Does skin care?

 This is a post about skincare, but you should know upfront this is not a beauty blog.

As you may know by now, if you know me, I'm currently writing my thesis about beauty. If you didn't know already, well, now you do! And I came across this book written by Naomi Wolf, a contemporary american feminist, titled 'The beauty myth'. I will copy here for you some relevant passages of the said book, I just want you to know this does not entirely reflect my position on the matter but at the same time I believe it is an interesting insight on some aspects of society you may not be aware of.

It starts with how mass media are using 'fake' models to make women compare themselves to them and feel not beautiful enough. This passage in particular focus about the specific 'glow' that models are supposed to have and that regular women need to buy.

"The 'rites of beauty' offer to sell women back an imitation of the light that is ours already. To do so, they ask women to negotiate a three-dimensional world by two-dimensional rules. We as women are trained to see ourselves as cheap imitations of fashion photographs, we are urged to study ways to light up our features."

At this point the most logical thing to do would be to go and find the holy grail of all skincare but it might be harder than expected.

"A woman enters a department store from the street, looking no doubt very mortal. To reach the cosmetics counter, she must pass a deliberately disorienting prism of mirrors.On either side of her are ranks of angels, the 'perfect' faces of the models on display.  The mortal world disintegrates in her memory at the shame of feeling so out-of place among all ethereal objects."

But it is the way those oils are sold that triggers women's brains into thinking they actually need these products.

"Skin 'nourishment' is scientifically impossible, since nothing penetrates the stratum corneum. Women are feeding their skins as a way to feed themselves the love of which many are deprived. Women are urged to project onto these products what they want from their relationships with men.  Female sexuality is like that, after all, sometimes 'you need a little finesse'."

The moral that I want to see of this book is that women should accept their own nature as it is, and be more accepting of others' as well, because the only mean judges about dark circles, wrong contouring, oily skin, are other women. Not that society is ruined by men.

"The problem with cosmetics exist only when women feel invisible or inadequate without them. The real issue has nothing to do with whether women wear makeup or don't, gain weight or lose it, dress up or down. The real problem is our lack of choice."

Do you agree with the author? Disagree? Please feel free to leave me a comment with your thoughts or your experience. Just keep in mind this is one extreme point of view but, as everything, it starts from an observation of reality. 

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