17 January 2007

Body beautiful

It seems that more and more women are rebelling against the so-called 'norms' of ripping out their body hair and painting their faces with expensive muck in the name of 'beauty'.

When I was at high school in the late 1980s, I had a really good Home Economics teacher (hello Mrs. Taylor!) who made a comment that the top layer of your skin is already dead, so why waste money slapping expensive chemical preparations on it? She pointed out that the key to healthy-looking skin was in your diet. Eat well, look good.

The 'hair scare' first came to light when Julia Roberts's photograph was published, showing, horror of horrors, armpit hair! "Oh my God! She has armpit hair!" the paparazzi announced. No shit, Sherlocks! Almost everyone has. Shazia Mizra, the comedian has decided that she can't be arsed shaving, plucking or waxing either. After all, it's natural, innit?

I think that Kasandra Mason has got it right. She says " I know body hair is natural, so why is so much money and time invested in getting rid of it?" ... "My comfort is more important to me than the opinions of total strangers." Spot on, missus! How I agree.

Personally, I don't shave my pits and bits because I can't be arsed either. Like Ms. Mason, I haven't worn makeup since I was 18, because I don't see the point. Women spend millions of pounds each year on makeup and beauty products. Me, I use soap, shampoo and water. That's it. (OK, so I've dyed my hair black a few times; it's dark brown naturally.)

I reckon that if you need to wear makeup, you're not confident enough in yourself. Makeup is for people who think they're not good looking, and perfume is for people who think they smell bad and need to mask it.

1 comment:

Oz said...

That was a bit of a tirade wasn't it? On the odd occasion, Kate has subjected me to the programme '10 Years Younger' and I've been astonished by the difference in the before and after. If you're someone playing the dating game, the simple fact is that all of those things increase your likelyhood of finding a mate. Unfortunately, if people don't get close enough to get to know you because you smell and look like a gorilla (albeit a dyed one), well... :-)

There's a point where you say "this is my ideal" (left-wing commune of women like East German shotputters) "and here's the reality of where we are" (media driven frenzy of bolemics striving for perfection).

If women (and now men) want to play that game, then I say let them get on with it - especially the whole hairless women thing. :-)