Hello! Apologies for not posting for awhile. Lately, a considerable part of my time has been spent on writing mind-numbing copies for companies – 'CEO attends uneventful board meeting with shareholders!' 'CEO cures man with cold just by shaking hands with him!' or (and I am not making this one up) 'Ceremony held for installation of new air conditioner'. I am not complaining, but it's a relief to have a blog where I can write something I want to write, no matter how bad it may be.
I should also mention that it's fast becoming not just a relief, but a blessing to have a proper book or magazine to read instead of company newsletters or magazines. A book that I liked very much recently is called Waking Beauty, by Elyse Friedman. Two things one should know before reading further: One, that it's very hard to track down. There's a book with the same title aimed at the tween market selling very well on Amazon UK, but the one I am talking about, the one by Elyse Friedman, is currently out of stock. It's available on Amazon US, but it's not cheap. I managed to buy an e-version, and had to fiddle with a lot of shady software before I got it working on my Kindle (blast that DRM!). Two, it's chick-lit. Don't tut in disapproval, because in my opinion there's merit in chick-lit. To me, it's the Jane Austen of our time: documenting female issues in a form concurrent with contemporary methods of communication. One might argue that this only makes chick-lit worthwhile as a historical record, and not from any inherent value, but for this book, at least, I would happily vouch for its worth.
The premise is simple. Allison Penny is, both by her own admission and objectively speaking, an ugly woman. She is bullied by her obnoxious roommate, despised by her mother, and generally ignored or held in disdain by the public. One day she wakes up beautiful, 'Grace Kelly's better-looking cousin'. The world around her changes accordingly: she exacts revenge on both her roommate and mother, pursues a career in modelling, has a relationship with a handsome film-producer, and ends up happily in love with the man she had a crush on all along.
Most readers would like Allison. She has a vicious sense of rumour, sharp and snarky and self-deprecating. While Sophie Kinsella's Becky in the Shopaholic series is also funny, she's funny in the ditsy, kooky Zooey Deschanel-kind of way. When one reads about Becky's exploits, one thinks 'awwww' and smiles indulgently at her clueless but earnest attempts to do things right. The whole reading experience is like eating a chocolate-covered caramel while drinking a chocolate-infused soda float with double helpings of cream: sugary escapism that makes the reader feel good, but also slightly repellent with its ultimately selfish and materialistic ideology. Allison is different. I related to her instantly. She's insecure, but she's also smart and resilient, retaliating in silence with resentful thoughts when she was ugly, and fighting back outright when she turns beautiful, hurling hilarious insults at her roommate. The story is narrated through Allison's point of view, and her tone is what keeps the narrative believable despite the fantastical premise.
The framework of values holding the narrative together is worth exploring. The conclusion to Allison's tale is that 'what's outside that matters'. Unlike the traditional promise of inner beauty outweighing outer beauty, in Waking Beauty, the external drives the internal. Allison discovers this when she goes to the shopping mall the first time after her transformation. She decides that her old skincare regime had become inadequate, and her flawless skin demanded numerous products to maintain its perfections. She asks "Could the inner be so determined by the outer? If anatomy is destiny, was I destined to become a vapid shopaholic supermodel?" In the last chapter, she explains the importance of appearances to her boyfriend: "What she learns is that beauty is a tremendous power, and that its power is pervasive, more pervasive than even she realized. She learns that it's much, much better to be beautiful, no matter how many cliches about skin deep and the eye of the beholder. Being beautiful enables her to get whatever she wants."
Hold your horses! You might say. Isn't this story ethically unsound? Are we actually justifying what's been indoctrinated to us daily in the media? And yet- why should everyone tiptoe around the issue? This question of beauty has been a giant elephant in most chick-lit stories: appearances are never mentioned (though it's taken for granted that most heroines are reasonably attractive), and the heroines are admired because they are kind or unique or brave. If chick-lit is to truly reflect the myriad of issues facing the modern woman, the problem of appearances and its 'pervasiveness' must not be hinted at, but embraced head on. Although Friedman's conclusion might not be to everyone's liking, it's presence should be recognized. Personally, I think her point is valid and honest.
- Jam
Like this:
Be the first to like this post.
Tags: book review, chick-lit, elyse friedman, waking beauty
