Last week in class, the question "What does it mean to say that someone is natural?" was thrown out to the class. I like to think of myself as natural in some ways, but not completely (will get to that in a minute). After class I began to ask around and see what people's opinion of the idea of a woman being natural really meant to see if they had a different perspective on the word than I did.
Many people would say that it meant not dressing your face up everyday with make up, waking up and your hair being as it is, rather than straightening it or curling it, not having any type of cosmetic surgery done so that one can enhance a feature or get rid of a part of the body that didn't flatter them too much, and a bunch of things like that. I know that when i think of natural I too thought of not putting make-up on, which I don't unless it's for professional or performance purposes, and not having surgery to make my bra size increase by two cups. Being African American, the main thing that comes to mind when we think of natural is the nappy, headed Afro that everyone has seen before.
Its usually when someone sees this that they think "Oh she must not have done her hair today" or different things along that line. It is not the most attractive look for most women and most men will not go for the girl with the natural hair, but rather the one with the straightened silky hair, or the one primped up with curling irons and rollers. My hair is the most unnatural thing on my body because I try and stay away from that natural look I get from washing my hair. I can say that how I think of my hair is fully because of I, or men, think of how attractive it is.
How we view natural has changed a lot also. Often it is no longer just being who you are and not adding anything extra, but it has changed to just not being over-dramatic with how you looking and appearing in a sense flawless. I was watching TV and constantly on commercials I kept hearing the word "natural" when they were describing make-up. Living in a sorority, I've seen a lot of girls when they are truly natural and it doesn't resemble the women on TV at all. I even searched on Google the phrase "natural women" seeing what would come up and almost every picture was of a woman with an almost flawless face. Now these women may just have naturally flawless faces, and I would love to know how, but for the most part they were advertisements for make-up.
We often will try to either mask this natural state that we have or try to reinvent it to the point where it becomes unnatural. But why do we stay away from this "natural" identity that we are born with? It all goes back to the male gaze. Every day that you get ready to go wherever it is that you are going for the day, picture a little man on your shoulder telling you how you should look, what is wrong with what you are wearing, that your hair looks a mess, maybe you need a little more cover up, etc. The way we think about being natural is not decided by us, but also by men. So, is there anyway to truly be natural without it being through the eyes of the male perspective?
I would have to say that I believe that a woman in her most "natural" state is when she has no make-up on, has not done her hair, and is in comfortable clothes--probably she has just gotten out of bed. But as stated above, why do advertisements tell us to be "natural" by wearing make up? If being natural is just getting out of bed, then make up and hair products are just trying to cover up our "natural" state...not make us natural. But, I mean, think about it! The male gaze is happening all of the time, and our society defines natural as conforming to the male gaze and looking flawless. According to ads and such, no one wants to see you when you first get out of bed, thus we are taught to shun our natural state and make ourselves up. Why DO we shy away from our natural states? I believe that one CAN truly be natural but it is not viewed as attractive from a male perspective.
ReplyDeleteReading this post and Andrea's comment, I agree with "natural" meaning no make-up on, hair not straightened or curled, and comfortable clothing. Advertisements do tell us to be "natural" all the time and shows us in the commercials that "natural" is having make-up on. I even think about the commercial for face-wash with the two girls and one of them has just rolled out of bed and gotten together with her friend and her hair is done and her face is flawless. Advertisements give us a condescending view on what "natural" really is.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of the above. To add some more food for thought though, I think it's interesting that a lot of women seem to do the whole hair and make-up thing more so when they are single than when they have been in a relationship for a while. I know that I personally did this. I used to have a fairly basic daily make-up routine and would straighten my hair a lot more when I was single. Now, I just feel that I no longer have anyone to impress and so I don't even bother with make-up or straightening my hair unless I'm going out or have an interview or something to that effect. Could this also be do in part to the male gaze?
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