In
The Beauty Suit (Salon, July 2013), Lauren Shields describes her
experiences with eschewing Western beauty standards for 9 months. During this period, she
avoided wearing makeup, covered her hair and only wore high collared, long-sleeved
shirts.
When considering how to detail why Shields decided to conduct this
social experiment in her life, review her narrative leading up to that point. She notes that she
had previously been a filmmaker, a position that required her to dress up in the latest fashion,
to wear makeup and to have her hair perfectly styled. Shields expresses frustration and fatigue
at having to spend so much time on her appearance.
She later is enrolled in a
seminary program and attends a lecture by a Muslim woman living in the United States. The
woman's story surprises Shields--she expected to be offended by the woman's talk. However, this
lecture is one of the primary motivations for Shields's 9 month experiment.
Consider the following quote in your analysis of The Beauty
Suit:
The speaker explained very clearly how
much she had enjoyed (and admittedly, sometimes hated) dressing in accordance with modesty
rules. She talked about her daughter who, being half-Muslim, had decided to wear a headscarf at
age 8 soon after returning to the States from overseas. The speaker didnt advocate for hijab,
but she certainly wasnt opposed to it.This was not the podium-pounding,
acrimonious discussion I had prepared for. Instead of feeling self-righteous and angry, I felt
inspiredand profoundly unsettled. I didnt know it then, but what I had learned about modest
dress was teaching me about my own hypocrisy.
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