Beauty and the Mythological HB10

Here is some serious evidence that the HB10 is, in fact, a myth. Even if you should encounter one in your daily dealings, it is highly probable that she is wearing way more make-up than you think and doesn’t actually look like that. Some of the models pictured are quite average (depending on where you live), others look better and more intriguing without all the get-up, and a couple of them are just “huh?” My opinion, of course.

I find these images of supposed perfection that aren’t even real not so much offensive as plain old boring. Overly made-up has never appealed to me and I’ve had this theory for a while now that part of the reason many women age so badly is because every day for 20+ years they cover their faces with chemical-laden gunk to try to look like some other woman covered in chemical-laden gunk (and several layers of photoshop). Then they use more nasty chemical stuff to wipe off the gunk, put on creams that have questionable ingredients (certainly nothing natural) and then wonder why, when they are 32, they look haggard.

Don’t forget that the skin absorbs what you put on it, so if you’re putting all that stuff on your face, you are absorbing a lot of toxic chemicals over time. Is it crazy to think perhaps make-up, contraceptive pills, tampons containing strange absorbent gels, and whatever else most women use, are causing a toxic brew that is making women nuttier and stupider? Hmm…

Young women do not need a truck load of make-up. No one needs all that. I think this is a part of learning to see rightly, similar to the issue of natural nudity versus pornography that we have touched on here and there but not yet gone into depth with. This woman in particular illustrates my point well.

In the first picture, she does appear to be wearing at least minimal make-up, but we see a real person and a beautiful one at that (although a smile wouldn’t hurt). In the second picture, she just looks uninteresting and somehow featureless (and she is wearing more make-up than is apparent). I’ll grant that the effect may be different in person, but when I compare the two, I find it fascinating and dismaying that as a culture we would take a beautiful girl and turn her into something so utterly bland and call it an improvement.  It’s kind of like putting ketchup on filet mignon and it makes me wonder why we must be bombarded with clones like this. It’s rather sad.

I’ve never been a big fan of make-up and even as a kid watching my mom put it on (not that she wore much of it either) I thought it was silly – even just the term ‘make-up’ sounded (and still sounds) silly to me and when I look around now, all I see is make-up and hair dye (more nasty chemicals absorbed right to the brain). I used to find it annoying that people couldn’t seem to see past the fake girls; I don’t care so much for my own sake any more but my heart breaks for my daughters. The older one is a goofball extrovert who makes friends easily; the younger is a very intelligent and pretty introvert who is sociable so long as she is allowed the space to observe first. I do my best to shield them from the bombardment of bullshit that is aimed at girls in this culture but it is impossible to avoid all of it. Between this stuff and the way boys are shoved down, it’s no wonder we’re a mess.

There needs to be more appreciation for people as they are, for natural beauty, rather than so much focus on the superficial. Ours is an incredibly superficial culture and I have always disliked that intensely. Of course it is obvious in the example of so-called supermodels. But as the physical reflects the spiritual in so many ways, this obsession with a sort of unreal, almost cartoonish notion of perfection says a lot about us, most of it not very good.

Jewel Lake

It is a peaceful song sung by a beautiful woman. There need be no more reason than that for this post.

If you enjoyed that you can click on this YouTube video by L’Angelus: I’m Dyin’ Inside

And this is the one I left as a comment on CL’s old blog before we got tight: “Vive La Bonne Vie” (But only click if you are very nosey!)

In this 25 second lesson, a man can learn to understand all women.

Full version of Wishful thinking

Nihilism is Empty

It’s the cop-out of the age to deny all that is good, to lose hope; to think love is for suckers or that love is “gay”. I’ve been hurt enough to try and harden my heart that way, trying to build a big stone wall with a moat and a drawbridge to try to protect myself – yeah, that worked so well! So before I continue, just ask yourself, would you rather be an angry fool “enjoying” the decline and destroying yourself, or would you rather bow up and fight for something that’s worth fighting for? Are you selfishly motivated – which of course, only results in further dissatisfaction as you grasp for certainty, finding only more doubt – or do you believe humanity and love are worth fighting for?

 

 

Although I have waved an angry fist at the sky like Basil Fawlty and marvelled mystified at how some of the smart people I knew could possibly believe in God, the most supremely annoying people to me have been nihilists. This is quite likely because my inclination in that mindset is toward “why bother?” and who can live with that? Since I didn’t particularly fancy killing myself, I persisted in looking for meaning rather than denying it. What does a nihilist do with the fire than burns within him? If there is nothing to fight for, nothing to be righteously angry about, nothing to work at and improve because all is vanity, what is life for?

The pursuit of pleasure and gratification is a dead end. How many times have we heard that story? Oh, but it’ll be different for you, I know. Go ahead then, I’ll still be here when you get back.

 

Some of this spiritual numbing comes from the unwillingness to tolerate discomfort for the sake of growth. This is understandable – discomfort is uncomfortable! But if the sole aim of life is avoidance of pain, it’s not going to be much of a life. Think about it; did great spiritual growth ever happen in the utmost comfort in a heated recliner? No. Jesus had his greatest challenges in the desert and at Gethsemane; the Buddha suffered six years of hardship, finally achieving enlightenment when he almost died of hunger sitting under the Bodhi tree. We may not have to suffer these extremes, but we are not giving ourselves any sort of gift by avoiding suffering at all costs (and make no mistake, there is a cost).

 

Like a lobster that outgrows its shell, we must endure some discomfort in order to grow anew. Life is suffering, said the Buddha. This is such an anathema to Modern Man and something that I have spent years contemplating – because while I thought “WTF kind of teaching is that?” I also knew it to contain truth. The choice we have is between embracing that suffering and allowing it to transform us as human beings, allowing it to spur us into doing, or some form or other of misguided, lazy and selfish avoidance. As the poet W.H.Auden once wrote, “Act from thought should quickly follow. What is thinking for?”