On Being A Beauty Industry Outsider (Podcast Episode!)
Plus, a note on Cara Delevingne's not-fully-thought-out directive to "Peg The Patriarchy".
Hello, dewy dust bunnies!
Have you ever wondered how today’s gendered beauty standards evolved from the witch hunts of feudal Europe? How the entanglement of the two gave way to capitalism? How history repeated itself in the 1960s and ‘70s when second wave feminism disrupted the underlying social structure of the capitalist economy — men as workers, women as creators and caretakers of said workers — and beauty standards were escalated and legally enforced as a means to maintain the patriarchy? Then you need to listen to this episode The Twelfth House Podcast that I recorded with hosts Michelle Pellizzon and Wallis Millar-Blanchaer. (Yes, I am fully aware that most of you are normal and have never once wondered about these things but hey, maybe now you will!)
Please note that Michelle, who you may know as the founder of Holisticism, referred to me as a “beauty industry outsider” in the intro and I have never felt more seen.
We also chatted about:
The Emily Ratajkowski Effect (AKA, confusing one’s personal “empowerment” for collective female liberation)!
The pathologization of aging by Big Beauty!
Performing beauty as a form of productivity!
The difference between expressing yourself and rejecting yourself via makeup! (Like… Wearing lipstick can be an act of adornment, in the way of a piece of clothing or jewelry. Self-expression! Wearing foundation is (mostly, usually) an act of covering up one’s perceived “flaws.” Self-rejection! Ya know? I explain it better in the episode.)
How, despite all of this, being drawn to beauty products is not a bad thing!! In fact, it is a distinctly human thing!! (We are physical beings in physical bodies and those physical bodies deserve our care and attention.)
The mystical origins of makeup!
Beauty as a community-building exercise!
How working for the Kardashians (yes, those Kardashians) radicalized me!
P.S. Do you like getting smaller updates on my work like this? I only ask because I’m thinking of expanding the scope of this newsletter — i.e., not just sending you one long-form article per month, but sending you shorter posts on podcasts I record, articles I write for other outlets, and any breaking beauty news that I’m dyinggg to talk about (like: THIS WALL STREET JOURNAL ARTICLE ABOUT INSTAGRAM). Maybe because I’m (slowly, intentionally, but not totally) divesting from Instagram myself, I’m looking for a place to share the type of one-off posts I used to make over there? Like this one below, based on Cara Delevingne’s much-discussed, much-critiqued, much-parodied Met Gala outfit, which was emblazoned with the perhaps-not-fully-thought-out directive to “Peg The Patriarchy”. (As @yuckytom pointed out, penetration-as-power is a pretty patriarchal concept, no?)
Ahh… Is there any better medium for quickly communicating complicated ideas than the meme? I think not. (If you’re active on Instagram or Twitter, feel free to share it! And tag me! Because in spite of everything I just said, I still want the social credit!! @jessicadefino_.)
[EDIT: It has since been reported that the phrase “Peg The Patriarchy” was originally created and trademarked by “pleasure coach” Luna Matatas in 2015, and Delevingne did not credit Matatas for their work. I remain skeptical of the framework!]
Thoughts on more micro-newsletters? Suggestions? Feel free to email me back or leave a comment and let me know what would enrich your Unpublishable experiénce.
You’re Gonna Die Someday No Matter How Young You Look,
Jessica
P.P.S. For further reading on the whole witch-hunt-capitalism-gendered-beauty-standards thing, get your eyes on a copy of Caliban and the Witch by scholar and social science professor Silvia Federici.