12.30.2011 | By: Morgan

bring back pretty

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The Death Of Pretty

Wednesday, December 21, 2011 11:11 AM Comments (209)

This post is intended as a lament of sorts, a lament for something in the culture that is dying and may never been seen again.

Pretty, pretty is dying.

People will define pretty differently. For the purposes of this piece, I define pretty as a mutually enriching balanced combination of beauty and projected innocence.

Once upon a time, women wanted to project an innocence. I am not idealizing another age and I have no illusions about the virtues of our grandparents, concupiscence being what it is. But some things were different in the back then. First and foremost, many beautiful women, whatever the state of their souls, still wished to project a public innocence and virtue. And that combination of beauty and innocence is what I define as pretty.

By nature, generally when men see this combination in women it brings out their better qualities, their best in fact. That special combination of beauty and innocence, the pretty inspires men to protect and defend it.

Young women today do not seem to aspire to pretty, they prefer to be regarded as hot. Hotness is something altogether different. When women want to be hot instead of pretty, they must view themselves in a certain way and consequently men view them differently as well.

As I said, pretty inspires men’s nobler instincts to protect and defend. Pretty is cherished. Hotness, on the other hand, is a commodity. Its value is temporary and must be used. It is a consumable.

Nowhere is this pretty deficit more obvious than in our “stars,” the people we elevate as the “ideal.” The stars of the fifties surely suffered from the same sin as do stars of today. Stars of the fifties weren’t ideal but they pursued a public ideal different from today.

The merits of hotness over pretty is easy enough to understand, they made an entire musical about it. Who can forget how pretty Olivia Newton John was at the beginning of Grease. Beautiful and innocent. But her desire to be desired leads her to throw away all that is valuable in herself in the vain hopes of getting the attention of a boy. In the process, she destroys her innocence and thus destroys the pretty. What we are left with is hotness.

Hotness is a consumable. A consumable that consumes as it is consumed but brings no warmth.

Most girls don’t want to be pretty anymore even if they understand what it is. It is ironic that 40 years of women’s liberation has succeeded only in turning women into a commodity. Something to be used up and thrown out.

Of course men play a role in this as well, but women should know better and they once did. Once upon a time you would hear girls talk about kind of women men date and the kind they marry. You don’t hear things like that anymore.

But here is the real truth. Most men prefer pretty over hot. Even back in 6th grade I hated the “hot” Olivia Newton John and felt sorry for her that she had to debase herself in such a way. Still do.

Our problem is that society doesn’t value innocence anymore, real or imagined. Nobody aspires to innocence anymore. Nobody wants to be thought of as innocent, the good girl. They want to be hot, not pretty.

I still hope that pretty comes back, although I think it not likely any time soon. For every Taylor Swift, there are a hundred Megan Foxs, or Lindsay Lohans, or Miley Cyruses etc.

Girls, please, bring back the pretty.



Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/blog/the-death-of-pretty#ixzz1i4AhCQSe

House Projects

Welcome friends!

I’ve been doing this project recap party for a few years now and it is always fun to look back and see what I’ve accomplished for the year. I actually thought I might not have much to share this year, given the fact that 2011 was a train-wreck of a year for me in so many ways. But, I did a few things around my parent’s house and my sis’s as well. It was fun to be productive and get some things accomplished. If you want to check out what I accomplished in 2010, you can check out last year’s post. I am bummed that all the links are gone from last year’s party, not sure what happened, except that Inlinkz was making some changes around that time and I can’t find the party code anymore. Oh well….

With the upside down period of moving from Birmingham back to Atlanta, I settled in at my parents in April and in May we got the opportunity to make over their back porch, which had never been touched in a decorative way. It was fun to see this space transform into a useful and peaceful place to be. Now, it’s my new office and I love sitting out here.

Here’s the really ugly before state. I wanted to be sure to capture it as it was. And this pic says it all.

Here’s the After! I know, you’re breathing a sigh of relief with me now. We have enjoyed this space SO much and it has added a new room onto the house. Porches rock!!

Also, in May, I helped my friend, Vicki, make over a thriftstore table that we scored in Port St. Joe. It went from blah and dated….

To pretty and cottagey in a beautiful creamy white paint.

We then moved into my bathroom at my parents’ house and did a complete overhaul on the 1970′s bathroom that was in dire need of an update. First thing that came up was the old mauve carpet and down went these prettyAllure vinyl plank flooring

On the walls, I added my famous beadboard wallpaper which I am still in love with. I have it in my own online shop now!

So, we went from this….. to this…..

And we we completely transformed that 70′s bathroom into a nice new space, with a few key changes.

Another thriftstore find in Port St. Joe with my friend, Vicki, we made this ho-hum lamp over too.

And it turned into a cute coastal inspired lamp for its new life.

And the biggest project of the year was my sister’s bedroom makeover.

We stenciled the feature wall in this really cool Moorish stencil. And the room went from the 1990′s…

Definitely needing an update.

To a beautiful modern glam master bedroom suite. That was a fun one!

So, that was my year! How was yours? :)

I’m truly trusting and praying that 2012 is a much better year for me. I’m in such a better state of mind than I was a year ago at this time and I’m so glad to be through the worst of all the life changers this year. In fact, I’m downright optimistic. There are a lot of foreclosure houses on the market in our area right now and I expect that 2012 will still have many available. We’ve already taken a few drive-bys and look-sees at a few of them, just to see what is out there.

So, I fully expect that this time NEXT year, I’ll be in a fixer-upper house. I’m saving every penny I can and hopefully will find something for less than $70K that I can fix up and make my own. My dad is completely on board with it and since he did renovations years ago on rental homes and also did a lot of work on my first house, he still has the building and fixing bug and would enjoy helping on a project like this. So, that is what is happening with me! I couldn’t be happier in anticipating the possibility of getting a fixer-upper. If I could find the perfect one, it would be a 60′s or 70′s brick ranch with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, existing hardwood floors in a decent neighborhood. We will see what comes along in my price range and of course, y’all will be the first to hear when it happens. Just thinking about it makes me smile really BIG!

It’s time for you to share your projects too, so feel free to link up and let everyone else know about the party as well. You can use the button or just do a link back.

Places We Want to Go

New Zealand/Australia/Hawaii
Colorado/Texas
Ireland/Scotland
France/England/Spain/Italy
Israel
Alaska
Tennessee
Boston/New York
California