Or at least I'm trying to be disciplined. Actually, tonight blogging is just a displacement activity as I don't want to get back to the HUGE pile of articles and notes I have to read for my Jakarta trip. Go ahead, ask me anything on Indonesian politics between 1945 and 1998, I can and will bore the arse off you.
Instead onto today’s pondering: Beauty. In Hong Kong, image and looks are all important and women get ridiculously dolled up whether they're going on a date, to work or to the chiropodist. And in other weird news, I see so many women wearing tights under their trousers here. Why? It's so HOT!!! And your legs are already covered! At the weekend, I saw a woman doing her yoga stretches in jogging bottoms and, underneath, sheer black tights?!! With trainers!! Can anyone think of a logical reason for this?!
But I digress... effort. It's not just a local Hong Kong doll phenomenon, expats get up to it too. I remember going for lunch with a friend one Sunday, nowhere posh, just wearing jeans and a tee and when I looked across at the two girls lunching to my left there couldn't have been a greater contrast. Seriously, they must have thought I was a homeless. They were in dresses, hair perfectly coiffed, full make up, nails manicured and sky high heels. I looked at them and thought 'Thank God I don't have to get dolled up like that just to lunch with a friend'. Not because I kid myself I'm a stunner without all that stuff but because if that's the standard one has to attain to be considered acceptable then long may I fall short. Who'd want to have to keep that up day in, day out?
In order to just to pass muster here you have to do all that stuff and more so I find it easier to just opt out of the competition. I'm happy to look just a little bit rough at all times rather than waste all that time, effort and dollar on something as pointless as my appearance. Besides, if I put all that effort in I'd want serious results. I’d expect to look like Angelina Jolie, not just a scrubbed up version of me, thank you very much.
Also, what worries me is something I like to call the 'Lost' phenomenon. Close your eyes (actually don't, keep reading!) and think about all the grooming/beauty/fashion procedures that you rely on to maintain your appearance. Do you go for facials? Waxing? And for you men, are you always clean shaven? Do you dye your hair? Ladies, do you always wear Spanx pants under your clothes? Do you stick to a stringent diet? Never let the world see you without your make-up?
Now that you've made a mental list of those, imagine you are marooned on an island. Perhaps with all the people in the world you'd least like to run into when you're looking rough. Now think how long you're going to be on that island. Maybe for the first few days you're fine... your make-up wears off a little, maybe your French manicure chips. After a couple of weeks you'll have hairy legs, even if you normally wax, and your natural hair colour will be starting to show. Oh, and your teeth! Forgot about that didn't you? Imagine the state of them! And no hair brush! Pretty soon everyone on your island will start to resemble Prehistoric Man and when the rescue boats finally come to get you they'll take one look at your gummy grins and ingrown leg hairs and flee screaming back to civilization and organic seaweed detox scrubs.
Which begs the question, how did the Lost characters manage to all stay looking fresh from the salon? Their constant glamorous appearance was the most unrealistic aspect of the show and that’s saying a lot. Were they only on the island long enough for Evangeline Lilly's hair to get a bit tangled? Maybe it’s all explained by the Limbo thing. (And really Lost writers, isn't ‘Limbo’ just another version of that famed Primary school plot device 'It was all a dream?'). Maybe they weren’t in limbo. Maybe it was a L’Oreal advert.
So there's my excuse. I will not put that much effort in not because I am lazy but because in the event of a desert island shipwreck I will be able to cope effortlessly with looking rough while the other women will run screaming from any reflective surface and then presumably die of thirst. Then I will get all the men.
And finally, there’s a small feminist point to be made here. Even though guys are under greater pressure to look good nowadays and there’s a very lucrative male beauty industry they still don’t come under as much scrutiny as us women. So while I love getting glammed up when I choose to I also demand the right to wander round looking as rough as I so please. Have you seen some of the guys out there? Some of the guys who think they’re hot? My mother frequently tells me ‘Always look nice, you never know who you might meet’. I say, better to look your worst, then if he likes you you’ll know he’s a keeper.
Today I have been mostly enjoying: Will Smith’s greatest hits, Kettle chips and Philadelphia, Indonesian politics and hugs from 5 year olds. I’m going to miss those little fuckers.
Instead onto today’s pondering: Beauty. In Hong Kong, image and looks are all important and women get ridiculously dolled up whether they're going on a date, to work or to the chiropodist. And in other weird news, I see so many women wearing tights under their trousers here. Why? It's so HOT!!! And your legs are already covered! At the weekend, I saw a woman doing her yoga stretches in jogging bottoms and, underneath, sheer black tights?!! With trainers!! Can anyone think of a logical reason for this?!
But I digress... effort. It's not just a local Hong Kong doll phenomenon, expats get up to it too. I remember going for lunch with a friend one Sunday, nowhere posh, just wearing jeans and a tee and when I looked across at the two girls lunching to my left there couldn't have been a greater contrast. Seriously, they must have thought I was a homeless. They were in dresses, hair perfectly coiffed, full make up, nails manicured and sky high heels. I looked at them and thought 'Thank God I don't have to get dolled up like that just to lunch with a friend'. Not because I kid myself I'm a stunner without all that stuff but because if that's the standard one has to attain to be considered acceptable then long may I fall short. Who'd want to have to keep that up day in, day out?
In order to just to pass muster here you have to do all that stuff and more so I find it easier to just opt out of the competition. I'm happy to look just a little bit rough at all times rather than waste all that time, effort and dollar on something as pointless as my appearance. Besides, if I put all that effort in I'd want serious results. I’d expect to look like Angelina Jolie, not just a scrubbed up version of me, thank you very much.
Also, what worries me is something I like to call the 'Lost' phenomenon. Close your eyes (actually don't, keep reading!) and think about all the grooming/beauty/fashion procedures that you rely on to maintain your appearance. Do you go for facials? Waxing? And for you men, are you always clean shaven? Do you dye your hair? Ladies, do you always wear Spanx pants under your clothes? Do you stick to a stringent diet? Never let the world see you without your make-up?
Now that you've made a mental list of those, imagine you are marooned on an island. Perhaps with all the people in the world you'd least like to run into when you're looking rough. Now think how long you're going to be on that island. Maybe for the first few days you're fine... your make-up wears off a little, maybe your French manicure chips. After a couple of weeks you'll have hairy legs, even if you normally wax, and your natural hair colour will be starting to show. Oh, and your teeth! Forgot about that didn't you? Imagine the state of them! And no hair brush! Pretty soon everyone on your island will start to resemble Prehistoric Man and when the rescue boats finally come to get you they'll take one look at your gummy grins and ingrown leg hairs and flee screaming back to civilization and organic seaweed detox scrubs.
Which begs the question, how did the Lost characters manage to all stay looking fresh from the salon? Their constant glamorous appearance was the most unrealistic aspect of the show and that’s saying a lot. Were they only on the island long enough for Evangeline Lilly's hair to get a bit tangled? Maybe it’s all explained by the Limbo thing. (And really Lost writers, isn't ‘Limbo’ just another version of that famed Primary school plot device 'It was all a dream?'). Maybe they weren’t in limbo. Maybe it was a L’Oreal advert.
So there's my excuse. I will not put that much effort in not because I am lazy but because in the event of a desert island shipwreck I will be able to cope effortlessly with looking rough while the other women will run screaming from any reflective surface and then presumably die of thirst. Then I will get all the men.
And finally, there’s a small feminist point to be made here. Even though guys are under greater pressure to look good nowadays and there’s a very lucrative male beauty industry they still don’t come under as much scrutiny as us women. So while I love getting glammed up when I choose to I also demand the right to wander round looking as rough as I so please. Have you seen some of the guys out there? Some of the guys who think they’re hot? My mother frequently tells me ‘Always look nice, you never know who you might meet’. I say, better to look your worst, then if he likes you you’ll know he’s a keeper.
Today I have been mostly enjoying: Will Smith’s greatest hits, Kettle chips and Philadelphia, Indonesian politics and hugs from 5 year olds. I’m going to miss those little fuckers.
I'm think you have a point though sometimes wearing make-up is fun- about creating an effect rather than looking good although that can be a handy side-effect! But make-up is only a positive thing as long as it's something we do for fun, not something we feel we have to do because we are unacceptable without it.
ReplyDelete