyway, the DMN has a story this morning that seems to back my point, about a direct sales company called Home Interiors that was extremely successful until new owners decided to aim for the high-end market instead of the cozy low-incomers for whom the brand was developed. It didn’t work and now the company is filing for bankruptcy.
I love having my prejudices affirmed.
***
The snarky chick-oriented website Jezebel puts an interesting and believable spin on reports that the depression rate in women is twice that of men.
The Jezebel writer suggests that this isn’t because twice as many women as men get depressed but because women are so much more likely to go for treatment when they do. She speculates that many more men are depressed than ever seek treatment. If some dude is walking around depressed but undiagnosed, does he count? she asks.
It’s a good post, take a look.
***
Jezebel has also alerted me to a Ms. magazine article that sounds interesting, about self-objectification or "viewing one's body as a sex object to be consumed by the male gaze."
The post continues: More and more women are viewing themselves as sex objects, says Caroline Heldman, Ph.D., an assistant professor of politics at Occidental College, and it's due in large part to the veritable onslaught of advertising images that we're subjected to.
I think this is right on right on but the only solution offered, evidently, is to avoid media images objectifying women, but that would pretty much mean locking oneself in a dark room.
Read the post yourself.
I certainly wish I could stop constantly comparing myself with other women--both media images and women I see every day. It’s a miserable pastime, a distracting little drone in my head: I’m fatter than her…I’m thinner than her...fatter…thinner…fatter…fatter…older…younger….fatter…
What a useless waste of brain energy.
***
Hey, the cool website WorldHum linked to my post this week about how rising travel costs might discourage dabblers from traveling. OK, so I alerted an editor to the post in a bit of Shameless Self Promotion, but he liked it enough to link so that was very gratifying.
***
Finally, in what may become a weekly voyeuristic feature as long as I feel like it, this week’s Google searches that brought people to this site are:
xoloescuintle price
Thank God I books for sale Castagnini
inside the brain of a narcissist
Narcissist Bully
negative reviews of elizabeth gilbert's eat, pray, love
gmail emails not reaching their destination
derivation of lithium name
cashmere bouquet plant
customer support gmail
crossdresser in saree
outlook autofill subject line
mayeaux pronunciation
odd looking dogs
give me obama email adress and guest 2008@yahoo.com
Xoloescuintle Dog
jack kent cooke Conundrum
gmail to yahoo not getting sent
First, shameless promotion: Black and Blue and the AllGood Café tomorrow night. Meet me there! The Dallas Observer advanced the show here.
***
A month or so ago, my brother sent me this link to Missing Money, a site that searches for unclaimed property (i.e. money). He’d searched my name and found money owed to me. I went to the site, filled out the brief form and forgot all about it. Well shiver me timbers and blow me over—a check for $371 turned up in my mailbox last week! Try it.
***
The email subject line said: Press release
The message said: Hope your readers find this press release of interest.
The press release was an attached Word document.
If ever a presentation begged to be ignored, it’s this one. A subject and message that tells me nothing, and an attachment from someone I don’t know. Maybe it’s a perfectly legitimate release with information that my readers would find of interest but I’m not going to investigate. Hit delete, get on with my life. The world is full of cluelessness.
***
Here’s a nifty little tip from the NYT tech blog. If you use Firefox, you can bring up the Quick Find box to search a page by just hitting the forward slash key (same key as the question mark). Seconds saved every week!
***
Texas Tech University psychology department has launched a series of short podcasts about this and that, psychology-ish, featuring interviews with experts here and there. Here’s the homepage. They’re a little homespun sounding but that’s OK.
***
I don’t know why this story is buried on page 3 of the business section, but it’s big exciting news to me. Gas prices are causing people to “stampede” to small car. Can I get a HELL YEAH?
Unfortunately, this is bad news for SUV and truck manufacturers (i.e. American companies). But it's good for the planet, the highways and my blood pressure, since the mere sight of a Hummer makes it soar. I'm very sensitive that way.
***
Another of my pet peeves is the luxurification of the world. Have I discussed that before? How we seem to be devaluing all qualities—quaint, cozy, charming, kitschy—in favor of luxurious? It’s one of my favorite rants, I’m happy to go into it if I’ve neglected to rant it here.
Anyway, the DMN has a story this morning that seems to back my point, about a direct sales company called Home Interiors that was extremely successful until new owners decided to aim for the high-end market instead of the cozy low-incomers for whom the brand was developed. It didn’t work and now the company is filing for bankruptcy.
I love having my prejudices affirmed.
***
The snarky chick-oriented website Jezebel puts an interesting and believable spin on reports that the depression rate in women is twice that of men.
The Jezebel writer suggests that this isn’t because twice as many women as men get depressed but because women are so much more likely to go for treatment when they do. She speculates that many more men are depressed than ever seek treatment. If some dude is walking around depressed but undiagnosed, does he count? she asks.
It’s a good post, take a look.
***
Jezebel has also alerted me to a Ms. magazine article that sounds interesting, about self-objectification or "viewing one's body as a sex object to be consumed by the male gaze."
The post continues: More and more women are viewing themselves as sex objects, says Caroline Heldman, Ph.D., an assistant professor of politics at Occidental College, and it's due in large part to the veritable onslaught of advertising images that we're subjected to.
I think this is right on right on but the only solution offered, evidently, is to avoid media images objectifying women, but that would pretty much mean locking oneself in a dark room.
Read the post yourself.
I certainly wish I could stop constantly comparing myself with other women--both media images and women I see every day. It’s a miserable pastime, a distracting little drone in my head: I’m fatter than her…I’m thinner than her...fatter…thinner…fatter…fatter…older…younger….fatter…
What a useless waste of brain energy.
***
Hey, the cool website WorldHum linked to my post this week about how rising travel costs might discourage dabblers from traveling. OK, so I alerted an editor to the post in a bit of Shameless Self Promotion, but he liked it enough to link so that was very gratifying.
***
Finally, in what may become a weekly voyeuristic feature as long as I feel like it, this week’s Google searches that brought people to this site are:
xoloescuintle price
Thank God I books for sale Castagnini
inside the brain of a narcissist
Narcissist Bully
negative reviews of elizabeth gilbert's eat, pray, love
gmail emails not reaching their destination
derivation of lithium name
cashmere bouquet plant
customer support gmail
crossdresser in saree
outlook autofill subject line
mayeaux pronunciation
odd looking dogs
give me obama email adress and guest 2008@yahoo.com
Xoloescuintle Dog
jack kent cooke Conundrum
gmail to yahoo not getting sent
Labels: automobiles, beauty, black and blue, culture, economy, fashion, fat, feminism, flotsam, jezebel, news, nightlife, personal growth, psychology, public relations, rolling stones, sexism
wandering wednesday
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Here comes high-maintenance season, and I don’t just mean yard work. (Though we did finally clear the leaves from the yard and the Garden Bed of Death is showing encouraging signs of life.
But more than that, the months of shaggy legs and toes au naturel are waning. Body parts must be toned and exfoliated, pits must be pristine. It was warm enough for shorts or a summer skirt this weekend but my legs were in no shape to expose and so I sweated it out in jeans.
A young woman in one of my yoga classes is toned and fit and hairy-legged as a little boy. I envy her insouciance. I can’t do that and never could—the stereotype of the hairy feminist is just bigotry. Most feminists I know are as vigilant about body hair as any beauty queen.
So, it’s time to get out the wax and start ripping hair out by its roots. It’s a dreary, not to mention painful, and unending chore. Shaving is no better because it must be done more often.
And time to start booking pedicures, which are pleasant but ultimately pricey, by the end of our long spring and summer.
But a gal’s gotta do what a gal’s gotta do.
I read in the paper this morning that the London Tech Music School named Smoke on the Water the greatest guitar riff of all time. So naturally, that’s been on a maddening tape loop in my head all morning. Maybe I can exorcise it by passing it on to you.
This recipe for garlicky garbanzo burgers sounds yummy to me. The DMN Taste section consistently has great recipes, I plan to try this one soon.
I like today’s Dilbert. (April 9, if you’re coming to this blog another day.) Hostility is fun!
I got blogrolled by Poopouri and it’s getting a lot of clicks. I’m sure people are disappointed when they get there to find me just mocking rather than reviewing. But evidently, a lot of people are worried about bathroom odors. Maybe I could ask for a review sample …
I always mean to link to my articles when they run but don’t always remember. So, here’s one about ADD that ran in December.
And another about Earthwatch that ran in October, I think.
Black and Blue has two more gigs booked at the AllGood—May 3 and May 23. Mark your calendars and come have fun!
But more than that, the months of shaggy legs and toes au naturel are waning. Body parts must be toned and exfoliated, pits must be pristine. It was warm enough for shorts or a summer skirt this weekend but my legs were in no shape to expose and so I sweated it out in jeans.
A young woman in one of my yoga classes is toned and fit and hairy-legged as a little boy. I envy her insouciance. I can’t do that and never could—the stereotype of the hairy feminist is just bigotry. Most feminists I know are as vigilant about body hair as any beauty queen.
So, it’s time to get out the wax and start ripping hair out by its roots. It’s a dreary, not to mention painful, and unending chore. Shaving is no better because it must be done more often.
And time to start booking pedicures, which are pleasant but ultimately pricey, by the end of our long spring and summer.
But a gal’s gotta do what a gal’s gotta do.
I read in the paper this morning that the London Tech Music School named Smoke on the Water the greatest guitar riff of all time. So naturally, that’s been on a maddening tape loop in my head all morning. Maybe I can exorcise it by passing it on to you.
This recipe for garlicky garbanzo burgers sounds yummy to me. The DMN Taste section consistently has great recipes, I plan to try this one soon.
I like today’s Dilbert. (April 9, if you’re coming to this blog another day.) Hostility is fun!
I got blogrolled by Poopouri and it’s getting a lot of clicks. I’m sure people are disappointed when they get there to find me just mocking rather than reviewing. But evidently, a lot of people are worried about bathroom odors. Maybe I could ask for a review sample …
I always mean to link to my articles when they run but don’t always remember. So, here’s one about ADD that ran in December.
And another about Earthwatch that ran in October, I think.
Black and Blue has two more gigs booked at the AllGood—May 3 and May 23. Mark your calendars and come have fun!
Labels: beauty, cartoon, food, humor, music, recipes
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