Thursday, October 9, 2014
Panacea(to be revised)
“Panacea”
Geriza Joy Rico
Asia Pacific College, School of Multimedia Arts
DGMEDIA 2014
Abstract
“Panacea”
aims to show how makeup can empower men and women. This paper aims to expose the stereotypes to
be able to better understand why people use makeup. This research will show how
men and women who use makeup reflect their own distinct personality with the
way they put them.
Using
cosmetics and photography as a medium, the researcher wants to break the belief
of those who judge women and men who use make up. The artwork will be composed
of portraits of men and women with cosmetics to achieve their distinct look.
Introduction:
Cosmetics,
colloquially known as makeup/make-up are beauty enhancers. According to The New
York Times, Louis’ article Up the Career Ladder, Lipstick in Hand states that
“It increases people’s perceptions of a woman’s likability, her competence and
(provided she does not overdo it) her trustworthiness.” The New York Times also
stated what is obvious, “that cosmetics boost a woman’s attractiveness.”
Makeup
has become most women’s greatest passion. It serves as a way of expressing art
using the face as a canvas. The makeup style of students, working ladies,
executives, models, housewives and single moms, whatever their status in life
is, the makeup will still reflect her personality.
While
some are embracing makeup, there will always be others against it. The
stereotyping of girls as pretentious whenever they use makeup instead of
relying to their natural beauty, started thousands of years before: from
Cleopatra’s statement thick black kohl eyeliner, to prostitute’s sexy red
lipsticks, to today’s freshmen’s lip glosses.
During
the middle ages until the end of 19th century, pale skin is the
trend and even queens are fascinated by this. Until the dark side of makeup
began, in Europe, prostitutes have the tradition to use a lot of makeup.
Kings,
queens and even Church officials made public statements that wearing makeup is
vulgar and that those who use cosmetics were Satan worshipers.
This
led to the declaration of Queen Victoria that makeup is vulgar and improper
because of its connection with prostitutes. Only actors can wear makeup during
their performances. This era was called the Victorian Era, when women didn’t
wear hardly any makeup. To still achieve the “pale look,” they used lemon juice
to lighten their skin and used a little bit of powder to finish. This shows us that even though makeup was
banned, they still found a way to improvise in what they have and still look
good.
In the
18th century, both men and women are heavily worn in France. You can
easily distinguish the higher class from the lower class by the amount of
makeup they wear. The lower class can’t
imitate the looks of the aristocrats because they can’t afford it. They still
follow the trend of using white powder, and applied a form of “lip stain” using
red rouge and lipstick which are used to give the impression of a healthy,
fun-loving spirit.
Since
then, different makeup styles were made and a lot of makeup brands emerged.
With thousands of cosmetic brands to choose from, almost everybody can afford
to buy makeup and try on different styles. This started the trend of using
cosmetics freely and expressively, the style is up to the person who uses it.
Creative Framework:
The
creative framework that will be used for this research is Semiotics and Myth
Making, Edmund Burke’s and Immanuel Kant’s concept of the sublime, the concepts
and the theories involve that:
Burke stated that. “Beauty is a social quality;
for where women and men, and not only they, but when other animals give us a
sense of joy and pleasure in beholding them, (and there are many that do so,)
they inspire us with sentiments of tenderness and affection towards their
persons; we like to have them near us…”
We
feel good, when we look good. Being
beautiful doesn’t mean you have to be perfect, according to Burke, “Beauty may
be perfect or imperfect.” (Burke, 1756) On the perspective of Kant, he believes
that beauty pleased "disinterestedly," but "universally"
(Kelly, 1998, vol. 1, 241). Being beautiful is experienced by everyone, meaning
it is available for everyone though most people don’t see that they have it,
the use of cosmetics especially for women will help them to appreciate
themselves as beautiful.
Panacea, aims to show that cosmetics can be
our remedy for our imperfections but this does not mean that we can no longer
be beautiful if we don’t use makeup. Putting
makeup will not make you look perfect, instead it will just highlight the
beautiful features you already have, and knowing how to use this medium
properly will surely make a great impact in your self-esteem.
In synthesizing a multimedia
project, the interpretation of the audience with their own understanding of the
artworks is essential. Different
metaphors from the audience may vary depending of their own understanding of
the artwork. While the theory pushes the issue of cosmetics as an empowerment
to women, it can help us to understand the essence of makeup presented on the
portraits produced in the project.
Statement of the Problem:
·
What are the effects
of stereotyping on females?
·
How will people
understand the essence of using makeup for women?
·
How can make up be
utilized as medium to empower people?
Objectives:
·
To be able to inform
people that stereotyping on women who use makeup creates a bad impact on their
confidence as an individual.
·
To
utilize cosmetics, such as make up, as a medium for art making,
·
To be able to utilize
various media in a series of art works
·
To be able to collect
images of different men and women who uses makeup where their personality is
reflected.
Scope and Limitations:
The
research will only contain different female and male portrait that uses makeup
which reflects his/her personality.
Significance of the study:
This
study will show that the way a girl uses makeup tells something about her. But
most of time, regardless of the style of makeup being used most people easily
judge women instead of analyzing what she wants to express through her makeup.
“Makeup
empowers a woman to present herself in exactly the way she chooses. She is the
one deciding, which contributes to her self-esteem.” According to Roncal, Mally. (January 2, 2013). Using Makeup Shows Love for Yourself. Retrieved
July 14, 2014, from
It
means that no matter how much or how less a girl puts her makeup on, it is
really up to her. “Makeup” itself doesn’t make a girl to be a girl, it serves
as a statement, the way you put your makeup on and the way you wear it together
with your outfit. In this study, the artist will present different makeup
styles to show the audience that by simply looking at a person who wears
makeup, you will be able to see a part of them.
Multimedia Description:
The
projects that will be produced after this research are portraitures of people
who use cosmetics. Also, a short interview of individuals in what they can say about
makeup.
Methodology:
First,
an online research for information about stereotype, history of makeup and
different makeup styles was made. The next step is to research for pegs about:
portraiture, Cosmetics and different makeup styles. Thirdly, is to identify who
will the models be and to shoot a before-after makeup photos. Lastly, is to
edit, finalizing and printing the photos.
Review of Related Literature, Film and Multimedia
Work:
Figure 1.1& 1.2: Still from
Dermablend advertisement, before-after photos of [1] a woman who has a very
rare skin condition called as vitiligo and [2] a man full of tattoos on his face, known as the “Zombie boy”.
The use of cosmetics for most
people is a way to enhance them, but for some, they use cosmetics to face the
world. “Panacea” also shows how we can face the world with confidence with the
use of cosmetics regardless of what our skin condition or gender.
Figure
2: Still from a testimonial video of a girl who’s dealing with her acne for a
decade.
All of us have
imperfections, and that imperfection oftentimes is what knocks us down; it decreases
our self-confidence until there is almost nothing left. This paper aims to show how cosmetics can
bring us back the self-confidence that was lost. Like what Melanie Murphy said,
“I found confidence when I found cosmetics.”
Figure 3: A research study funded by P&G Beauty and Grooming how cosmetics could make automatic and
deliberately judgment varies depending on different makeup styles.
The image shows different makeup styles from minimal (natural), to moderate
(professional), to dramatic (glamorous).
This is how my artwork will
look like; it will show how a simple bare face can be transformed into
something more beautiful with the use of cosmetics.
Figure 4: Collection of Before-After
makeup by Russian artist Vadim Andreev showing how he transformed women into
cover girls using only cosmetics.
Before-after
photos of women with and without makeup, this will show us how makeup can make
us look much better, emphasizing our beautiful features.
Figure 5: Colbie Caillat’s new
EP, Gypsy Heart Side A. Her lead’s single “Try” made a powerful
statement about beauty ideals. She said she was tired of being photoshopped so
she removed her makeup and other filters on her music video.
While
cosmetics can make us feel and look good, we tend to forget our natural side, Panacea aims to show us that the use of
cosmetics is just a remedy for our imperfections it must not be the way of our
life. We can still live without makeup, like what the song says, “You don't have to change a single thing.”
Figure 5: The Powder & the Glory, a 90-minute documentary
narrated by Jane Alexander, tells the story of two of the first highly
successful women entrepreneurs — Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein.
With
the help of these two wonderful ladies, women started to change the way we look
at ourselves. Panacea, also wants to
expose the viewers on how can these changes will help them be a better person.
Figure 6: A book about how the
image of being beautiful is being used against women. Wolf argued that women were under
assault by the "beauty myth" in five areas: work, religion, sex, violence, and hunger.
Ultimately, and Wolf argues for a relaxation of normative standards of beauty.
This book emphasizes that the
choice is still up to us whether we put our makeup on or not. A lot of women
are dying of anorexia because they’re being enslaved by the concept of being
beautiful, Panacea emphasizes that
the use of cosmetics is just a remedy; it should not force us to do something
that will surely harm our health.
Figure
7: No Makeup look, good for everyday use especially for students.
For us students, a makeup look
that is easy and fast to do is preferable. Most of the looks that will be seen
in this project will be composed of natural looking makeup.
Studies:
1.
Cosmetics as a Feature of the Extended Human
Phenotype: Modulation of the Perception of Biologically Important Facial
Signals
Figure 7: A research study funded
by P&G Beauty
and Grooming how cosmetics could
make automatic and deliberately judgment varies depending on different makeup
styles.
A study on how
cosmetics can increase the self-esteem of a person, they conducted survey
procedures, interview procedures, or observation of public behavior to a lot of
people mostly women who use cosmetics. Panacea,
also wants to use this kind of observations to better understand how makeup
empower women.
2.
The Benefits of Pink Think
A
History of the Mary Kay Cosmetics Company in Domestic and Global Contexts
It is a story about how Elizabeth
Ahern, the founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics examine the effect that Mary Kay
cosmetics had on women in the United States, Russia and China. Panacea, will also examine the effect of
cosmetics not in specific countries but only in a small community of students
in APC.
3.
Media Portrayal of Women
Figure 8: Bodog Casino-Play Hard,
wherein the media portrays women as sex objects.
The study emphasized how media portrays women and
how women view themselves. It showcased both the negative and positive female
stereotyping; Panacea also aims to
expose these kinds of observations to the people who suffer from stereotyping.
Recommendation
I see
cosmetics as panacea, which means a remedy for ills or difficulties. The use of
cosmetics can increase the self-esteem of an individual, if he/she has done
this properly, but if not, the stereotyping on the people who use makeup as pretentious
might apply. Hopefully this project will contribute further to the exploration
and discussion about makeup and how it can help to empower women and men. The
project would also like to contribute to the ongoing development in cosmetology
and photography.
References:
McKenzie, Stephanie. (May 7, 2013) History
of Makeup.
Retrieved August 8, 2014, from
Redwin, B. (2010, January 16). Media Portrayal of Women.
Retrieved August 25, 2014, from https://suite.io/brenna-coleman/2x3r242
Roncal, Mally. (January 2, 2013). Using Makeup Shows Love for Yourself.
Retrieved July 14, 2014, from
Saint Louis, C. (2011, October 12). Up the Career Ladder,
Lipstick In Hand. Retrieved July 22, 2014, from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/13/fashion/makeup-makes-women-appear-more-competent-study.html?_r=0
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