By day I am a PhD candidate, researching, reading and writing on Cambodian culture. I love it. I consider myself extremely fortunate to do a job which I am infectiously passionate about, which fuels my curiosity and which never leaves me bored.
But this is not the sum total of who I am. Whilst I am conversant in Barthes, Hegel, Buddhist philosophy and Cambodian history, I also have a deep love of fashion and makeup. I see no incompatibility with being intellectually involved in art theory and being concerned with aesthetics at a personal level. Knowing which red lipstick suits me best and knowing the ontology of the three-body theory of the Buddha are not mutually exclusive. Nor are knowledge about the best places to shop in Siem Reap and knowledge of the political, social and artistic history of Cambodia.
Each month I write thousands upon thousands of words, agonising about how to best articulate complex ideas and making sure I reference correctly. It’s generally a pleasure. But I also want to write about some of the other things I enjoy: fashion, beauty, travel, art.
It could seem frivolous to write about all these things in a country where people live on less than $1 a day, whilst others are evicted from their lands. Where not all children go to school and not all mothers have access to clean water.
But lots of other writers write about these things and do so brilliantly. At present it’s not my place to blog about all of this. And any claims of frivolity should be answered with the statement that many women – and men – in Cambodia care about aesthetics. One only has to visit the hair salons and manicure stalls in the markets, or watch a young man tend to his facial hair in the wing mirror of his moto.
Sometimes, the only way to hold on to some dignity is in taking pride in how one looks. I have seen men and women walk out of Indian slums looking pristine in crisp white shirts with immaculately groomed hair. Women who may not have much control in any other area of their lives can preserve domination over how they choose to style their hair. This isn’t trivial; it’s one small step to increased empowerment.
I once helped a woman escape her violent husband. She left with nothing and in the refuge we gave her money for a new SIM card and basic supplies. The first thing she asked her friend to bring her was a tub of her favourite face cream. She may have felt powerless, humiliated and afraid, but she grasped at a feeling of self-worth. That face cream demonstrated that she still believed she was worth taking care of, even after those who supposedly loved her treated her as if she weren’t.
So, I will write about these things because overall they are universal. Because there is no shame in wanting to dress well or have nice hair. In fact, there is a certain power in being able to present oneself well. It doesn’t even have to cost anything. And caring about such things doesn’t mean we care any less about poverty – one’s own or the poverty of others – or bettering ourselves, intellectually, economically and spiritually.
Do you agree? Let me know in the comments below.
This was originally published at my blog, Anything Everything Cambodia.
Everything But The Kitchen Sink 
Yes but there’s no fundamental difference between ‘knowing about the political, social and artistic history of Cambodia’ and ‘enjoying makeup’ if you judge them purely as aesthetic objects with no sense of their cultural construction. There really is no such thing as pure aesthetics as developments occur in particular political contexts. Whilst I fully accept your anecdotal evidence about the Cambodian woman in the refuge, does this not potentially open up a range of questions? Why, for instance, is the architecture of place like Angkor Wat so unique to the Cambodian millieu and yet there’s an abandonment of these discrete principles in favour of investment in western standards of ‘beauty’? It wouldn’t be because there are multi-billion dollar cosmetic companies displaying images in every strand of media, by any chance, would it? Saying that it is ‘universal’ is just accepting a recieved wisdom and resisting criticism.
Your doing a Ph.D in the former does not justify the latter as the credentials are unrelated. Nor does it make your enjoyment of beauty products invalid, I should quickly jog in and point out. It’s like me saying that because I have an Ph.D in Creative Writing that it makes it okay to write for pornographers. If I can divorce things from the context in which they arrive and claim my academic qualifications give them some valency then, to use an extreme example, that allows Goebbels off the hook because of his Ph.D.
Hi, thanks for the comment and the chance to clarify a few points.
I certainly didn’t intend for academic qualifications to be justification for an interest in makeup, and don’t presuppose that the latter is a fault which needs any sort of validation at all. However, there are people who don’t agree and this post was a response to them. I know that on this point there are women who agree with me.
You’re right that I did not engage in the cultural and socio-economic contexts of aesthetics. It’s something I spend a great deal of time thinking about and a topic I’d like to return to in the future here. The acceptance of western standards of beauty in this part of the world saddens me, but I’m sadden by the existence of these rigid standards everywhere else in the world too. Although the media and advertising have a great deal responsibility in pushing these homogenous ideals, I don’t think it can only be attributed to big brands. It’s a complicated issue, as a cursory look at the desire for pale skin in Asia will attest.
I’m glad you mentioned Angkor Wat as it features many carvings of adorned women, which until very recently have been inadequately explored by scholars. In fact, these women have been written about very much as adorning features of the temple complexes, without considering any other significance, ritual or otherwise, they might have had. Women have largely been ignored in the history of Angkor and these beautiful and beautified women are seen only in terms of their physical appearance, as decorative features, without any consideration of anything happening ‘under the surface’.
Really interesting piece. I do agree with you, I find it quite irritating that women can be judged for liking make up or having an interest in beauty products. There are times though, when you see other things going on in the world, it can feel a bit frivolous, but then no more so than caring who went home in this week’s GBBO or who won the football. Everyone needs outside interests & beauty is as valid as any. It doesn’t always have to be analysed.