Going without mirrors

Regenerative Culture The Fabulous Forager
#1

So I’ve been reading lately about women who have decided to stop looking in mirrors for a certain amount of time.

http://www.ayearwithoutmirrors.com/

And it got me thinking, it would be a lot easier to go without looking in the mirror if a roommate or family member did it with you. You could do each other’s hair and makeup/shaving, no mirrors required. The more I think about it, the more it seems like a win/win. Vanity and self-consciousnesses go out the window because you are responsible for someone else’s appearance, but never think about your own. You are forced to rely on and connect with others instead of doing everything yourself. What do you guys think?

#2

Starfish,

Amazing! Thank you for mentioning something I once thought about a couple times. At first, I thought that mirrors were responsible for certain disorders and I seriously think their promotion of people’s self-consciousness is a problem in our culture.

I really like how you mentioned people doing things for each other instead and being responsible for OTHER person’s vanity. It definitely is not the same as a rich model getting her things done by another person because one, there is still a mirror involved and two, there is no mutuality because the model does not give any vanity in return.

I never thought about a lack of mirrors that way as a social reconnection. You know, I always thought that people will love you for who you are, no matter how hard you try to do something that extends beyond yourself. Perhaps it is other people that should improve who you are so that you are more lovable and you too make others more lovable by looking after them! The connection just gets deeper!

#3

I agree. Also grooming someone else and allowing someone else to groom you feels pretty intimate and requires trust.

#4

hair, beard and checking for ticks
yeah, the one who invented the mirror must have been quite a lonely one

for some time, when i used to do a lot of research… when thinking this kind of “how would i manage to do this in the forest?” for some time i thought about mirrors… until i realized it is not natural to go in the forest alone.
btw i recently got a sturdy small mirror to carry on a belt pouch if sleeping in the forest, damn ticks!

#5

I’d love to go without a mirror, personally, and I wouldn’t mind hair grooming or maybe some kind of special makeup/ face painting for a festival or something, but I’d love it if we could just forgo daily makeup and shaving. I’d like to be accepted for how my body is naturally (although I’m happy to accommodate a need for cleanliness) and not have to worry about being judged poorly for failing to approximate a fictitious image of beauty.

#6

Going au naturel is certainly a viable option, and there’s nothing wrong with it. But I also don’t think there’s anything wrong with using your face and hair (or your friend’s) to express your creativity. I guess my standard would be: If you’re doing it with the spirit of fun and enjoyment, it’s good. If you’re doing it out of a sense of obligation and fear of letting people see you, it’s bad.

I’m going to go now and try to take my own advice. From this moment on, I will no longer obsess about my proto-wrinkles, stretch marks, or the size of my thighs. ::slight_smile: :-\

#7

@ Starfish - wrinkles are a sign of aging, which some cultures would find a positive experience. Some people like curvy thighs, too, but that’s just preference.

#8

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Oakthorn :). I know intellectually that I don’t look old (not that there’s anything wrong that) and that my legs are average sized, but I’m also not immune to the messages from this culture about youth and thinness.

I was at a friend’s house a while ago and a South American version of Dancing With the Stars was on TV. I was shocked to see that one of the professional dancers had average sized thighs. You’d never see that on North American TV, or on a pop star popular here. I’m ashamed to say that the first thing that came to my mind was, “Her legs look fat.” Of course, a second later, I came to my senses and realized, she looks normal. But there’s still this thing jiggling around in the back of my brain somewhere that thinks women should be skinny and have smooth, dewy skin.