This is an interesting idea: that xtian #patriarchal control of #women especially attacked and belittled or shamed use of #cosmetics. This was particularly in the heritage of the #puritans but here the author argues it developed much earlier.
The very word 'cosmetic' in English connotes superficial, shallow, trivial. Yet the classical Greek etymology connects to a notion of beauty underpinning a morally ordered universe -- cosmos, cosmology. This is a concept frequently found in #Indigenous thinking.
Since our #FemaleCosmeticCoalitions theory argues for women's #ritual use of #bodypaint as fundamental to human #symbolic#culture, we think this suppression of body art is a likely pathway to patriarchy. Where women have power and freedom, they use cosmetics and adornment -- especially in solidarity -- to express that.
