From Lipstick to Beyoncé.
This is my favorite body practice. I have been a docile body since the age of 13 and I am a walking example of Susan Bordo’s theories about men’s perception within women’s mind. I am not saying that my looks and body practice has anything to do with how strong or weak of a woman I am and can be , but I do dress myself, think about my looks and carry myself the way I believe men would find me attractive. Black cherry lipstick by Revlon has been the love of my life for years and I have come to accept that I am girly and materialistic enough to wear to when I work out, when it doesn’t match anything and even when I sleep. This insignificant application of a lipstick has become such a big part of my daily rituals that I can sense my friends and classmates look at me differently when I do not have it on. I see the same kind of behavior in one of my roommate who insists on applying bronzer every day and night to look tan.
Coming from India, this tanning practice truly makes me laugh because light skin is praised and desired in my country and I find it hilarious and ironic that in America, women and men go out of their way to darken their skin color. I am not against tanning; I just find it interesting how different cultures inspire body practices. Since my skin is dark, I am trained to be overly conscious of how I look but I see the lighting of skin tones even in photos of celebrities and magazines where Beyoncé, is portrayed as a light tone African American goddess when her skin is truly much darker in reality. I do not understand the need to make her look lighter than her true skin color since she is already so high profiled and loved for her beauty. Our society is involved in this battle between spectrums of skin tone. Beauty is relative. I am not proud of my dependency to make up and other practices that make me docile but I do enjoy them and I believe that because surface beauty is highly valued in our society, any way to achieve that level of beauty, true or artificial, places the person in a position of power. It is sad that appearance can achieve success but I find it to extremely true.
For some reasons, I can't see the pictures you posted. Is there any other way I can see the photos?
ReplyDeleteWhat you said about different cultures inspire different body practices is absolutely right. Coming from China, although the tanning body practice does not make me laugh like you do, I still find it interesting and different from where I am from. Girls in Hong Kong or China don't really like to go out to get tanning because they think that they will get freckle or some other "spot" that affect their appearance, but this is not the case in America. Also, I found it interesting that when it is nice out, Americans like to hang out outside, like reading books, playing frisbee, totally different from girls from China who have to bring their umbrellas and try to stay out of the sun. I think it's cool that Americans like to enjoy the sun, hang out outside, and some of them with a little tan certainly look good and healthy.