Wednesday, March 01, 2006

File Under: Subversive Gestures




It's an unfair fact of life that women who work in "beauty industries", while not entirely exonerated from creating and perpetuating the media myths about the way women should look, are as much as if not more at the mercy of those same myths.

I work in an advertising agency, which is considered glamorous [although I give you my solemn word it's not at all]. It's a young person's game, involving a great deal of energy and stamina. It's not for the faint of heart or mature of limb.

Even though our jobs aren't glamourous, we're selling glamour. And to sell pretty you have to look pretty. Here is where the standards that are perpetuated in every magazine ad, billboard and television commercial rebound to bite us all in the ass.

For women who work in this industry, there is intense pressure to look just right. For younger women, the current mode is to look appropriately sexy while remaining business-like. The recipe is in part a dash of boardroom mixed with a splash of secret dominatrix. If the suit is conservative, the top is tight or low-cut and the heels are high. It's preferable that hair be long, straight and highlighted. Did I mention the heels should be high? If it's a casual meeting or a day away from clients, low rise jeans with a flirty blouse will work. Oh, and high heels? Yep.

Add a final coating of makeup and you have the uniform.

If the pressure to look perfect for young women in advertising is a narrow line, the pressure for older women to stay current in their appearance is a tightwire journey along the thinnest of razor edges.

Even if I wake up tired or hungover, I can't skip makeup. Oh I suppose I could, but facing the silent condemnation (or the not so silent, the "Are you feeling okay?" or "You look tired today") isn't worth the price for the 10 minutes it takes to apply.

Thankfully we don't have a dress code, and I haven't worn a suit and pantyhose in ten years. I wear skirts if I feel like it, and could wear jeans every day if I wanted to, although that would raise some eyebrows. Still, it's a daily challenge to dress in a youthful manner without crossing the line into ludicrous by pouring myself into an outfit better suited for a woman twenty years younger and twenty pounds lighter than I.

I went gray prematurely, and have colored my hair for twenty years. I'm currently conducting a little science experiment - I've stopped coloring my hair. After twenty years it's a tedious process I'd rather chuck from my repertoire. Yet I'm ambiguous about it - on the one hand, [tiny voice] I'm too young to be gray [end tiny voice]. On the other hand, the money, time and effort it takes to keep the silver strands at bay are increasingly irrirating. On the third hand my opportunities for subversion are so few that I simply must give this a try.

The experiment is only six months old and like any paranoid modern woman I'm prepared with a box of color in the bathroom just in case the whole thing goes awry. So far I haven't heard any comments (believe me, my colleagues wouldn't hesitate to point out any grooming flaws in an instant), but every day I wonder when they will come.

The adage of men aging better than women is so much stuff and nonsense - it's a societal and media construct that for some insane reason, we've all bought into like a bunch of hooked trout.

The sexbot image demanded of women is unfair, degrading, and sexist, yet I keep up appearances to the extent I do because I must - I can't afford to be tossed aside simply because I'm tired of trying.

So I'll try subversion instead.

3 Comments:

Blogger kaz said...

You go, girl!

It becomes more obvious every day that we definitely need more subversion against ALL the high gloss and sanctimonious moralistic clap trap being spouted by those who are determined to be the arbitors of everyone's life style.

I've been on a personal crusade in the last couple weeks myself, ranting, railing and highlighting that when appearance over stubstance is the common draw, its no wonder than all we get in return is a group of dilitantish half wits telling lies and running things....badly.

10:31 AM  
Blogger Miliana said...

Kaz - you're so right. As much as part of me gets off on the high gloss and fun of what I do, I feel the deadly importance of distinguing between surface & susbtance.

I can't help but think about wagging the dog..

9:57 PM  
Blogger Miliana said...

Stoic- so then how can the process be fair? It's not!

You're discussing the fact of men's potency a la human reproduction - well yes, I'll agree with you.

But in the larger aspect of society, what I'm complaining about is the fact that I'm nervous and anxious about doing something as banal as stop coloring my hair.

It doesn't follow that I'll have to keep any viability for the next nine months of gestation (mostly because it's clear I cannot gestate).

I realize what your writing from a sociological viewpoint, just wondering how it really relates to what I wrote.

And hee (the weak in its briefs) I did get that and laughed.

8:56 PM  

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