Natasha Broomfield
“Beauty is not actually as rare as we believe. It’s found in the most unexpected places.” ~Michel Maidenberg, Art Director
Let’s look first at the, “Who am I?” question. Like peeling the layers of an artichoke, you go through many layers before you get to the delicious heart of who you are, and it seems that each layer is more and more succulent. Most of the outer labels of our identity place us in boxes or categories relative to other people. We might identify ourselves by race, gender, religion, political views, occupation, and so on. Many of those labels were given to us by birth or circumstance and all of them inform our point of view. But none of them are who we are -- they are simply categories of relative identification and the preferences of our egos. The more we live on the surface of our identity, the less we are in touch with our deeper self. We live in a world of “reality” television and the endless bombardment of media impressions that seek to influence our thoughts and behaviours. They give the impression that we are nothing more than superficial, selfish, judgemental and greedy individuals competing for centre stage on the top of the heap. It’s a sad social commentary, but thankfully not much help in getting to know our true selves. The problem is that the more we look outside of ourselves to create a sense of self, the farther off track we go.
uthentic
How can we know who we truly are when we spend our time and attention trying to be something other than what we find ourselves to be? No amount of changing ourselves for the purpose of being perceived as cool or fashionable or getting the approval of others is going to bring us any closer to really knowing ourselves. ~Judith Johnson, Author, Speaker, Life Coach and Interfaith Minister
“I can remember going to a photography studio to do a drama course and we did stage makeup. I was a very sort of quiet, shy teenager at that time and I was made up to be a geisha girl. I spent the afternoon wandering about in the outfit and the makeup and the way that people reacted to me made me actually feel confident.
~Female, 21
It was like wearing a mask. As long as you remember, it’s not reality and it washes off at the end of the day.” “Men today are always looking at magazines and then looking at their own bodies and thinking, ‘I’m nowhere near close to that.’ I think its a case of if your friends are doing it then you feel you should do it to. If your friends are going down to the gym and getting themselves toned then you go to the gym because you want to look as good as them. You are in competition.”
“I was most insecure in my teenage years and early twenties. I used to have to wear my brother’s hand me down clothes. I got bullied a lot based purely on my clothes.”
~Male, 54
~Ex-Model, 67
“I have always been insecure about my weight and I still am. I have always been naturally slim and because of my height, my slim build makes me look lanky. I’ve been going to the gym to bulk up and I’ve been taking protein supplements. I’ve put on a stone already.”
~Male, 18
“I had to grow confident with my hair colour. In Primary School. I would always hear things being said because I was ginger. “
~Female, 21
My daughter always use to say to me - she knew - I have Rheumatoid Arthritis - which is a really hard thing to cope with when you are a model and she would always say to me, the more I was dressed up, she knew it was like my armour was going on. She knew the worse I felt. I covered it all up and then somehow or another you become that person again. It was never a ploy, it was for me. It was always, for me. So that I could function and do my job.
I remember my son decided his nose was squint. He is a really handsome boy but he wanted his nose done and he got on a mission about it. I had never noticed his nose was squint up until he mentioned it. So I went with him, and the consultant said, “No you can’t have that done. I’m not doing it because I don’t think I will meet your expectations and you still won’t be happy.” He was 100 percent right because my son himself was unhappy at that point in time because he went from that to wanting his teeth whitened. He just wanted a quick fix. He wasn’t happy where he was in his life and I’ll be honest, I’ve done it. I wasn’t very happy a couple of weeks ago and that’s why I had my lips done. ~Female, 60
~Female, 54
~Male, 24
~Female, 35
“I have always been extremely insecure about my height, especially during High School. One day when I came home I had a really sore hip because I had dropped my side so much to get lower. My posture was awful and that always made me feel less confident because I was trying to make myself as short as I could be.”
“My daughter gets quite anxious. She is really into her makeup and I think she is very pretty but then she is quite critical of herself and she is only twelve.”
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I don’t know why people seek the perfect life. Perfect is not attractive. Who wants to be perfect? There is a certain level of discontent and lack of confidence behind the facade.
“I don’t know why people seek the perfect life. Perfect is not attractive. Who wants to be perfect? There is a certain level of discontent and lack of confidence behind the facade. We are all different and we are individuals. Perfect is an illusion, an airbrush! And will perfection make you happy? You should be reflecting yourself despite what others say about you. You might look in the mirror and see a lovely, ugly beauty spot, which indecently in the 17th century was the thing to have, and you become obsessed with that or you become obsessed with the lines underneath your eyes. People don’t see that. They are looking at you and your personality and that can distract them. Beauty isn’t just about appearance, it’s to do with the person and the way you present yourself. You have ten seconds when you enter a room to form a first impression and that first impression can never be changed.
‘Infeariority’
So when you walk into a room you have to be confident and exude beauty. That comes from inside not just outside. The best way I can describe it is, if you have your photograph taken and the photographer says, ‘just stand there and do nothing,’ then nothing happens. If you stand there and he says, “now think of something that makes you really happy and imagine yourself in this amazing place and sparkle inwardly,” then the photos are astonishing. It’s very much in your mind. You should be exuding yourself not somebody else. So what you have to do is exude your power and the positivity you feel about yourself - you’ve done your best and ther is nothing more you can do. Put on your best frock or business suit - every situation is different. And your beauty is from within. Its the whole, not just what you see in the mirror.
Peer pressure contributes a great deal to inferiority. I think as a young person, your greatest desire is to fit in. And as you get older, your desire might change and that might make you want to stand out. Are they jealous? Do they want you to be like you so that you don’t stand out? Do they want you to be like them so that you don’t stand out? People don’t want to look different but there are people who do want to be different. You might want to add a touch of something that keeps you up to date but still being the person you are. So I’m still wearing my pearls, I still colour my hair. But the pressure from my friends was initially to have my hair cut short because it was more ‘suitable’. This is me and I like the way I am. They said, “but you look so nice with it short...” and I said, “I look nice with it long or short and I like it like this.” ~ Ex-Model, 67
“Beauty trends have nothing to do with what is beautiful. Initially, it is more about shock, boldness and imagination. Imagine a world of followers... We would not see anyone with a mind of their own. Especially not through compliance. The beauty is in the celebration of uniqueness. Beauty is not actually as rare as we in fact believe. It’s found in the most unexpected places. It’s at its pinnacle when ignored. On the other hand, we pay too little attention to black models, Asian or mixed race. In fact, beauty is not reserved for Russian models, for the young, it’s not a small nose or slim thighs. Those who spend their lives pursuing this, end up lost. So I work with characters, roles. When someone expresses an emotion, I am immediately sensitive to their beauty. It’s the look, always the look. An image which does not shock is not worth the trouble, and that is true, even in the field of beauty. The silhouettes of the female body are landscapes. It is something that we discover when we look at a close up. The eyes get lost looking for more! Surprise me said Alexy Brodovitch. So, just do it.” ~ Michel Maidenberg, Art Director
“You will recognise beauty when you see it. It has two faces.
One which is engaged in the moment and the other which is revealed with time.� ~Michel Maidenberg, Art Director
I got my teeth fixed about three months ago. They were badly stained and my gums were swollen and sore. I was very self-conscious of my smile and in my photos for the last few years my smile was very designed and fake. I didn’t smile to my eyes as that would mean showing my teeth. A male friend of mine once asked how I was so comfortable with such stained teeth, especially as I am single and first impressions are so important. I won’t lie. I went home and cried. The following week I went to a dental clinic and agreed to undergo six weeks of intensive cleaning, and work. Reality TV and the internet have damaged our perceptions of reality. Now people can troll those who are different, online and it is rather anonymous the majority of the time. There has always been pressure on people to look a certain way but now we are more open to ridicule. I am just glad that my awkward teenage years were lived out in a world where cameras needed to be sent in to be developed and phones were used to make phone calls and maybe play a game of snake...”
Boys are under more pressure than we think, especially boys around eighteen years old. My brother got an ASOS order a month ago for clothes which I’ve never seen him in. I asked him, “why are you doing this, this isn’t you.” He told me he liked them but I don’t feel he is truly comfortable wearing them.
“The boys of today are constantly looking in the magazines and looking at their bodies and thinking, ‘I’m nowhere near as close to that.’ I think it’s a case of if their friends are doing it, then they will do it. So if your friends are going to the gym to bulk up, then you do it because you want to look as good as them. You are in competition.”
~ Female, 21
~Male, 55
“Men aren’t allowed to be insecure. We don’t have feelings, feelings are bad. We have to show that there is no weakness...”
“Guys are sort of taught that, ‘boys don’t cry,’ and that extends to a lot of things. Boys or men aren’t really suppose to feel any diverse emotions. They are meant to be strong, independent and in charge and anything less than that is not seen as accomplished.”
“A lot more men are interested in the products that we sell here at the salon, like moisturisers. So I would definitely say that men are affected by the pressures as well. They don’t like to admit it because men don’t really tell you very much. I’ve noticed that they come in before weddings now. Women have always came to the salon before a wedding but men more so now. We see them coming in for courses of facials and treatments. They are so much more interested in what the pictures are going to look like” ~Female, 25
~Male, 21
“We see a lot of men in the salon now. Especially for eyebrow threading and waxing. Some also come in for manicures or facials. A lot of women are encouraging their men to do more maintenance and grooming. Some will ask to have it done in a room where nobody can see them.” ~Female, 25
“I still think it is, ‘men don’t cry,’ and I still think that it applies despite what we claim. I think men hide the pressure more. I still don’t think it’s a coincidence that the suicide rate is always far higher amongst men than it is for women. The pressure is there but they just don’t want to talk about it.” ~Female, 57
“Proponents of enhancements are continually touting how the latest augmentation technologies are all about freedom and personal autonomy. What they don’t realise is that, once we are obliged to intrusively violate our bodily integrity to simply have a place in society, then we are subject to the tyranny of our own technology.” ~Rebecca Taylor, Clinical Laboratory Specialist in Molecular Biology
“I had a really bad allergic reaction to Botox. I had it done last February for the first time. It was just for the line in my forehead but I reacted to it really badly. It was great but it made my eyes itch and my eyes also dropped with it. That is something which is common. The girl that did it is fabulous. She is really good, it was just me. So now I stick to having fillers here and there but it’s subtle. It’s always tempting to do a bit more...” ~Ruth Ross, Salon Owner ‘The substantial increase in the number of cosmetic procedures performed has led to some commentators to argue that these procedures are becoming ‘normalised’: that is, that both cosmetic surgery, and invasive non-surgical procedures such as the use of injectable fillers and Botox, are increasingly perceived as routine, rather than exceptional, ways of changing one’s appearance. This perception has, in turn, led to concerns that what is regarded as a desirable, or even acceptable, appearance may become increasingly narrow, increasing pressure on those whose appearance does not conform to these norms, and reinforcing stereotypes with respect to factors such as age, gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, class, disability, and disfigurement.’ ~Nuffield Council on Bioethics. “A lot of my friends have done it. Botox, lip fillers...They are the same age as me and in the same industry. I’ve said it to them before and I would say it to them again, I think they are too young to have it done. My friends who have had Botox are trying to prevent future wrinkles from coming. The idea is that they freeze the muscles now at age twenty five, the wrinkles can’t come at all so it will just stay the same.” ~Female, 25
“Young girls think by plumping their lips they’re immediately going to be more attractive but they don’t realise that by putting in a lot of filler, or even a little bit, it suddenly changes their appearance. Self-image and self-worth is tied up very much in how you see yourself and those little transformations and tweaks can actually make a big difference” ~Dr Mark Hamilton, Surgeon in the field of Facial Aesthetics “Big, bold lips have been huge this year, meaning girls are being brainwashed by social media into thinking that they have to have big lips and go to extremes like lip fillers.” ~Denise Rabor, Make-up Artist and Founder of WOW Beauty. “We’re not all born with Angelina Jolie lips. And whoever said small lips aren’t beautiful?” ~Bobbie Brown, Professional Make-up Artist and Founder of Bobbie Brown Cosmetics. “Oh yes, I’ve had botox. I was very ill, that is my excuse anyway and it is what I am sticking to! I had lost a lot of weight and my face had sort of popped in so I went and had some face enhancement in terms of fillers. Boy was it sore! It was worth it because I had people saying, “my goodness you are looking so much better, are you feeling well again?”. I think that is the only enhancement I would have done. Although...I am very tempted to have my chin done.” ~Ex-model, 67
‘Lizard Skin’
Orange peel skin, better known as cellulite, is a common skin condition amongst girls, women and some men. Between 80-90 percent of women are said to have suffered from cellulite. The condition could be seen in women depicted in the 16th century Baroque painter Rubens work of art. During that century, it was considered a sign of affluence and beauty. These days, society considers it aesthetically unacceptable to have cellulite. Barney Calman, Health Editor For The Mail On Sunday talks about a new procedure to remove cellulite. ‘The Cellfina procedure involves using an instrument with a vacuum that sucks up the fleshy area to be treated. The device then inserts a fine motorised blade horizontally under the skin to slice the sucked-up flesh away from the connective tissues that support it.’ ‘It’s been really stressful, I did it because I wanted to look nice and I wanted to look slimmer but I used to go swimming a lot but now I can’t go because I think people will be staring at my legs.” Marcela Petrasova, 38, underwent painful treatment to remove her cellulite. But instead the treatment that claims to be able to kill fat cells by freezing them left her with painful wounds on both her legs, which became infected and formed into blisters. ~Case Study: Unity Blott, Mail Online. Marcela’s life changing scars causes us to think deeper about the extreme influence that unrealistic beauty standards are having over our society. “I think most people will use such enhancements to find happiness, and happiness will never be found because of our appearance. Happiness comes from acceptance of our faults and flaws and from how we embrace them.” ~Female, 34
Sara Pascoe: ‘Boob jobs are viewed as a decorative tweak, but these women are self-harming’ ‘I wore a padded bra every single day and night from the age of 14 until I was 31. Giving up padding was my New Year’s resolution. I had known for ages that wearing a stuffed bra was a form of hiding my real body. I realised I was walking around with two lies on my chest: “Wanna squeeze my tits? They’re in the washing basket.” And that’s ages ago now. I should be used to my new honesty, but I still feel insecure without padding and I have to fight the urge to fake it. Especially if I am on TV or something – who would know? I’d just look like I had a slightly fuller bust, no harm would be done ... Except I think that is where the harm is done. If all small-breasted women are wearing padded bras and look bigger, then the teenage girls with small breasts feel they are alone in their small-boobedness. They aren’t offered a vista of unenhanced, bottom-heavy, perfectly contented three-dimensional women to combat the pneumatically proportioned two-dimensional ones in the media. The young women are duped and begin to pad and enhance and the cycle continues. It only stops if we accept ourselves. We are all responsible for a little slice, whether we want to be or not.
The spooky truth is that so little is known about the dangers of breast implants. A medicine would go through about 20 years of testing before getting official approval to show that it’s probably safe for humans. Implants were not studied until doctors were already performing operations. In fact, all women who get their breasts enlarged are part of an ongoing experiment that could be called “What happens when you do this to breasts?” All implants make it more difficult to screen for breast cancer and can interfere with breastfeeding and reduce breast sensitivity. And those are only the success stories. That’s without the awful reports of operations gone wrong, the unqualified butchers, the backstreet conmen and the deaths they have caused.’
‘Breast is best’
Mod ifi cAt ioN
Promoting a future of genetically engineered inequality legitimizes the vast existing injustices that are socially arranged and enforced.
Gene enhancement holds a lot of unanswered questions about our future. The issue lies with the ethics and morals involved in allowing the use of genetic engineering for cosmetic purposes. The main question is, are we playing God? “We could be on the cusp of a new era in human history,” Nobel laureate David Baltimore of the California Institute of Technology said when opening the international summit to discuss what he called “deep and disturbing questions.” “The implementation of heritable human genetic modification which is often referred to as the creation of ‘genetically modified humans’ or ‘designer babies’could irrevocably alter the nature of the human species and society. The overriding question is when, if ever, would we want to use gene editing to change human inheritance?” Is there a darker side to the future of enhancement? Scientists have made a breakthrough in gene technology which could change humanity. What will happen to society if it can be as simple as editing our genes instead of going under the knife? “Would people edit their genes to make them faster or stronger? Would they become more powerful than other people because they have more money? If it begins to come into sports then its just who has the best scientist that wins.” ~Male, 55 “I think you are altering the life of your future. What is the trend for this season, would fashion trends become people trends? Imagine if you personally went out of date, expired. You are so last year! People would discard you for that. Then you might come back around again in a few years time!” ~Female, 21
“It comes down to what society value, and then what the individuals want...Gene editing is snipping out a targeted DNA sequence and replacing it with another. It used to be time-consuming and imprecise, but now you can edit any living genome, using your computer to target a stretch of DNA and inserting a genetic sequence of your choice.” ~George Church, Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School. ‘At the cusp of dot-com frenzy and the biotech century, a group of influential scientists and pundits has begun zealously promoting a new bio-engineered utopia. In the world of their visionary fervor, parents will strive to afford the latest genetic “improvements” for their children. According to the advocates of this human future (or, as some term it, “post-human” future), the exercise of consumer preferences for offspring options will be the prelude to a grand achievement: the technological control of human evolution. Promoting a future of genetically engineered inequality legitimizes the vast existing injustices that are socially arranged and enforced. Marketing the ability to specify our children’s appearance and abilities encourages a grotesque consumerist mentality toward children and all human life. Fostering the notion that only a “perfect baby” is worthy of life threatens our solidarity with and support for people with disabilities, and perpetuates standards of perfection set by a market system that caters to political, economic, and cultural elites. Channeling hopes for human betterment into preoccupation with genetic fixes shrinks our already withered commitments to improving social conditions and enriching cultural and community life.’ ~ Marcy Darnovsky
“There is nothing more beautiful than seeing a person being themselves. Imagine going through your day being unapologetically you� ~Steve Maraboli Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience.