Feeling Free: The Thingification of Feminism
Prompt No. 69: Beauty Practices, Pornochic, and Pop Culture
Editorial Note: The following post references white women, but for brevity does not specify that use of the term includes white-adjacent women.
“Men do not differ from anything…” - Colette Guillaumin
thingified
1. to treat one’s own body as an object separate of itself
I think white women are socially stunted by notions of freedom and femininity. Now, I know that’s an inflammatory statement, but stay with me. When I sat down to write about the horrors of Western beauty a few weeks ago, I started with men for a reason. Too often the conversation begins with beauty practices and not the underlying beauty standards. That is because Western beauty is essentially a racial fetish. Its standards reflect the ideal traits of white men, whereas its practices outline the ways in which their sexual difference and racial purity are maintained. Beauty standards define masculinity while beauty practices culminate in the performance of femininity. When the discourse begins with standards, it ignores both the fetish and the supporting role white women play. That said, it doesn’t seem like such a bad gig.
