The death of beauty

Gold cherry

By blighters rock

Tue, 17 Feb 2015
  • 9659 reads
21 comments
 

Searching for inspiration on a topic that has all but escaped me, I google ‘pictures of beauty’, hoping to find cute animals snuggling up to their mothers with dad looking out for trouble, rugged and deep forests dark with mystery, shimmering seascapes to swim into, awesome vistas to dive from and delicate flowers to sigh to, so I’m surprised when my screen is filled with photoshopped faces of women covered in make-up. Red lips, white faces, no blacks or even coloureds; just red and white, the colours of patriarchal pride.

Most of the women look like a slutty Sleeping Beauty on acid, unsmiling, wasted, but some have vague pouts, holding up wands to dust their chiselled cheeks. I can hear the gay photographers scratching their stubble, saying things like, ‘laaavely’, ‘beauuutiful’, ‘you’re an aaangel’, ‘that’s it, don’t move’, ‘perrfect’, ‘stay there’, thinking ‘fuckbrain’, ‘whore’, ‘ugly twat’, ‘wouldn’t touch you with a bargepole’, ‘get on with it’.

I scroll down and find one picture of an old bloke in a red jacket on a paisley sofa, smoking and looking into nowhere like a pervert while a woman/vixen writhes on the floor stroking herself into an ecstacy daze.

There’s one picture of a gormless male model under the caption, ‘The line of beauty’, and further down I find a picture of a flower, but it’s computer-generated and belongs on a Chinese restaurant menu.

Feelings of irrepressible sadness, morose confusion and hot anger come over me, the like of which I haven’t experienced since being cast as the butt of a big joke in the family courts.

They all look so sad and angry too, all those painted faces, all those prickly puppets of pomp; untouchable, cold, mummified.

I remember the stunning married tart who came back from the races and knocked on my door with a bottle of champagne. She asked me to stick it up her but I declined. She said she wanted to be hurt and I felt sorry for her so I shagged her and caught a dose of the clap. i'm glad I didn't go down on her.

Googling ‘dodgy ingredients in make-up’, I note that there’s whale vomit in perfume and bull semen in hair products. Lipstick comes with crushed parasitic beetles and slaughterhouse fat. The grease from animal fur helps them take it all off but that doesn’t stop them infecting themselves overnight - moisturizers are full of snail ooze and infant foreskins.

Slaves of invention giddy from illusion, scientists guiding us away from outward beauty, and now they’re perfecting our corruption inwardly, to the heart of humanity’s beauty. Hawkins is right to fear that artificial intelligence will be the death of us.

I see they’re watching again. The screen flickers for a millisecond as a round, milky light brightens in the middle of my Mac’s screen. I check my internet connection and it falters, the blue line of the search bar stagnant.

I pick my nose, find a bogey and give them the one-fingered salute. 

Certificate 18
Story
Miscellaneous

Comments

Submitted by Canonette on

Sometimes we're attracted to what repels us.  You recognise the beauty industry for what it is - shallow, fake etc. - and yet the result of that ideal of beauty is a 'stunning tart' (not a 'natural beauty') whom you found attractive enough to fuck.  There's always a sense of conflict and confusion in your writing - and that's one of the things that makes it interesting.

 

Submitted by VeraClark on

Women are shafted either way - mocked for being fat bare faced uggers or blatantly hated for being aesthetically enhanced Barbie. Your view is horridly refreshing - there's no pretence about a revulsion for masked women.Pity or hate sex is the stuff that undoes souls. This raised lots of demons for me.Work like that is good for the fire in the mad wolf's belly.

 

Submitted by blighters rock on

Thanks for reading, you two. I try to be honest and confrontational without taking myself too seriously in my writing, and I'm not the brightest button or the most self aware, so there'll always be room to confound/anger readers. I use writing as a way to make sense of things, not to justify any misguided philosophical righteousness, and this one isn't any different. I was shocked and sad to search for beauty and find it as a product. I felt sorrow not only for the women pictured but also anyone searching for pictures of beauty online, especially children. Beauty's just an industry like war or drugs and that angers me. To expect anything other than made up women was perhaps naive but what I'm trying to say is that we've all knowingly become victims of commercial enterprise, not by way of complete submission but because we're all sinners in our own little human way and therefore open to trysts of false gratification. They rely on our feelings of inadequacy to make the next buck for themselves and that's just wrong. As women, it may be easy to view this as a skit against your sex but that just goes to show how challenging it is to see the full picture when the political will of commercial enterprise is bent on seeking out, identifying and servicing our emotional insecurity at all costs and as their given right, which is certainly is not. That's the trouble with divisive liberalism in a capitalist setting; therell be no end to the damage it will cause. Even ancient Rome would be disgusted at our passive acceptance of it. The bingo sites don't give away fifty quid to new customers for nothing. They know their industry will get it back one way or the other.

 

Submitted by Canonette on

I didn't see it as anti-women at all.  I was just pointing out the trap we're in - our ideals of beauty have been shaped by an industry.  If, as a woman, you refuse to play along with it, then you are usually rejected by men (or worse).  When I was at university there was an extremely intelligent female professor who rejected all ideals of fashion and beauty - in short, she was very unattractive.  I often heard the male lecturers sneering about her behind her back and disrespecting her.  Because she wouldn't play the beauty game even her intelligence and competence was questioned by these men (despite her being better qualified than they were).  

 

Submitted by VeraClark on

I think the beauty industry hates women. It's a really thought provoking piece of work. The aesthetic world's mad and you tell it well.There's nothing to like about that sort of manipulation exploitation.

 

Submitted by Geoff Smith on

I thought it was really interesting, a stream of consciousness exercise; could be the basis of an interesting character in something more narrative based.

Thanks for reading. I am grateful for your time.

Submitted by blighters rock on

Canonette, the boom in male grooming would suggest that the sexes are moving closer together but I think it's a sign of further division, as women have stepped up a few gears on pampering too. Recession makes the ambitous even more competitive. Enhancing looks in the conventional sense is a way of ensuring a better partner, which is (un)natural selection in action. The games women play among themselves to degrade peers for their own benefit are hideous. I'm trying to think of a male comparison for beauty products but all I can think of is sport, where they get rid of the week's trials by playing or spectating through heckling/competitive spirit. Pubs/booze may a good comparison, in that the poison makes otherwise intelligent men small-minded cussers. If the pot-bellied ogres see a good-looking chap enter the bar, likelihood is they'll give him the evils because they feel below him in the sex game. They imagine he has a better life. I'm guessing that the female professor denied herself fashion and beauty as a statement of her beliefs, which would require that she prepared herself for a life in the victim/underdog dept. Standing out as different, she is a bully's dream, man or woman. If she was an attractive woman, men would probably have thought 'what a waste', although  the other female staff would think of her as a threat to their own ridiculous views, attractive or not. They'd probably tell her she looks lovely without make up and bullet bras, sighing relief. Jealousy/gossip is the industry that beauty firms rely on to tout their shite.

Vera, I'm not sure hate's the right word for how the beauty industry sees women. I'd say it was more pity. Like the teetotal pub landlord who serves poison to people and watches them turn into morons, he's only too happy to make money from them but his shake of the head is probably more to do with sadness than hatred. He, like the beauty pushers, are doing a job but they see through their wares becaue they see the effect first hand. Morally, they can relieve themselves by noting that free will should allow them to profit from the game while the face-plasterers slip further into delusion. All in all, I'd say women are women's biggest problem where beauty is concerned, but I know how that might rile someone like you, who doesn't do down other women in order to feel better. I don't know the answer and there probably isn't one.

Cheers for reading, Geoff.

Thanks for the cherries, pickers.

 

Submitted by Ray Schaufeld on

'Jealousy...women are women's biggest problem' there's certainly some truth in that, Blighter's.I have a young relative who has a slightly brash 'party-girl' image. Smiley,full of fun and also a first year student with the world at her feet. Sometimes older women hate her on sight and assume she's stupid even on a brief encounter eg if she accidentally doesn't see them in the street and give way. Not fair. Feminists may say that's down to the 'divide and conquer' of patriarchy, the male-dominated society. I think there's also something more primitive to it, the animal impulse to be first in the pecking order. However kind and aware a human I wish to be some tooth and claw remains. As for commerce it will always exploit whatever it can make money from.

Submitted by blighters rock on

You cut straight to the bone here, Elsie, and it's almost exactly the same for men in that anyone with attitude or an air of indifference to pack mentality comes a cropper through gossip, dissent and foul play, so this would suggest no one can truthfully blame the opposite sex for any imbalance, and also points to why commerce sees very little reason not to exploit our emotional frailties and pigheadedness with beauty and beer. The only way to rise above the mockery and flourish is not to give two hoots and not to judge, which is probably the biggest personal battle life has to offer, and one that releases us from the torment that ferments.

 

Submitted by Bee on

The question for me is - are we slaves to the 'beauty' industry, or are they cashing in (like every other industry) on our weaknesses and existing desires, as much as creating them? Most of us (male or female) want to look nice, if not pretty, otherwise it wouldn't be the case that people throughout time have used makeup and ornaments to adorn themselves and their homes as a means of expression and beautification. Apart from makeup, there's clothes, general grooming - hair styles, clothes, teeth cleaning/ whitening, shaving, de - smellers, perfumes, skincare. Tattoos! So, as you say, men are not exempt from the beauty industry by any means. 

And there are so many reasons why people use makeup - art, expression of personality, as importantly as trying to make the best of their assets for so many personal reasons that I would never dream of criticizing. The bold might want to make a statement, where the shy try to hide. Others may want to disguise things they feel uncomfortable about where they don't want to be noticed, and sometimes it's just plain fun to be able to alter an image. None of this has anything to do with the portrayal of impossible ideals that make people feel inadequate to the point of killing themselves with loathing over. And yes, such advertising is wrong, but not the wearing of makeup itself, and I wouldn't want to judge for it any more than I would those who don't, either because they don't feel like it, or that they use the lack of it to make a statement of their own. 

Sadly, many men who have so much to say against the make up industry are the very ones whose heads turn and whose eyes pop out on stalks when a girl walks past them wearing it, where they ignored her pretty friend who wasn't. 

But as has been said, your writing is exploring your own confusion over problems that are hard, if impossible to solve for so many reasons, and there's no criticizing that, either. all I can say is that you brought up some issues about the products re - animal origin, and for me, that was an important issue. Whatever we do, if we care at all, we should find beauty without cruelty products - they are out there. 

Bee

Submitted by blighters rock on

I reckon it's a bit of both, Bee. They know what women want and serve it up in bucketloads at every level from Clarins to Superdrug. Putting on makeup's a part of daily life so I'd say it was pretty slavish. I'm not sure if I'd use makeup all the time if I was a girl but I used to put on Mum's eyeliner in my new wave days and crimp my hair and pout at the mirror. Totally shocked to see the ingredients used, especially the infants' foreskins in moisturizer, and surprised no one else had heard about it. Googling pictures of beauty had its benefits after all.

 

Submitted by Bee on

I think there are loads of women  who don't feel the need to wear makeup every day, and some want to coz they just like it - makes them feel better. Others, unfortunately, are expected to wear it for work. I'm lucky I don't, so I don't, but then I'm past it anyway;) like the idea of you borrowing your mum's eyeliner... Guess you've highlighted the need to check ingredients, though.

Bee

Submitted by rjnewlyn on

Very true, I think - and worth the conversations that it's started. Felt like quite a strange piece - but 'real', which is good.

 

Submitted by blighters rock on

I wish I knew the answer, Bee. The Dalai Lama reckons the world will be saved by a western woman so we'll have to wait and ask her when she arrives on the scene.

Hi Rob, beauty seems like unknown territory to me at the mo. Maybe it's just the February blues. Cheers for reading

 

Submitted by Ray Schaufeld on

'A Paste of Composition rare

Sweat, Dandriff, Powder, Lead and Hair.'

Beautiful Celia in 'The Lady's Dressing Room'  (1732) takes five hours to dress and prepare her hair and make-up. Swift's examination of her comb is one of the cleaner passages in a poem which also describe the ingredients of her beauty products, the staleness of her room and the final outcome of her food.

Your rant is good and horribly timeless.

 

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

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Submitted by Parson Thru on

Head spinning. Great talking-point Blighters. Infants' foreskins? Are they farmed or caught in the wild?

Parson Thru

Submitted by blighters rock on

Thanks for the daily pick. Well chuffed!

Hi Elsie, Thanks for sharing Swift's Celia. She sounds like a right handful. I'll have to look into The Lady's Dressing Room. Sounds as fascinating as watching someone sleep.

Hi Noo, I used to do a bit of mogelling and some of the snappers were gay and openly despised the girls, giving them as short thrift as they could get away with and then turning to me with a huge, hideously false smile. The girls took it with a pinch of salt. Just being around those photographers made me go cold. They weren't all like that, only my memory of the really awful ones sneering and hissing just seemed to fit in this, especially with the gender jungle so densely merged in sexual grey matter. A lot of gay women dislike men just as much as t'other way round.

Hi Parson Thru, cheers for reading. I found loads more weird ingredients today but not sure how to list them all. Maybe a poem. The latest craze is smearing lipstick under their eyes to take out the dark circles. Sickmaking, especially with the lead in the lipstick. Poor sods.

 

 

Submitted by Parson Thru on

Sounds like a witch's (or wizard's!) brew. It is a hocus-pocus really. What's all this thing among the beautiful people about not smiling? Nothing more beautiful than a smile. Costs nothing.

Parson Thru

Submitted by RJF on

Phewf. I just read this and am joining the discussion late. You’ve certainly opened a can of well moisturised worms Blighters! Being a Pisces (joking, or maybe not) I can see both sides, Bee is absolutely right that applying make-up in your youth is tribal and empowering if you are someone who feels like a bit of an outsider. Same goes for body art and it should be embraced and enjoyed. Later on it’s different. I don’t think the fashion world hates women, I think it is completely ambivalent towards them, it’s just business. In this way women are objectified, you can’t get away from that and if anyone is exploiting the desire for youth (and that’s what we are talking about in my opinion) it’s as much the red tops and the mainstream TV and film industry as it is the fashion industry. You only have to look at the mainstream media’s reaction to Mary Beard, a wonderful, intelligent, educated, attractive and fascinating woman, to know where we really are. That Google interprets beauty as a young, heavily made up, female is pretty depressing but only if you give up the search there.

p.s. This is a great piece Blighters, meant to say that at the beginning. R

 

Submitted by blighters rock on

Cheers for reading, R. Another brilliant addition to the discussion. Off to check out Mary Beard now.