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From: aeq@pucc-h (Jeff Sargent)
Newsgroups: net.singles
Subject: Re: makeup (digressing into facial hair)
Message-ID: <945@pucc-h>
Date: Thu, 16-Aug-84 01:58:23 EDT
Article-I.D.: pucc-h.945
Posted: Thu Aug 16 01:58:23 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 17-Aug-84 00:16:18 EDT
References: <777@ihuxe.UUCP>, <1131@psuvax1.UUCP>, <435@charm.UUCP>
Organization: Tucumcari Divinity School
Lines: 32

From Peter Rosenthal:

>  I suppose you think it stupid to shave or cut your
> hair because it perverts the natural beauty of those little
> strands of protein sticking out of your face and neck.  

This does bring up the point that all of this -- makeup, shaving, or
whatever -- is just a question of what is considered to look best by the
current culture.  Unfortunately, this may involve varying degrees of
artificiality.  Unfortunately for some people, their natural gifts may
not look all that good, even if the culture allows them to be expressed; e.g.
my beard is very wiry (quite a contrast to my unusually fine hair), and it
has an annoying curl toward the right; thus it can never be a soft, gentle,
flowing chin mane.  I finally shaved it off, along with the moustache I
had worn for 11 years.  (I can hear the screams from Reston now! :-)  Those
of you who know the eternally bearded Dave Maxey will understand what I mean.)

It now occurs to me that there is another dimension to all this, at
least in the case of makeup.  Painting one's face is an art, just like
painting a canvas.  It can be done well or poorly; when it is done well
(which usually means subtly), it evokes admiration for the one who did the
makeup job (greatly to the advantage of the one wearing it if she did it
herself); if it is done poorly (usually this means excessively), it does not
evoke such admiration.  Note that the admiration of which I speak is initially
artistic admiration rather than romantic; but it is much easier to conceive a
romantic admiration for someone whom one admires as a good artist on her own
face than for someone whom one judges to be a poor artist there.

-- 
-- Jeff Sargent
{decvax|harpo|ihnp4|inuxc|seismo|ucbvax}!pur-ee!pucc-h:aeq
"We can build a beautiful city, yes we can, yes we can...."