“Never cared for what they say. Never cared for games they play. Never cared for what they do. Never cared for what they know.” - Nothing Else Matters, Metallica
There is a game
within in the game
where eyebrows warrant the attention
of major news outlets, reporters, drag queens,
actors, social media influencers,
models, stylists, plastic surgeons,
and those whose muse is hairless brows,
those on a mission to transform depilated canvases
into expressions of indignation,
incredulity, arched and bruised disdain,
the ferocious, be-glittered frowns
of the unseen screaming for attention. - J.Ball
According to The NY Times, the latest beauty craze is eyebrow shaving. The concept wasn’t even on my radar until this article arrived in my news feed: Why More People Are Shaving Their Eyebrows — And How to Do It Yourself. The accompanying images immediately transported me back to the The Hunger Games where the denizens of the Capitol - led by a tyrannical dictator named President Snow - reigned over and exploited those living in the Districts outside the Capitol.
President Snow and his cohorts were willing to use any means and go to any extremes to stay in power, including violence, threats of nuclear war, and a yearly battle to the death between children from the Districts. But their most successful tool was psychological manipulation. Surrounded by opulence and encouraged by state controlled media to see themselves as superior, the Capitol’s citizens were self-absorbed and obsessed with food, fashion, and body alteration. They routinely underwent plastic surgery, pierced, tattooed, and painted their skins, replaced body hair with wigs, fake lashes and fake eyebrows, and tiny glittering implants (see video above), and donned clothing that can only be described as non-functional.
If all of the above hits a little too close to home (both historically and in terms of events unfolding today) I’m not surprised. But I’m not suggesting that those who choose to shave their eyebrows for fashionable and/or artistic purposes are shallow and self-centered. Still, I have to ask. How times are we going to fall for this nonsense - this belief that outward appearance determines our worth? When will we look at the beauty, fashion, plastic surgery, exercise, and diet industries and realize we’re being hoodwinked? What constitutes beauty is as mecurial as the weather and changes whenever profits need a boost.
Once I got over the shock of being told to remove hair from another part of my body, I got out The List. I started The List back in 1982 when I was TAing a Women’s Studies class called, “The Popular Image of Women in America.” We had women in the class who literally could not leave their homes without applying make-up. They felt exposed, vulnerable, and unattractive. This stunned me. I was swimming twice a day and had no time to do anything but shower, throw on dry clothes, and run to class. I really couldn’t imagine trying to find the money or time to purchase and put on make-up. But for certain women in the class, make-up was part of their identity. So I started asking them to tell me what products they used and why, and the process they went through to apply them.
Out of this informal study came The List. It contains a checklist of products and procedures (like shaving, plucking eyebrows, setting hair, painting nails, etc.) along with the frequency, time of day, and order they are to be applied. The List has continued to grow in length and complexity as I’ve aged and more and more causes for alarm (wrinkles, sags and bags, dry skin, thin skin, thin hair, graying hair, spider veins, lip lines, smile lines, sun spots, and a whole host of other what nots) appear and need to be addressed. Looking at it now I have to laugh. I simply don’t know how any dedicated beauty maven can find the time to add shaving and applying fake eyebrows to their daily routine. Nuff said.
P.S. I’d love to hear what you all think about shaving eyebrows and your relationship to make-up. HUGS!
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I'm hoping my daughter draws the line at this denuding fad. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. My still-intact eyebrows rose, of their own volition.
I don't wear make up anymore. After round two of cancer, I find life so much easier without all the fuss. I used to wear eyeliner daily because after round 1, my lashes were sparse. But, now. Who cares! At 62, I have pretty darn good skin. The stray hairs on the chin...geez. Lose our estrogen and testosterone says, AHA!
I understand that our face is a canvas for many so shaving off eye brows to create the ones that you want to see on your masterpiece for the day makes sense for adults.
Having taught junior high, I have to say Music videos and Social media certainly influenced them. But like all young ones, when they came back to see me from high school, they had outgrown that phase and were onto other phases.
Teaching our children to be who they are and love who they are is a long process.