In Your Face

In Your Face

YA/adult nonfiction
"Every day in a thousand ways, we're reminded of how much easier
the world seems to be for people blessed with the right hair, face,
and body parts. You can't help but wonder whether your own life would
be just that much better if the reflection looking back at you from
the mirror every day were a bit more like Brad Pitt or Jennifer Lopez,
and a bit less like your Uncle Howard or Aunt Lou."
If you find similar thoughts running through your head (most of
us do at least now and then) Shari Graydon's In Your Face: The Culture
Of Beauty And You would be a good book to put on your to read list.
If you have a preteen or early teenage child it would be a good volume
to make available. It does for the pressure to achieve usually
unattainable beauty standards what her Made You Look (Recall we looked
at it last February) did for all those sneaky tricks advertisers use
to get us to covet and buy products, many of which we have no real
need for.
"In Your Face sets out to discover:
*why we're so fascinated by beauty;
*what we've done over the centuries and across cultures to stand out,
fit in, and measure up;
*who gets to decide what's hot and what's not; and
*what forces and sources shape our views."
A very big favor Graydon does us all is reminding us that,
rather than being an absolute, beauty standards change over time and
differ by culture. The ideal figure for women is a good example. It's
ranged from recent anorexic chic to the voluptuous curves immortalized
by artists hundreds of years ago.
I have my own relevant cross cultural observation. In the
United States any kind of weight deemed excess is considered bad and
ugly. Many people practice extreme diets and/or exercise regimens and
feel guilty if they slip up or don't get the results they desire.
There are also people who try to hide curves under bulky garments or
stay in the background by wearing dull drab colors and trying to
shrink into themselves. Many women from Africa, in contrast, flaunt
the same curves by wearing brightly colored, tightly fitting garments
and walking confidently and grandly.
Another good point Graydon makes is that a lot of beauty
practices past and present were/are harmful. Foot binding produced
women too crippled to walk normally. Corsets compromised internal
organs. Largely unattainable slimness standards promote sometimes
fatal eating disorders. And how about botched plastic surgery?
Fortunately those of us who weren't born with the hotness
attributes of the decade aren't totally screwed. Graydon reminds
readers that most people are too busy worrying about their own flaws
to notice ours. She also discusses how a charismatic personality can
make events a plainer person look beautiful in the eyes of his/her/
their beholders.
I know that's the secret of my appeal.
On a personal note, I should have posted this yesterday. However,
after I worked breakfast and lunch cafeteria shifts and donated blood
on a muggy day I was not up for much of anything, especially knowing
I'd be on the early bus this morning. Blood donating went well. I
had nice high iron thanks to all the good cafeteria food. My blood
pressure was 96/62 and my pulse was 51.
I've been having really good luck. I found two gold dollars. I also
found a garbage bag of clean bottles and cans all ready to cash in in
a dumpster.
A great big shout goes out to everyone who participated in the blood
drive.
jules hathaway


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