Thursday, November 6, 2008
Less troubling since they lost
Since Sarah Palin has now pretty much admitted her yearning for national stardom and failed to rule out (with a wink and a nudge) a 2012 run, I thought it might be useful to do a miniature retrospective on her infamous Saks shopping spree. See Newsweek attempt to identify (using a strange "expert" salespersons interview method) her various outfits. Apparently, the salt of the earth is something of a "St.John's girl" and that ain't so bad (title linked to slideshow). Her signature color is red (of course it is! must be the fiery feminist in her) and she shares shoe preferences with Paris Hilton... enough said. Enjoy.
Ras Trent, an SNL digital short
As I read and write about Afros and dreadlocks, I wish my mind wouldn't keep flitting back to this:
thoughts on make-up
I have been having a bit of trouble this week with the syllabus line that says “Hope in a Jar (to be read quickly)”. My problem here is that I am not reading it very quickly, because I am overly fixated with all this new (and perplexing) information. It is quite possible that I am the only person that didn’t know that women died of lead poisoning from their make-up, but I have found myself reading through this book with morbid fascination (Paint? Lead?) as I simultaneously eye the “Sephora Holiday Guide” across my coffee table.
Kathy Peiss’s recuperative argument that is laid out in the beginning of the book - that beauty interests don’t work solely against the needs of women because they allowed for social groupings and job opportunities (am I sensing resonances of Iris Marion Young’s “Women Recovering Our Clothes” here…) is not being waged by eclipsing race, but I’m not sure if this argument opens up an entirely productive space of possibility for female consumers. Berry’s point that the creation of make-up and individualized colors sidestepped race by creating “complexion types” seems to highlight the rational for some of (what I perceive to be) limits offered by make-up. Taken in conjunction with “Eating the Other” this seems to be what bellhooks describes as “consumer cannibalism,” as racial difference is reduced to personal difference.
Lastly, I would like to bring up Patty’s past posting on recession proof facial products (my face is the new Bottega Veneta bag?). Given the way in which beauty and fashion is often couched in terms of “timeless” or “ageless” pieces (despite the fact that clothing deteriorates and our bodies often change shape in ways that prevent clothing from being “timeless”), this compulsion to buy $1,000 facial cream seems in line with the contemporary language of fashion and consumer logic of spending (somehow this is good value?). I also suspect that some women are more inclined to spend a great deal of money on facial creams and products that promote natural beauty instead of spending money on make-up - it seems like ‘the body is the mirror of the soul’ concept has expanded to encompass both complexion and the entire body (through discourses of workout and discipline). Lastly, I would like to bring up in relation to this is the increasing prominence of ads and articles on organic beauty products, while this is seems to match-up with the current interest in “going green,” it also seems to resonate with the home recipes discussed by Peiss (which have not entirely gone away, see: makeyourowncosmetics.com)
Apologies for my postings being all over the place – these readings seemed to spiral in many different directions for me!
Kathy Peiss’s recuperative argument that is laid out in the beginning of the book - that beauty interests don’t work solely against the needs of women because they allowed for social groupings and job opportunities (am I sensing resonances of Iris Marion Young’s “Women Recovering Our Clothes” here…) is not being waged by eclipsing race, but I’m not sure if this argument opens up an entirely productive space of possibility for female consumers. Berry’s point that the creation of make-up and individualized colors sidestepped race by creating “complexion types” seems to highlight the rational for some of (what I perceive to be) limits offered by make-up. Taken in conjunction with “Eating the Other” this seems to be what bellhooks describes as “consumer cannibalism,” as racial difference is reduced to personal difference.
Lastly, I would like to bring up Patty’s past posting on recession proof facial products (my face is the new Bottega Veneta bag?). Given the way in which beauty and fashion is often couched in terms of “timeless” or “ageless” pieces (despite the fact that clothing deteriorates and our bodies often change shape in ways that prevent clothing from being “timeless”), this compulsion to buy $1,000 facial cream seems in line with the contemporary language of fashion and consumer logic of spending (somehow this is good value?). I also suspect that some women are more inclined to spend a great deal of money on facial creams and products that promote natural beauty instead of spending money on make-up - it seems like ‘the body is the mirror of the soul’ concept has expanded to encompass both complexion and the entire body (through discourses of workout and discipline). Lastly, I would like to bring up in relation to this is the increasing prominence of ads and articles on organic beauty products, while this is seems to match-up with the current interest in “going green,” it also seems to resonate with the home recipes discussed by Peiss (which have not entirely gone away, see: makeyourowncosmetics.com)
Apologies for my postings being all over the place – these readings seemed to spiral in many different directions for me!
Obama Logo/Obama Hair
As I was reading bellhooks "Eating the Other" I found myself thinking about my (possibly shifting) position on the assertion that "meaningless commodification strips these signs of political integrity and meaning, denying the possibility that they can serve as a catalyst for concrete political action." (33) Throughout the primaries and the election, I have been oddly fascinated with the way in which Obama transcended political figure to the status of logo and brand. The countless cute Obama shirts is something that has made me uneasy, as my liberal minded education has firmly imbedded the notion that consumption and resistance do not always coexist (buying a t-shirt does not mean that you will turn out to vote), so my question is this...Did the Obama campaign figure out a brilliant model for turning consumption into active political participation? Lastly, I was looking for the Obama hairstyle that I saw on the news (somebody had Obama shaved into the back of his head), but while looking I found this blog (see link) that has collected a variety of articles on the Barak and Michelle's hair.
Fashion4Nerds
My confession: I'm not that knowledgeable about fashion. I love Project Runway and America's Next Top Model when I remember to watch them, but that doesn't happen very often. The honest truth is that I make most of my fashion choices based on whatever looks good to me at that moment (and typically I'm looking primarily at the Gap).
Now that I have explained where I am coming from, I want to share what I found while looking for fashion websites that would accommodate my "personality" type. I frequently proclaim myself to be a "nerd" due to my love of sci-fi and fantasy television, comic books, etc. Therefore, I google'd "nerd fashion." The website above is the first result that came up. First, I think it's fascinating that the fashion4nerds website is directed solely towards heterosexual males. This makes sense given our culture's typical definition of "nerd," but at the same time I feel as though this definition has proven to be inaccurate given the increase in women at events such as Comic-Con, etc. Maybe it is just assumed that since we are women first and nerds second we should already know how to dress properly? I don't know.
Anyway, I could go on for hours about this website. I just wanted to share because I found it amusing at the very least. I love that the "Golden Rules" include "Sweat is bad" and "Don't wear electronic devices on your belt." I would love to say that this is a joke, but sadly I do know many male engineering friends that wear their phones in a holder on their belt. Also, the "Golden Rule" under Personal Grooming involving "No Cologne" was amusing to me because two of my best guy friends in undergrad were engineers and use to bathe in cologne. I love nice smells as much as the next person but when you bathe in cologne it just makes it difficult to breathe.
PS - I love that their definition of "hot" is Brad Pitt. Don't get me wrong, I think Brad Pitt is incredibly attractive but what about us women that prefer "Johnny Depp?" Just a suggestion...
Now that I have explained where I am coming from, I want to share what I found while looking for fashion websites that would accommodate my "personality" type. I frequently proclaim myself to be a "nerd" due to my love of sci-fi and fantasy television, comic books, etc. Therefore, I google'd "nerd fashion." The website above is the first result that came up. First, I think it's fascinating that the fashion4nerds website is directed solely towards heterosexual males. This makes sense given our culture's typical definition of "nerd," but at the same time I feel as though this definition has proven to be inaccurate given the increase in women at events such as Comic-Con, etc. Maybe it is just assumed that since we are women first and nerds second we should already know how to dress properly? I don't know.
Anyway, I could go on for hours about this website. I just wanted to share because I found it amusing at the very least. I love that the "Golden Rules" include "Sweat is bad" and "Don't wear electronic devices on your belt." I would love to say that this is a joke, but sadly I do know many male engineering friends that wear their phones in a holder on their belt. Also, the "Golden Rule" under Personal Grooming involving "No Cologne" was amusing to me because two of my best guy friends in undergrad were engineers and use to bathe in cologne. I love nice smells as much as the next person but when you bathe in cologne it just makes it difficult to breathe.
PS - I love that their definition of "hot" is Brad Pitt. Don't get me wrong, I think Brad Pitt is incredibly attractive but what about us women that prefer "Johnny Depp?" Just a suggestion...
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
A Spectacular Halloween
As I've said, I'm obsessed with Halloween. I basically live every day as if it was Halloween, so when the actual holiday comes there is a great deal of anticipation and expectation when it comes to my costumes. I usually make (or assemble from multiple sources) my costumes, and they are always always about making a spectacle of myself (I found myself thinking a lot about Russo's article this Halloween, although it's hard to know what she would say about my spectacles).
This year I had 3 costumes:
1. "We're in the Money"
That is, Ginger Rogers in "Gold Diggers of 1933." I made this costume from scratch and it involved over 1,000 plastic gold coins. The costume was an attempted tribute to Busby Berkeley and a comment on the economy (in the film, the musical number is an ironic jab at the Depression). This, of course, was lost on everyone (not surprisingly), and so I became a "Jewish man's dream." I must admit feeling a little silly showing so much skin in an outfit no one got (obviously, irony is the only justification for a slutty Halloween costume).
2. "Bird of Paradise"
This I put together from a child's leotard, an obscene amount of boas, and a beak. I wore this to a party where I didn't know a lot of the people (my friends are immune to me by now), and it was very interesting to see the extreme difference between people's reaction to me with the beak on and their reactions without the beak. With the beak I became grotesque, was pointed at, and got quite a number of disgusted looks. But without the beak, I became an "acceptable" (albeit feathery) party-goer.
3. "ABBA"
I had to do at least one group costume this year, and so, for the our own, personal Halloween party, three of my roommates and I dressed as ABBA. It's kind of hard to see my costume in the picture, but my layered fringe bottoms are pants.
And, lastly, since our topic this week is exoticism, I thought I'd share a Halloween costume from two years ago, and my attempt at appropriating a popular "exotic" figure that Berry talks about (and, as you see, I wasn't the only one):
I know that it looks like I'm a terrible alcoholic and love to show off my midriff. Neither of these things are true about me, although I do like to accessorize my costumes with matching champagne bottles.
This year I had 3 costumes:
1. "We're in the Money"
That is, Ginger Rogers in "Gold Diggers of 1933." I made this costume from scratch and it involved over 1,000 plastic gold coins. The costume was an attempted tribute to Busby Berkeley and a comment on the economy (in the film, the musical number is an ironic jab at the Depression). This, of course, was lost on everyone (not surprisingly), and so I became a "Jewish man's dream." I must admit feeling a little silly showing so much skin in an outfit no one got (obviously, irony is the only justification for a slutty Halloween costume).
2. "Bird of Paradise"
This I put together from a child's leotard, an obscene amount of boas, and a beak. I wore this to a party where I didn't know a lot of the people (my friends are immune to me by now), and it was very interesting to see the extreme difference between people's reaction to me with the beak on and their reactions without the beak. With the beak I became grotesque, was pointed at, and got quite a number of disgusted looks. But without the beak, I became an "acceptable" (albeit feathery) party-goer.3. "ABBA"
I had to do at least one group costume this year, and so, for the our own, personal Halloween party, three of my roommates and I dressed as ABBA. It's kind of hard to see my costume in the picture, but my layered fringe bottoms are pants.
And, lastly, since our topic this week is exoticism, I thought I'd share a Halloween costume from two years ago, and my attempt at appropriating a popular "exotic" figure that Berry talks about (and, as you see, I wasn't the only one):
I know that it looks like I'm a terrible alcoholic and love to show off my midriff. Neither of these things are true about me, although I do like to accessorize my costumes with matching champagne bottles.
Tilda Swinton at the Egyptian Friday
I thought some of you might be interested in Tilda Swinton's appearance at the Egyptian this coming Friday. She will be in discussion following a screening of her new film Julia. The film sounds like a far cry from Orlando-- it's described as a kidnapping-road movie--it was also supposedly "built around her" and "features her strongest performance to date." Regardless, she is certainly an interesting figure when considering female images on screen.
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