The Beholder

Clarice Dixson

"I don't understand how a woman can leave the house without fixing herself up a little - if only out of politeness. And then, you never know, maybe that's the day she has a date with destiny. And it's best to be as pretty as possible for destiny." -Chanel

I totally adore this quote and its sentiment--on the surface--but when I delved a little deeper, it just didn't sit right with me and it nags at my conscience, so I had to share.

Why is it that woman has to "fix herself up a little" before she leaves the house? She has to put on her Chanel cosmetics, just so she can be presentable to the world. Heaven forbid a woman go out into the world, bare-faced and as-is. That just wouldn't be polite. It's almost absurd, and the feminist in me just cries out a the injustice of it all! Not to mention that this is a quote from a manufacturer of the cosmetics that us women are "impolite" to be without. What does it say about the society in which we live? Is this really our mentality?

I think that where it went to far is when it got to the "politeness" part. It is also forcing one person's (Chanel's) personal agenda on the masses. Who tells us that we need to modify our natural form in order to live up to the expectations of society? Why is it necessary to be "pretty"? What purpose does "pretty" serve but to line the pockets of Gabriell "CoCo" Chanel, Estee Lauder, and Christian Dior? Not to mention that "pretty" is 100% subjective and has no real basis in reality or reason.

Do not get me wrong, I am a fan of the cosmetics industry, and I do have a certain degree of vanity, as we all do, but I have never been able to figure out why there is such importance placed on physical attributes over which none of us have control. And to insinuate that it is necessary to modify what we were born with in order to emulate some impossible "standard" is absurd. At the end of the day, does "pretty", in itself, make the world a better place? It's almost as bad as racism. Didn't MLK say that man should be judged by the content of his character?

I cannot take pride in this face. I had nothing to do with whatever desirable attributes it might or might not possess. I can only take pride in my actions and in the way I treat others. I can take pride in my accomplishments and my triumphs. What pride is there in simply being born? The random mixing of my parents' genetic material is not anything that I had any consciousness of, let alone contributed to.

I just think that our priorities are all out of order.

Or maybe I'm just taking things too far.