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At 09:51 PM 9/28/2007, you wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">At 10:56 AM 9/28/2007 -0500,
Natasha wrote in response to Emlyn and <br>
PJ on Naomi Wolf's recent essay [
<a href="http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/51150/" eudora="autourl">
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/51150/</a> ]:<br><br>
>Naomi Wolf, in my opinion, built a persuasive thesis but I did not
<br>
>go for it. I would have preferred she write about how elements
of a <br>
>hip-hop/gangster-rap subculture manipulate women into becoming sex
<br>
>slaves. The idea of beauty and women wanting to be beautiful
<br>
>reaches far beyond the corner that Wolf paints it into.<br><br>
Natasha, this is a very, very, very, very strange response to the <br>
Wolf essay on an alleged furtive preparation by powerful elements <br>
intent on fascist domination of the USA.</blockquote><br>
Fascism comes in many sizes and shapes. Regardless of the cosmetics
of its makeup, it is treacherous and ugly. While PJ suggests that
Americans do not recognize it; I think many do. I hear it from
people who sense something is awry. <br><br>
When I think about the decline of the values America was built upon,
stemming from The Bill of Rights and the world of Thomas Paine, I long
for the underlying essence of beauty. (When one thinks of Naomi
Wolf, it is almost impossible not to think about her writings on beauty
(thus the connection)) You might say, "What the hell does
beauty have to do with human behavior, tryanny and politics?!"
<br><br>
Beauty, according to <font size=2>Le Corbusier</font>, stemming from
Pythagoras, is mathematical in symmetry and proportion. Beauty,
according to Benjamin Franklin, is found in simple yet carefully
orchestrated musical tunes. According to Thomas Jefferson "The
beauty of the second amendment is that it will not be needed until they
try to take it." According to Simone Weil, "Justice,
truth, and beauty are sisters and comrades."<br><br>
"Beauty, throughout history, generally has been associated with that
which is good. Likewise, the polar opposite of beauty is generally
considered to be ugly and is often associated with evil. ... This
contrast is epitomized by classic stories such as Sleeping Beauty.
<br><br>
Likewise, beauty according to Goethe, from his 1809 <i>Elective
Affinities</i>, is 'everywhere a welcome guest'. Moreover, human beauty
“acts with far greater force on both inner and outer senses, so that he
who beholds it is exempt from evil and feels in harmony with himself and
with the world.”<font size=2>(Wakjawa 2007)<br><br>
"An Occasional Letter On The Female Sex" (Thomas Paine, August
1775) reflects on bondage and suffering at the cost of
beauty." But isn't beauty a deeply valued sense of life
that begets the desire for freedom to express and experience?
Paine was a "[c]</font>hampion of the chaos of change and the beauty
of unrestrained libertarianism" (Rushton 2006) The
<font size=2><i>London Chronicle</i> reprinted Ben Franklin’s <i>Causes
of the American Discontents before 1768 (</i>1774)<i>. </i> Paine was
distressed and wanted to revolt against what he thought was a completely
corrupt state. He thought of America as a land were the lovers of
freedom were uniting against the tyranny. And that tyranny was an
illness, a sickness in human behavior. An unwelcome guest.<br><br>
</font><blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">>I for one have always
honored women who strive to be beautiful and <br>
>groom themselves to look their best.<br><br>
It's true that personal grooming has much to recommend it when one is
<br>
faced with a turn to fascism.</blockquote><br>
Your wry comment has great value and fact if that grooming is performed,
with great care, on human behavior.<br><br>
cheers,<br>
Natasha<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<dl>
<dd><font size=2><a href="http://www.natasha.cc/">Natasha
</a><a href="http://www.natasha.cc/">Vita-More</a> </font>
<dd>PhD Candidate, Planetary Collegium -University of Plymouth - Faculty
of Technology,
<dd><font size=2>School of Computing, Communications and
Electronics</font>, <i>Centre for Advanced Inquiry in the Interactive
Arts</i> <br><br>
<dd><font face="Times New Roman, Times"><i>If you draw a circle in the
sand and study only what's inside the circle, then that is a
closed-system perspective. If you study what is inside the circle and
everything outside the circle, then that is an open system perspective. -
</i>Buckminster Fuller</font>
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