[AnonymousBosch]

(07-16-2014 05:34 PM)RexImperator Wrote:  

Not sure about antiquity, but during the Victorian and Edwardian era makeup was frowned upon as something reserved for prostitutes, etc.

It became popular in the early 20th century as the women's liberation movement took off.

Maybe this somehow relates to that neo-Victorianism thread. Or maybe not.

Good call, Rex. From 'Beauty In The Victorian Era':

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The rise to the throne of Queen Victoria in 1837 marked the decline of the use of cosmetics. The Victorian Era was a time dominated by a strict moral code, religious values, modesty and sexual restraint. Therefore, during this period cosmetics were considered to be immoral, their use frowned upon and thought to be something that only women of dubious morals would wear. But that doesn’t mean that ladies stopped using them altogether.

While actresses and prostitutes, which at the time were considered to be pretty much the same thing, kept on wearing strong makeup, well-off ladies used very little and in very natural tones.

It's not returning to the concept of The Idealised Victorian Woman:

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She serves and obeys her husband, is moral adviser and guide to the children, and ensures peace and stability in her home. Beautiful, sweet, passive, and self-sacrificing, her identity is derived solely from her role as wife and mother.

But the reaction of privileged women of that time, which was concerned with destroying that stereotype. For example:

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When Charlotte Brontë set out to write the novel Jane Eyre, she was determined to create a main character who challenged the notion of the ideal Victorian woman, or as Brontë was once quoted: "a heroine as plain and as small as myself" (Gaskell, Chapter XV). Brontë's determination to portray a plain yet passionate young woman who defied the stereotype of the docile and domestic Victorian feminine ideal most likely developed from her own dissatisfaction with domestic duties and a Victorian culture that discouraged women from having literary aspirations.

Thus began an epidemic of Plain Heroines, who think of themselves - or are told by others - that they're ugly, but still win the heart of desirable men, whom look past their lack of beauty and end up attracted to their inner, desirable, nobler qualities. Sound familiar to this video and the articles written by Sensibles? True beauty is within.

As usual, you can confirm this with what do people masturbate or fantasise over that can be financially-exploited. Let me introduce you to the non-Mary Sue strand of female writing: the plain romantic heroine.

Some selections:

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"Nora's heart and her goodness makes her the woman for jaded, untrusting Christian."

McQueen gets around!

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"She's called Horseface Hattie by the men in her town and, and is being railroaded into marrying a not-so-nice widower. But Reed sees the attractive woman she is."

She gets the bad boy.

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"Even though Christopher was blind, he knew that Gillian had an inner beauty that being loved brought out."

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"Cassie is the plain, poor relation dogsbody who Dane marries out of pity. But her true beauty ensnares him."

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"Cassie is dowdy and men don't appreciate her, other than for her incredible abilities with electronics. She uses her ownership of a revolutionary videogame company to buy herself a husband. Joel is not about to let this technology or Cassie become another man's possesion, so he kidnaps her and forces her down the altar. He is not as indifferent as he pretends to be."

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"Isobel is tall, large, with strong features, and has carrot-red hair. Nathan is blind but her voice and her strong nature spurs him into asking for her hand in marriage."

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"Friday is a bluestocking who is deeply in love with her Adonis-like neighbor. He thinks of her as a friend, until his eyes open up to her charm."

Because god-forbid she ever realises an ugly man has other positive qualities.

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"Evelyn is favored more for her efficiency than her looks. However keen spy Justin sees the depths in her that were long overlooked ."

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"Shy, prim, and proper spinster Abigail is seduced by her patient, gunslinger Jesse."

Blah blah blah, the page I'm reading alone lists 45 novels in this vein.

You might think. "Well, modesty and propriety... it was a different time." No, those are all modern romance novels currently being sold on Amazon. Note also, the tall, ugly knight in Game Of Thrones the girls want to win Jamie Lannister. Same old, same old.

A subset of this would be what I think of the Victorian and Edwardian Adventures of Ugly, Ugly Children. If you're American, you'll recognise the stereotype from any stories about children growing up on the plains, which is why The Cult Of Sensibility had a fit last year over this cover for 'Anne Of Green Gables', thinking it too 'sexualised' and the cover model too 'beautiful' because Anne was 'modest and plain!'



It amazes me that they're seeing sex in a chubby blonde 6 in a button up shirt, but that's their Sensible nature. I've started to note the writers for the Onion's AV Club are constantly pointing out how uncomfortable they are with any depiction of sex, by addressing scenes as 'troubling'.

"I was troubled by the blowjob scene."; "I was troubled by the rape scene."

Give them a couple of more years, and we'll end up with:

"Why, the very thought of such sexual impropriety seizes at my very heart and consumes my soul with dread. How can such a thing possibly exist, to make such mockery of all the goodness upon this earth?"

Given that I've long suspected women gain weight, avoid makeup, cover themselves with tattoos and hack off their hair to avoid attracting male attention, I think we're just seeing what the new vision of propriety is. Modesty is achieved not through buttoning up and meekness, but through sloth, aggressiveness and gluttony so no-one will consider touching you sexually. They're trying to push men away, but men are so fucking thirsty, they keep on pushing back.

I'm expecting Sensibles to push things even further, until all forms of sex are too awkward and troubling to even consider, and this is one front where feminism will start changing or splintering within 10 years. Millenial Woman have been trained to know they're supposed to be sexually-empowered by casual sex, but I expect them to start reacting against this, and start claiming empowerment through not choosing to have sex.

I noticed this article a couple of days ago, and thought "Aha. Here it comes."

Why I Quit Tinder by A Fat, Snarky Hambeast.

Trigger warning for one of the ugliest pictures of a pair of women I've ever seen.