by Marty Coleman | Sep 24, 2013 | Charles Revson, Women and Makeup - 2013 |
I am sold on the idea of making this day 2 of the Makeup series.
The Good
I once did an engagement photoshoot and part of the fun of it was going to the makeup counter before the official shoot with the woman and take photos of her getting her makeup done. I love taking photos of women putting on makeup so it was a real treat. She enjoyed the pampering process and looked like a million bucks afterwards. It didn’t transform her into someone else, it enhanced who she was into another realm for the day.
Here’s a photo from that shoot:
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The Bad
Yesterday I got a comment from an old friend on my FB page in response to my Makeup #1 drawing. It illustrates a different response to the makeup counter.
“When I was in my 20’s I went to Bloomingdales for a free makeover Sounds like fun, right? I enjoyed being pampered, but when all was said and done and they handed me the mirror, I freaked! Felt I looked like a clown and not myself. I literally ran home hoping I wouldn’t see a soul I knew.
She probably felt she looked like this:
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The Ugly
As much as I love makeup on women, there is one type I don’t like at all. That’s zombie makeup. Why? Because rotting flesh is gross, that’s why. I don’t like looking at it. I don’t watch any zombie movies or TV shows for that reason.
Who wants to look at this, anyway?
Nevermind, i don’t want to post it, it’s gross.
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The Hopeful
So, what is the makeup counter all about? The quote is right, it’s about hope. It’s a physical hope that one will be deemed attractive. Maybe by men, maybe by fans, maybe by yourself. It’s the emotional hope that you are worthy. Worthy of love, of affection, of lust, of passion, of attention. It’s the psychological hope that you look older, or younger, or wealthier, or sexier, or more intelligent, or more employable.
And finally, it’s a spiritual hope. Say what? Makeup has a spiritual component? Really? I say yes. It goes way back through history, the fables that prove time and time again that beauty equals goodness. Is it true in real life? I don’t think it is. But it sure is prevalent and subconsciously persistent in almost every culture , even among those who consciously don’t buy into the myth.
After all, you want to look like Cinderella,
Cinderella by Carlos via Flickr
and not her ugly step-sisters, right?
Why is that? Because they are ugly? No, because they are bad. And bad and ugly are intertwined. Be beautiful and you are not just beautiful, you are good as well. Isn’t that how the story goes?
Of course that’s a lie. But lie or not, it still remains a powerful force when looking in the mirror at the cosmetics counter.
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Drawing, photos (unless otherwise marked) and commentary by Marty Coleman
Quote by Charles Revson, 1906-1975, American businessman – founder of Revlon Cosmetics
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by Marty Coleman | Sep 23, 2013 | Women and Makeup - 2013 |
I am passionate about today being day #1 of my Makeup Series.
I Love Makeup
No, not on me, on women. It’s always been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember. It’s decorating, emoting, expressing, playing, lying, pretending, truth-telling, covering, protecting, opining and exposing and since that’s pretty much what art is all about for me, I consider it art. Add to it that it’s being done on the canvas of a living, breathing, thinking person and it’s pretty cool.
I Love Passion
I also love people who are passionate about something. Whether it’s saving the world, being fit, learning or putting on a great party or anything else, I appreciate and respect passion. So, which do I love more?
I love passion more. And guess what? I am pretty sure most people feel the same way.
Can’t Buy Me…
So, I guess the quote above is saying you can’t buy passion at the cosmetic counter, right? You can’t just paint it on, it has to be inside you. And I think that is true – to a point. I do however also feel that how you present yourself to yourself and the world can move you towards passion. It can’t create it in you, but it can set the stage to maybe let it come out easier. Just as being in a conducive environment can bring out your passion, so can being in the right clothes, or putting on the right makeup.
Does makeup help you be more passionate? How so?
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
Quote by Yves Saint-Laurent, 1936 – 2008, French fashion designer
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by Marty Coleman | Sep 20, 2013 | The Prostitute - 2013, William Blake |
I swear to God it’s day #4 of ‘The Prostitute’ series.
Good Spirit, Bad Flesh
The drawing illustrates the idea that once upon a time religion walled off sensuality and sexuality to such a degree that the wall turned into an entire building that houses the prostitute. The spirit and flesh – one is good and one is bad. Indulging the flesh for procreation is allowed, but indulging the flesh for pleasure is of the devil.
Good Spirit, Good Flesh
But not long before religion did that, it built a different type of building to house prostitutes. In the ancient Middle East, Greece and Rome there were temples where sacred prostitutes had sex with believers and it was seen as divine and good.
A few questions:
- How did it come to pass that religion built both types of buildings?
- How does religion still contribute to prostitution’s existence, or does it?
Let your Napkin Kin know your thoughts on it.
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Question to yesterday’s answer:
Name the 10 actresses (and the movie they were in) who have won an Oscar for portraying a prostitute.
Today’s Trivia
One of the worlds first poem, ‘Gilgamesh’ (Babylon , 2,000 BCE) contains the first written account of prostitution. Gilgamesh gets a temple prostitute to seduce his rival, weakening him enough so that Gilgamesh is able to beat him in trial of strength. There is no death though. After the fight Gilgamesh and his rival, Enkidu, become best friends.
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
Quote By William Blake, 1757 – 1827, English Poet and Artist
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Prisons are built with stones of law, and brothels with bricks of religion
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by Marty Coleman | Sep 19, 2013 | Jerry Falwell, The Prostitute - 2013 |
I am married to the idea that it’s day #3 of ‘The Prostitute’ series
The Dichotomy
Knowing who said this quote is essential to understanding it. It was spoken by Jerry Falwell, the Fundamentalist preacher. I think he probably meant it jokingly, as a way of simply saying men should only have sex with their wives. But it brings up so many dichotomies of American culture in its Freudian underpinnings and it is so funny in imagining the scenarios that it’s just impossible to pass up as an literary object of contemplation.
The Good Husband and the Bad Wife
Men, it seems pretty simple – don’t have sex with a sex worker unless she also happens to be your wife. In that case, it’s a good thing. Of course, the fact that she is identified as a sex worker means she not only has sex outside of her marriage but she gets paid for it. Basically the man is moral since he is only having sex with his wife, but the wife is immoral as are all the other men who she is having sex with since they obviously aren’t married to her.
The Good Wife and The Bad Husband
A question – What if the wife is the primary bread winner due to the high income she gets from her sex work? Isn’t the husband just as morally guilty as the wife since he is condoning the prostitution because he knows they need her income?
How would you (or could you) deal with your wife (or husband) being a sex worker?
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
Quote by Jerry Falwell, Religion Worker, 1933 -2007
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Trivia answer of the day
If this list is the answer, what is the question?
1. Janet Gaynor 1928 – Street Angel
2. Helen Hayes 1931 – The Sin of Madelon Claudet
3. Donna Reed 1953 – From Here to Eternity
4. Jo Van Fleet 1955 – East of Eden
5. Susan Hayward 1958 – I Want to Live!
6. Shirley Jones 1960 – Elmer Gantry
7. Elizabeth Taylor 1960 – Butterfield 8
8. Jane Fonda 1971 – Klute
9. Mira Sorvino 1995 – Mighty Aphrodite
10. Kim Basinger 1997 – L.A. Confidential
11. Charlize Theron 2003 – Monster
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by Marty Coleman | Sep 17, 2013 | Brendan Behan, The Prostitute - 2013 |
I calculate that it’s day #2 of ‘The Prostitute’ series.
The Cost of Free
How much have your relationships cost you? We could go into the monetary side of things and calculate how much it all costs that way. Maybe a billion dollars? It seems that way at times, I am sure. But the far greater cost is the emotional cost. If you are a woman, right about now you should be asking, What? Men have emotions? Why didn’t they show them to me?”
The Ignorant Pirate
Yes, indeed men do have emotions. But it’s a lot like a treasure buried on the desert island with a shipwrecked pirate sitting on the beach. He doesn’t even know he has a treasure below him until some big storm roars in and washes away the beach, leaving the chest full of gold pieces exposed. Only then does the pirate realize it’s even there and start to figure out what to do with it. So it is with men and their emotions. Once they do realize they are there, they have to figure out which emotion is which (not nearly as easy as you might think), they aren’t sure how to give them out, who to give them too, and what sort of condition they should have for the giving, if any conditions at all.
The Cost of Complication
All this is very confusing and conflicting and draining for many men. It demands communication and thinking about feelings and what to do about them. It’s complicated, it’s painful, it’s messy. And usually the man has to be pretty competent at it before he sees much intimacy in a relationship. Men who aren’t very good at it, who struggle with it, don’t like the bargain because it doesn’t seem fair or make sense to them. They don’t get it and because they don’t get it it seems like it is costing him a lot. And that explanation doesn’t even touch on the matter of him trying to understand the woman’s emotions, which is even harder than understanding his own at times.
The Cost of Simplicity
So, what does the prostitute bring? She brings simplicity. She won’t ask for emotions he doesn’t have or know how to express or doesn’t want to listen to, and all he has to do is pay her money. In return she will satisfy at least part of his need. It might not be his long term need that is being fulfilled, but he might not really even know he HAS a long term need. What she does is fill a short term need. It’s uncomplicated. He does this simple thing, she in return does this other simple thing. Done.
Peter Pan, or The Cost of Growing Up
So, what’s wrong with this idea? It sounds like I am excusing men going to prostitutes. But I am not excusing it, I am explaining it (at least in part). The truth is, what I think is really at the heart of it all is men not facing growing up. It costs a lot to be mature and responsible and delve into emotions and feelings and hurts and hearts. Men going to prostitutes are wanting the escape to Never Never Land. They want the fun and joy and simplicity of their youth, only in the sexual arena of adult play instead of in the arena of child’s play.
Original Book Cover – 1915
The Benefits of Growing Up
Take a look at my napkin drawing. The right side, the side of the heart, is complicated. It’s got wind and clouds and sun and volcanos and textures and deep colors. The left side is simple, cartoonish. Men, do you really want to live in that simplistic world? Isn’t the world of depth actually more compelling, more invigorating, more arousing? Isn’t it actually where your senses and mind will most be stimulated, most challenged? Isn’t it where you will be most challenged as a true adult? Isn’t it where you will most likely be fulfilled? After all, it’s hard to be fulfilled living in a cartoon.
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
Quote by Brendan Behan, 1923 – 1964, Irish poet
Brendan Behan
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Prostitution Fact of the Day:
There is no evidence that Mary Magdalen of the New Testament was a prostitute. The unidentified woman who washes Jesus feet is not stated to be Mary anywhere in the Gospels. Evidence strongly points to her having been a leader of the disciples both before and after Jesus life. It was not until much later, when the Patriarchy of the Church established its male dominance as preeminent that Mary started being branded as a harlot.
Hugues Merle – Mary Magdalene in the Cave (1868)
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