March 8th is celebrated worldwide as
International Women’s Day. That means people will have a temporary ceasefire on
the gender war that is going on silently between the sexes since time
immemorial and felicitate the females for a day. Long passages and short text
messages, picture messages and video messages will circulate throughout the
day, most of which will say women are the best and how would men live if women
weren’t around etc. Some of these, however, will be thinly veiled misogynist
sarcasm. (e.g Have a happy Women’s Day, ladies and for God’s sake do everyone a favour by not driving!) But yes, pretty
much every message, e-mail or Facebook status today will have something to do
with how wonderful women are!
I too am sitting here writing an article about women (definitely
related to women, at any rate) on the occasion of Women’s Day. It is not a real
serious topic – like rape or female infanticide or human trafficking or dowry. I
know those issues are staring us right in the face and enough has been written
and said and discussed on blogs, forums, TV shows, newspapers and Facebook. But
I do not want to present women as sufferers and victims. Enough of that is
being done as we speak. This article has nothing to do with any burning social
issue. It is on the, shall we say, more fun end of the spectrum.
That, however, is not to say it is completely frivolous.
My humble attempt at something on the lighter side may be
considered serious, or not-serious depending on your perspective. Your
perspective towards life and morals and behaviour.
If you are with me so far, thank you. Read on!
Women have long been censured and made fun of, by the media,
by their husbands and boyfriends and by the society in general, for using a lot
of products and taking a lot of time to beautify themselves. From Cleopatra to Claudia
Schiffer, from Marilyn to me, women of all eras, all ages, all ethnicities are
united by their love for looking good. And feeling good about it.
It doesn't matter what we women really look like or if we
fit in with the classical definitions of beauty. Our faces may be launching a
thousand pimples everyday instead of a thousand ships a la Helen of Troy. It
doesn't matter if our complexions are milky or peachy or dusky or dark or fair
or tanned or bronze or beige or sandy or caramel. Doesn't matter if we have a
button nose or a Grecian nose or a cute li’l piggy nose. Doesn't matter if we
are blondes, brunettes, redheads or any shade in between. Doesn't matter if we
are 30A or 36C or 40EEE. Doesn’t matter if we make a lot of moolah or are perennially
broke. (I could really go on and on about the things that don’t matter, but let’s
get to the point now.)
Irrespective of where we come from, our race, our genetics,
our culture, our beliefs - it is a fact universally acknowledged that women are
notorious for the amount of time they take to look good and get ready!
Nobody, however, is frank and courageous enough to agree
that in an increasingly destructive, harsh, big bad world where everything is
getting uglier by the day; from the environment kids are growing up in to the
very face of Mother Earth - there’s this group of special creatures out there known
as “women”, which is putting some beauty back into the scene.
(Oh come on! Admit
it, already! You like looking at the face of a well groomed woman who takes
care of herself)
Why do women (ranging from hardened corporate bosses to
scientists to nubile college goers to homemakers) devote so much time to
beautify themselves? Just for a handful of compliments from other people?
Surely not. That is a thing of the past. Surely the 21st century
woman has come a long way from decking up just to please people. Why else would
the single girl groom herself as much as the girl with a steady boyfriend or
the lady married for ten years? No matter how back-breaking our daily schedules
are, we will find some time to take care of ourselves. And not for a few
compliments thrown our way.
But why has the 21st century woman - after so
many vigorous and rigorous women’s liberation campaigns that have asked us to
go braless and not shave our underarms and wear unflattering attires and not put
a speck of colour on our faces - not stopped investing quality time (and money)
in beautifying herself? If anything, the
beauty industry is booming unlike ever before. Why are we still purchasing so
many cleansers and moisturizers and foundations and lipsticks as our academic
degrees and salaries are climbing higher and higher?
Well?
Is there a philosophy behind all the primping and pruning, we
are silently trying to whisper to the world? What do our daily cosmetics and
skin care products really tell us and the world...other than tall claims of
making us picture perfect? If all those beautiful little jars and pots and
bottles and compacts on a woman’s dressing table could talk; perhaps they would
have spoken thus :
Cleanser- Don’t carry baggage! The day is gone, wash it off!
Get rid of the negativity.
Exfoliator - Sometimes
you know something is harming you and yet you don’t want to let go of it. A bad
memory, a bad relationship, a bad job. It takes some extra scrubbing...some
harder work than usual to wash away that extra bit of dirt – from your face and
from your life - but do it anyway, once in a while.
Toner- Tighten up your belts, pull up your socks, don’t be
slack - tomorrow is going to be a brand new day!
Moisturizer – But remember to do whatever you do softly!
Don’t hurt anyone, including yourself!
Sunscreen – You are responsible for your own safety. Protect
yourself at all times. Protect that pretty face, protect that money purse,
protect that kind heart and protect that beautiful mind. Everything is more fun
when you know you are safe.
Primer – Make sure you smooth out a surface before you
build on it. Be it anything - make-up, buildings, careers or relationships.
Foundation – A foundation is also called a “base”.
Self-explanatory. Whether you are building a life with someone or gaining
knowledge as a student or building a career of your dreams or simply doing
artistry on your face with makeup brushes,make sure you have the right
foundation - the right base. This alone will determine how long anything in
your life - from your marriage to your make-up - will last.
Concealer – Made a mistake? Spotted a few red marks? Then stop
and correct them right away! Do not ignore blemishes – on your skin or on your
life – and continue to build upon a blotchy, uneven, imperfect base. It is
okay. Nobody is perfect. But we can all definitely put some effort into trying
to be perfect. What is life after all, if not an endless effort to attain
perfection? Mother Nature does it through seasonal changes and evolution!
Powder – A great work of art is never complete without
finishing touches. You do it when you cook, you do it when you sew, you do it
when you take a bath...you add finishing touches to everything. Then why not to
all things big and small in your life? Put some finishing touches on the
business document you are working so hard on, and see how delighted you are
with your own work (and your boss too, of course). Put some finishing touches
to the decoration of your room and you’ll be pleasantly surprised when you walk
into in again. Raw is good but finishing touches are exquisite!
Eye-Make up (eye shadows, mascara, eyeliners, kohl) – You
always open the windows before you open the door. Keep them beautiful and
attractive. Windows show you the world outside and for someone on the outside;
they give a glimpse of what’s on the inside. You see the world through the
windows, before you decide whether to open the door at all, and the world gets
a glimpse of you – of your soul - through the windows. Keep the soul unstained
and the windows beautiful. Always.
Lipstick – Your smile in the best thing about you. Your face
and someone’s world light up when you smile. Somewhere in the world someone
works hard and prays hard everyday, just so you keep smiling beautifully. That
gentle curve of your lips is the shortest distance between two hearts. There is
a reason why the “M” shaped double curve of our top lip is called Cupid’s Bow.
Keep those lips smooth and ready-to-smile. Don’t purse them or show your
cynicism and sarcasm by twitching them on one side...you might be breaking
someone’s heart with a mere disapproving pursing of your lips. Those lips are
also your very own spokesperson...the last checkpoint before you blurt out the
words your tongue has formed. Beautiful lips are justified only when the words
that come out of them are beautiful and meaningful.
Perfume – A life that doesn’t leave a lot of grace, a lot of
good memories and remembrances behind is so tragic! Would it not be nice to have people remember you after you have left a place –be it a party or the world- with
nice feelings you invoked in them? Like you remember your mother by the feelings
of comfort and security and by the smell of home-cooked food? Like you remember a
bright sunny day by the smell of freshly laundered clothes, and that
remembrance fills you with delight? But how exactly you wish to be recalled
unto people’s minds, is, to a large extent, in your own hands. What would you
rather remind people of? Warmth of acceptance or fear of rejection? Flowers or
thorns? Perfume or stench? Choose for yourself, and behave accordingly!
Those are few things that I have learned from my collection
of cosmetics. Try listening to yours’ sometime! They speak!
It is not a bad thing to want to look groomed and sorted
out. Every culture has thousands of years of history about the tradition of
beauty rituals. But please do remember, behind that glowing skin and that
worked out body and those beautifully arched eyebrows of the woman/women in your
life, there is a heart that feels and a mind that thinks.
Cherish your special lady and rejoice in all her aspects! Everything comes together to make her the magnetic, attractive and mind-blowing person she is.
HAPPY WOMEN’S DAY, FOLKS!
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P.S - Thank you for taking time from your busy schedule and reading my blog.
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I am a new author and I would be grateful for any kind of encouragement from my readers. It is a tough world out there for new authors!
Thanks once again! Hope you love reading my articles as much as I loved writing them!
I am a new author and I would be grateful for any kind of encouragement from my readers. It is a tough world out there for new authors!
Thanks once again! Hope you love reading my articles as much as I loved writing them!
Love
Pallavi
Kent, OH, US
March 8th, 2014
