Makeup: The Mask of Discontent?

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©2008  Raymond Alexander Kukkee

The mask of discontent

The Mask of Discontent        photo by  Clarita  (Morguefile)

 

 

"The trap is set and sprung;  women learn at a very young age that to be without makeup is to be ugly and incomplete.

 

Personal discontent comes in many shades

With a little care and confidence in themselves, most women are naturally warm, attractive, sexy, appealing, —often even outrageously beautiful without so much as the slightest touch of makeup. Surprised?

 

Natural Makeup

Women are beautiful people and organically beautiful creatures and the unmistakable glow of the naturally beautiful woman may be easily discerned, for her soul also reaches out to touch and can not be denied by the observer. Unashamed of who she is or what she naturally looks like , she exudes a superior, confident and beneficial attitude;  her bright, infectious smile affects everyone around her. The elegant persona and confidence offered by such a woman is always appealing, attractive, positive energy that seldom fails to impress.

 

Origins of Makeup

For primal woman, first  came the desire to  attract, then enhance, and eventually for correction of defect, not an unreasonable use of makeup. Enhancement, the evolution of female commitment to be increasingly more attractive sexually, was to provide additional allure to guarantee the attraction of the best possible mate and encourage propagation of the species.

The use of makeup as a complete face mask has been used in history; for example, to effect a convincing change of gender for actors, and that is paralleled to some degree by the studied culture of Geisha, the complete masking of innocence, and their subsequent initiation into a demanding society of highly ordered expectations .

 

Makeup: The Commercial Mask of Discontent.

Then came modern makeup, the commercial mask of discontentIt is a simple thing to observe. The most incredibly beautiful woman in the world is often totally and naturally beautiful without the use of makeup, yet is persuaded to camouflage herself to a point almost beyond recognition. Wearing makeup thick enough to make herself unrecognizable,  women don a mask; a mask behind which unease, discontent and unhappiness may be easily constructed and concealed, not unlike the disdained full-face mandatory female facial coverings including  the niquab and burqua.
Upon those occasions, often bearing little or no resemblance to herself or reality, the frosted, spray-painted artificial image is presented and offered as penance, plea, or even as a sacrifice to the eternal expectations of  the jaded, unbalanced fervour of civilization, perhaps an alternative form, but  merely another display of religious or societal culture.

 

What is the true purpose of Makeup?

Is modern makeup a mechanism of self-protection, rebellion, or a plea for attention and love? One must clearly also ask if it is the intention of the excessively painted woman to debase her own beauty. Is the confidence level of today’s woman so low that she must reduce all personal expectations by painting them over, indeed, hiding her natural perfection?  In doing so, does she virtually guarantee fulfillment of her own perception of low self-esteem, and a hollow, sad, destiny?  Does this observation apply equally to prostitutes and upper-class, rich females who spend thousands of dollars annually on makeup and cosmetics?  The reader must decide.

 

Is Natural Beauty Undesirable?

If the mask is donned with purpose, is it because  natural beauty is that fleeting, that undesirable?  Is it not a startling contradiction of terms that the most plain, ordinary woman, young, or old , or a mother bearing an unborn child, but confident —with a shining head of hair, sparkling eyes and a glowing display of personality and nature —is somehow the most attractive?  Women are often far more attractive without makeup, and for more than mere physical reasons.
The fact is, the woman that does not “paint and powder away” her natural self is, in truth, far more appealing to the average, common sense man, and is, with almost inexplicable, subtle allure, also far more appealing and beautiful. Why? There are several possible answers. She reveals her true nature.

It is said that “ordinary men foolishly perpetuate the folly of ordinary men”, being  leery of, and even afraid to approach the most beautiful women upon the slightest perception of being rejected. The same beautiful women feel they intimidate people with their “beauty” , which creates insecurity in potential mates, and inevitably scares them off.   Can there be any correlation to the fact that beautiful, artificially painted women feel that they are also the most abused, saddest, and the loneliest  women in the world?
It may also be reasonable to  predict  some  women paint themselves in a secret desire to make themselves less attractive.  Pouring on dead-pan foundation, sticky mascara, ghoulish eye-liner and garish lipstick often makes themselves as ugly, unloved, and unwanted as they must feel inside with their loneliness.

 

The Mask of Deception: Are there other motivating factors?

 " What is it  their mothers have taught them  that so desperately needs to be hidden?"
The direct answer is that the painted smile is one of deception. Paint a life. Paint happiness. Be what you are not . Offer what you are not. Don the mask. Deceive others, but deceive yourself first.

Sublime?  yes, but also possible.

Does a mask of heavy makeup  also not provide the opportunity for, and the impression of deception? She is skillfully and beautifully painted. Do not dare to observe the same woman prior to being made up the next morning, for the mask of discontent can be more than misleading, disappointing and painful,  it can be a mask of deception. Yes, the mask of deception can also  make a plain woman far more beautiful than she is in real life.

 

What is the actual intent of makeup in society today?
” Look in the mirror, you may be surprised".…Do you sense discomfort gazing upon your own face, or is it the hollow realization in your eyes that your reason to don the mask is also your intent to deceive? “In wisdom and fairness, one can only quietly imagine the response to that question from any specific individual.

 

Who is to blame for Makeup?

Who is to blame for the tendency of women to completely cover up natural beauty, and to what have the natural values of genuine, honest beauty evolved?
The short answers, sadly, may be hidden in corporate profit, brainwashing and the promotion of insecurity.  The desire to belong,  the promotion of fear, taking advantage of psychological  weakness, low self-esteem and the resultant insecurity,  the desire to hide or be masked, the hiding of fact, and raw deception itself are all exploited shamelessly by corporate promotion of cosmetics.

The fear of aging, the fear of self-acceptance. The criticism of peers. The eternal challenge to be the best-looking, in spite of the outcome in reality. Desire. The flesh is weak and has been since the beginning. Promises of sex. Commitment. Relationships. Love, the driving away of loneliness, unhappiness, the Old Maid syndrome.
Therein lies the quandary of women of all ages and backgrounds;    the commercial beast has taken advantage and  attached itself solidly on the backs and in the minds of the attractive, plain, and ordinary alike.  Why?  For profit.

 

Brainwashing

Pasting  foundation and garish red lipstick on thickly makes the pale, sickly woman look even paler and more sickly.  No matter.  It is inevitable that a woman that perceives herself to be colourless, plain  and pale wishes to portray more colour —both in her soul and upon her face, regardless of physical outcome or actual appearance. "Hope in a cosmetics jar".
The trap is set and sprung.  Women are encouraged, even brainwashed to learn at a very young age that to be without makeup is to be ugly and incomplete.  Corporations and society continue to  encourage and coach  women to put on the artificial face, the mask of discontent. She has been thoroughly  convinced that without cosmetics she is destined to be the most unattractive, saddest, least valued, and above all, the loneliest woman in the world without love, mate or hope.

 

The Sad Reality

As a concerned society we must soon pay attention to the fact that solid personal values, personality, morals, and ethics are continually being eroded, even reduced to naught, while artificial appearance,  deception, the painted face, the commercial mask,  the artificial mask of discontent,are all  made to appear desirable and essential; the only important aspects of femininity.

 

Is there hope?

Ideally  women will soon come to understand they are far more attractive naturally. They always have been, and always will be beautiful things, but to where does the understanding and inherent wisdom of enjoying and retaining natural beauty disappear?  Ask a  naturally beautiful woman before she dons the mask of discontent.

 

Is that Incoming I hear?

 

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2 Responses to Makeup: The Mask of Discontent?

  1. Glory Lennon says:

    I quite agree! I just won’t do it for any reason. I am what I am, take it or leave it. 🙂

    • Right on, Glory. You are beautiful as you are natural; nature IS beauty. I continue to shake my head in amazement why some of the most picture-perfect women, naturally gorgeous women–insist on covering their faces with that UGLY makeup. Thank you for commenting “:) ~R

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