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March 19, 2014 - Sargon of Akkad - Carl Benjamin
10:14
No-makeup selfies
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So this morning I went on my newsfeed and found lots of makeup free selfies from the women I know, who are all very nice people, in an effort to raise breast cancer awareness.
Needless to say it was definitely the wrong kind of selfie.
They were all of the face.
And I find it ironic and amusing that all of these people, I mean, there's a trend to this meme.
This is going to be a bit of a rambling ramble.
But this is something that's very indicative of our society and there's a particular way this meme has worked.
It seems that culturally, women's art, the art of wearing makeup, and I think it is an art, like anything else, you know, literally painting their faces to get a certain appearance.
You know, which is no different to painting a canvas to get a certain appearance.
And some women do it so incredibly well, they fool themselves into thinking they're actually that beautiful.
When in fact it's it's makeup.
And I don't judge anyone for this.
This is what technology is for.
You know, the development of any art form reaches heights.
And makeup has reached one of those heights where a woman who isn't very attractive can change that completely.
And in itself, it's kind of fascinating.
And if it was anything other than narcissism that drove it, I would be very impressed and I would sing its praises.
But I feel that I can't for makeup because it is so shallow.
It's a desperate attempt to literally paint makeup, you know, literally paint your face to hide your features to make yourself appear more attractive.
I mean, that's very vain.
And so I can't approve of it.
Oh, yeah, I'm a hypocrite.
I comb my hair in an attempt to look slightly less shit than usual.
But I think there are reasonable limits.
I think that, you know, having a shave and washing your hair is one thing.
For women, you know, a little bit of makeup to cover up, you know, a few spots maybe.
Fine, I can completely understand it.
But when you've got women who are literally almost sculpting their faces in makeup every day before they leave the house and they can't bring themselves to do it, it does.
It says a lot.
It speaks volumes about that sort of person.
They're so worried about how they look.
And it's a shame, you know, there are much more important things to be thinking about.
There are much more interesting things to be thinking about.
And the problem with that sort of thing is it makes you a really boring person if you spend 30% of your time doing makeup.
I mean, you know, you might spend 30% of your time sleep, 30% of your time at work, and the other 30% of your time thinking, you know, you take up time you're cooking and cleaning and doing whatever.
but then your social time, what you have left, these women seem to devote to trying to look really pretty.
And it's like, okay, well, that's their choice.
But it doesn't make them interesting.
And this isn't any sort of commentary on the people who have been doing this.
it's really not it so if any of them happen to listen to this i'm not i don't blame you or i'm not you know judgment judging you for wearing makeup It's fine.
it's what women do but as a concept i find it i think it's gone too far like all things apparently Nothing can ever be done in moderation anymore.
And so you've got these women who are taking photos of themselves without any makeup on, but still in selfie poses.
And they're all applauding each other for being very brave.
And I guess in a way they are.
You know, there is a certain bravery to hiding yourself behind a mask every day and then publicly taking off the mask so everyone can see the real you.
But it's a shame that nobody really sees the real you.
This way this is such a big deal because, oh, you know, this is this is me, you know, how I actually look like you should be seeing me.
But like you don't see me because I spend hours every day before I leave the house making sure you can't see that.
And it's one of those things I just think it's a sad sign of the times.
You know, these women have got nothing more important to worry about than the way they look.
And like we all know, beauty is a sharply depreciating asset after 30.
So it's not something you can invest in.
You know, you're never going to get any return out of beauty beyond the first 10, 15 years of really having it.
So what's their plan?
You know, they're going to be 45-year-old, 50-year-old women who are plastering on the slap, hoping that they still can cover all the cracks, which obviously they can't.
So I feel the need to...
I really want to kind of encourage them...
Look, guys, don't worry about it so much.
It's not a big deal.
It's really not a big deal.
So anyway, but this then comes into the why is it such a successful meme?
Why are so many of these women doing it?
And I know this is going to sound bad, but women are very self-involved.
Very self-involved.
And so this is another way for them to, you know, get the world to approve of themselves in a way that it's directly tied into how they feel as a person, who they feel that they are.
You know, and it's almost like they're trying to bear their souls, metaphorically, I suppose, by doing it.
And obviously, I mean, all these other women saying, you look so beautiful.
And I'm seeing some of these pictures and thinking, well, that's not true.
It's nice to say, but it's not true.
You know, and, you know, some women are very, very average because that's what the point of averages is.
So, yeah.
So, yeah, it's one of those things where it's it shouldn't be such a big deal, but there's something about the innate nature of women to crave this sort of attention that means this is spread like wildfire.
You know, loads of women, oh, this is the new brave thing.
Aren't I brave?
Yeah, you all look beautiful.
Yeah, I do look beautiful.
And it's weird and self-reinforcing kind of group mind again.
And it's weird.
It's really weird.
And, I mean, you're raising awareness for breast cancer.
Why not?
I don't know.
These are all things I've done before.
And whoever's marketed this campaign has thought about the innate psychology of the average woman and how they can get them to feel like they've made a difference as well as feel like they have personally accomplished something by putting a picture of themselves without makeup on the internet.
Because I know so many women who just say, look, I'm not leaving the house without makeup on.
It's like, I can't really understand that mentality.
I only put clothes on because it's socially mandated.
I don't give a fuck.
But yeah, so, I kind of feel bad for them, and I'm wondering if this will occur to them in any way.
Even if it's on a deep subliminal level, you know, I'm wondering if, I'm wondering if this is like, it shouldn't be an eye-opener for them.
Because I think it's an eye-opener for a lot of their boyfriends.
Again, no, I'm not trying to be mean.
And it is, in this situation, a brave thing to do for these women, because they wouldn't normally do this.
This is well outside of their comfort zones.
So I can respect that.
But it's the innate it's it's.
If you've come to this point then you shouldn't have started down this road.
You should have looked, you should have stopped about halfway and gone.
Now, if we keep going, it's just going to get to the point where we're plastering our faces so not an inch of skin is shown.
We're going to be painting on our eyebrows and then we're going to be posing in the most ridiculous ways to make us pretend to ourselves that that's how we look.
Are we all good with that?
And everyone's like, yeah yeah, let's all do that.
You know, and I know not all women are like that or anything you know, but a large percentage of them are.
You all know who i'm talking about.
You know, you see them around.
There are a lot of them, and it's okay.
You know other women don't completely ridicule it.
They might go well, i'm not like that but they don't just laugh at it.
If, if I mean look, I don't know, with guys and these fucking trousers hang around their asses, men openly mock it.
It's fucking stupid.
You know everyone.
Oh, look at that twat with his fucking trousers hanging down.
Pull up your trousers, you wanker.
You know it's that sort of.
It doesn't make you look cool.
It doesn't look good, and women should do this to these idiots who wear so much.
Goddamn slap.
You know, there needs to be a certain amount of public shaming for this trend to stop rather than reinforcing.
Oh wow, and you didn't wear it for a day.
Oh, you're so brave, you're so brave, and it's like When you are that mentally, psychologically dependent on your makeup, then yes, you are brave, but you should never become that dependent.
Anyway, again, not directed at anyone I know in particular, and you know, don't anyone take offence, because I'm really not trying to give offence, I just am a bit of an asshole, so it's hard to not.
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