Beauty Mask

By Carmela Finn

I've always been fascinated by the so-called beauty mask, though it's not something I do myself. You see them on TV all the time, where women paint their faces green, white or blue, wrap their hair up in a towel and go to bed. It's usually seen from the perspective of a man, who looks on, dumbfounded.

The beauty mask is asexual. The beauty mask is a way for women to hide from intimacy while claiming they are striving to be more attractive. How many times have you seen a movie where the ultimate symbol of the estrangement between the couple is the woman's beauty mask?

The beauty mask is the symbol of a woman's mysterious rituals, a sacred space, her connection to arcane rituals and secrets unknowable.

Or in other words, a visible way of saying, "Hands off. Beauty and I have some business to take care of, alone."