pretty women

AldousHuxley

TheBeautyIndustry

TheoneAmericanindustryunaffectedbythegeneraldepressionoftradeisthebeauty

anwomencontinuetospendontheirfacesandbodiesasmuchastheyspent

beforethecomingoftheslump—actsandfigures

are"official",gthem,Iwasonly

eprodigious巨大的惊

人的numberofadvertimentsofaidstobeautycontainedintheAmericanmagazines,Ihad

imaginedthatthepersonalappearancebusinessmuststandhighupamongthechampionsof

Americanindustry—theequal,oronlyjustlessthantheequal,ofbootlegging贩卖违禁品

andracketeering敲诈勒索诈骗,,onehundredandfifty-six

morethantwicetherevenueofIndia,ifI

rememberrightly.

ispoor,

tthatthemajorityof

sthesoapwillproduce

itsloudlyadvertideffects;perhapsitwilltransformthemintothelikenessoftho

ravishingcreatureswhosmilesorosilyandcreamily,sopeachilyandpearlily,fromevery

hoarding贮藏积蓄.Perhaps,ontheotherhand,a,themorecostly

experimentsinbeautificationarestillasmuchbeyondmostEuropeanmeansasare

Europe,however,muchmoreis

tesomuchmoreasinAmerica,

,everywhere,theincreahasbeenundoubtedlyenormous.

isitdue?Inpart,Isuppo,toageneralincreain

fusionofwealth

—suchasitis—nowpermitsthoofthepoorwhoarelessbadlyoff穷困的thantheir

fatherstodothesame.

Butthisis,clearly,erncult狂热的崇拜，迷信ofbeautyis

notexclusivelyafunction(inthemathematicaln)re,thenthepersonal

appearanceindustrieswouldhavebeenashardlyhitbythetradedepressionasanyother

,aswehaveen,reretrenchingonother

tofbeautymustthereforebesymptomaticofchangesthathave

changes?Ofthechanges,Isuggest,inthe

statusofwomen;ofthechangesinourattitudetowards"themerelyphysical."

Women,itisobvious,otonlytoperformthegenerally

unenviablesocialfunctionshithertorervedtothemale,butalsofreertoexercithemore

pleasing,vetheright,ifnottobelessvirtuous

thantheirgrandmothers,tishMatron,notlongsincea

creatureofaustereandeventerrifyingaspect,nowdoesherbesttoachieveandperennially

prerve

renotshocked—atanyrate,tically

shocked—yes;ally,edethattheMatronis

ncessiondepends

onanotherofamoregeneralnature—aconcessiontotheBody,withalargeB,tothe

avenowcometoadmitthatthebody:hasitsrights.

Andnotonlyrights—duties,,forexample,adutytodothebestitcan

,amongotherthings,thefortunes

madebyface-creammanufacturersandbeauty-specialists,bythevendorsofrubberreducing

beltsandmassagemachines,bythepatenteesofhair-lotionsandtheauthorsofbooksonthe

cultureoftheabdomen.

Whatarethepracticalresultsofthismoderncultofbeauty?Theexercisandthe

massage,thehealthmotorsandtheskinfoods—towhathavetheyled?Arewomenmore

beautifulthantheywere?Dotheygetsomethingfortheenormouxpenditureofenergy,

time,andmoneydemandedofthembythebeauty-cult?Thearequestionswhichitis

paignformore

phynds

onhowyoulookattheresults.

Itisasuccessinsofarasmorewomenretaintheiryouthfulappearancetoagreaterage

thaninthepast."Oldladies"years,wemaywellbelieve,

airandwrinkles,abentbackandhollowcheekswillcometobe

neofthefuturewillbegolden,curlyand

cherry-lipped,neatankledandslenderThePortraitoftheArtist'sMotherwillcometobe

almostindistinguishable,atfuturepictureshows,fromthePortraitoftheArtist'sDaughter.

Thisdesirableconsummationwillbedueinparttoskinfoodsandinjectionsofparaffin-wax,

facialsurgery,mudbaths,andpaint,inparttoimprovedhealth,dueinitsturntoamore

ssisoneofthesymptomsofdia,r

asthecampaignformorebeautyisalsoacampaignformorehealth,itisadmirableand,upto

apoint,thatismerelytheartificialshadowofthesymptoms

,itisasufficiently

aratusformimickingthe

symptomsofhealthisnowwithinthereachofeverymoderatelyprosperousperson;the

knowledgeofthewayinwhichrealhealthcanheachievedisgrowing,andwillintime,no

doubt,athappymomentcomes,willeverywomanbe

beautiful—asbeautiful,aturalshapeofherfeatures,withorwithout

surgicalandchemicalaid,permits?

Theanswerimphatically:lbeautyisasmuchanaffairoftheinnerasof

utyofaporcelainjarisamatterofshape,ofcolour,ofsurfacetexture.

Thejarmayheemptyortenantedbyspiders,fullofhoneyorstinkingslime—itmakesno

manisalive,andherbeautyisthereforenotskin

enwomenwho,bythestandardsofaconnoisurofporcelain,wereravishinglylovely.

Theirshape,theircolour,theywerenotbeautiful.

ualemptinessor

verly,thereisaninteriorlightthatcantransfigureforms

thatthepureaestheticianwouldregardasimperfectordownrightugly.

sanuglinessofstupidity,

forexample,ofunawareness(distressinglycommonamongprettywomen).Anuglinessalso

ofgreed,oflasciviousness,deadlysins,indeed,havetheirownpeculiar

rettyfacesofthoespeciallywhoaretryingtohavea

continuous"goodtime,”oneesveryoftenakindofboredsullennessthatruinsalltheir

theporcelainspecialist’spointofview,sullenboredomofwhich

Ihavespokenwassodeeplystampedintotheirfreshfaces,theirgaitandgesturexpresd

sowearyalistlessness,xquisitecreatureswere

positivelyrepulsive.

Stillcommonerandnolessrepellentisthehardnesswhichspoilssomanyprettyfaces.

Often,itistrue,thisairofhardnessisduenottopsychologicalcaus,buttothe

s,wherethisover-paintingismostpronounced,

ashedandruddled,theyemtohe

en

thefaceisnotsoft,dnessanddeadnessare

etheoutwardandvisiblesignsofsomeemotionalorinstinctive

disharmony,tneedaFreudiantotellus

thatthisdisharmonyisoftenofaxualnature.

Solongassuchdisharmoniescontinuetoexist,solongasthereisgoodreasonforsullen

boredom,solongashumanbeingsallowthemlvestobepossdandhagriddenby

monomaniacalvices,sfulinprolonging

theappearanceofyouth,orrealizingorsimulatingthesymptomsofhealth,thecampaign

rationsdonottouchthedeepest

sourceofbeauty—tbyimprovingskinfoodsandpointrollers,

bycheapeninghealthmotorsandelectricalhair-removers,thatthe,humanracewillbemade

beautiful;andwomenwillbebeautifulonlywhen

thesocialarrangementsgivetoeveryoneofthemanopportunitytolivecompletelyand

harmoniously,whenthereisnoenvironmentalincentiveandnohereditarytendencytowards

rwords,re

mbe

contentwithmoderatehopes.