Appearances

APPEARANCES

A Classical Disturbance.

The appearance of opinions

Yuja Wang, an astonishingly good pianist who likes to perform in high heel shoes had apparently been doing so regularly without serious public comment until Tuesday August 7th 2011 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
The photograph above, taken as she walked out on stage to play Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No.3. Her diminutive form, said to be just two inches above 5 feet tall without the high heels, was being projected onto huge video screens to enhance the view of what became a much discussed Mini-dress, bright orange and very short, at least for a concert pianist looking to take a seat on stage. As you may have observed, a mini-skirt tends to ride further up to reveal even more thigh when the wearer sits down.
Comment on the etiquette of dress soon followed and ever since then mini-skirted stage-shows by Yuja Wang have been subject to a barrage of reaction in the youtube comments section by all manner of self-opinionated critics.

Yuja was 24 years old at that Hollywod Bowl appearance, twelve years later, as a 36 year-old in Paris April 13th 2023 the same sight could be witnessed. (video below).
Note how after 12 years of practice the heels still unbalance her gait.

Short shirts and high heels have long been paired together to create a sense of powerful attraction between human beings. Many other combinations of dress and exposed areas of flesh combine to achieve the same end. The question as to why we percieve and experience a sense of beauty in these and many other circumstances is our concern here.
The reaction to high heels and short skirts on a concert pianist, the focus of attention at a classical orchestral performance, divided opinion across the world of concert attendees and those who comment on such matters in the press. Most of the press commentary was controlled and polite, centering on words like circumstance, appropriate (or otherwise) and whether a concert should be primarily an auditory or a visual experience. The comments section on Youtube on many alluring displays over the past ten years have attracted words like slutty, prostitute and shameful, often with derogatory references to the quality of the performance. Responses to such comments have been equally vitriolic.

THE SENSUAL THE SEXUAL AND THE PORNOGRAPHIC.

No one is likely to have any concerns about taking their clothes off whilst being watched by a pet cat or a goldfish peering out of a glass-walled container. Some will disrobe at the request of an artist wishing to portray a nude on canvas, fewer will be willing to strip as a response to a casual request in a supermarket. Stripping naked in he comforting surroundings of your own bedroom is acceptable by everyone, but doing so in front of the webcam on your laptop or PC and broadcasting it across the internet for anyone to freely access is regarded as pornographic behaviour.
It is something practiced by many men and women every hour of every day of the week.
Does that bother me? Well... no...and yes.

Yes and No answers

Responding to a question with a "yes... but no" answer indicates the certain aspects of your opinions may be misinterpreted and so require justification, as they may appear contradictory. I have nothing whatsoever against camgirls and camboys or even camcouples of any gender displaying their wares to a willing audience, but what bothers me (remember botherings is the name of this website), is need and motivation and hypocrisy.
The glamour and beauty industry is an enormous concern, covering businesses from independant high street nail boutiques to major international fashion brands for clothes, perfumes, skin care and photography, amongst other things.

Need and Motivation and Hypocrisy

Appearance, how we show ourselves to others, is a matter of personal behaviour and deep social consequence. We put ourselves on display every day, even when we remain unseen from rising in the morning until the end of the day, we get up in the morning and prepare for many possible scenarios that may unfold.
The illustrations above will invoke a plethora of opinion, emotional feeling and physical changes in every viewer. Each will respond uniquely. We see power , politics, religion, entertainment, jelousy, anger, curiosity... the list is long.
What you see above are images that may be viewed on almost any TV news channel to accompany an appropriate story.

The image of the Burkas was used to accompany an an online article for the INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES, at 09/05/16 10:51 PM BST it reported:-
In a seeming U-turn, the Islamic State (Isis) has reportedly banned women wearing the burka in northern Iraq after claiming that its fighters have been targeted by a veiled female. The hard-line faction has previously beaten and killed women for not wearing a veil covering their face and hair in public.

Knowing that may have modified your feelings, given you a insight into the complexities of life. Enforcing the wearing of the burka is suddenly not a good idea if it begins resulting in the murder of those you regard as collegues.
Those same Isis members may well have themselves killed the two girls roaming aroud outdoors in nothing but yellow string bikinis, possibly not before indulging their own sexual pleasures.

THESE ARE VERY SERIOUS ISSUES, issues we do not want to be personally involved in.

How you interpret the middle image above depends on a multitude of factors, not least your personal interpretation of an image containing references to religion, nuns and schoolgirls.
The title of this section - Need, Motivation, and Hypocrisy - requires slow and careful consideration to grasp the influence of our assumptions on personal behaviour. It also requires a consideration of matters that may initially appear irrelevant.

We live in a condition of linear time and sequential events. Separation is the native nature of our awareness and everyday activity. We assume that is the way things are and the way things must be. Eating dispels the hunger. Drinking quenches the thirst. Needs are distanced from fulfilment, desire and motivation live in separation from achievement and enactment.
A need is for something you do not possess, motivation urges you towards the need, fulfilment is the death of desire.
Beauty is sensational. That is to say, is is not perceived it is experienced.
This is not just playing with words, it concerns the meaning of life.

The paragraph above may appear to have little or nothing to do with our physical appearance, dress code, or opinions on the behaviour of others but the world functions as a complex whole and things that bother us, or not, are influenced by matters we have not considered.

How we respond to visual appearances is a complex issue that is influenced by beliefs, social conditioning and rarely understood psychological behaviour that may be more controlling than controlled. That is to say we may be controlled by our opinions far more than having control over our opinions.

SEX SELLS... ITS AFFECTS ARE EFFECTIVE... AND FREE.

The advertising industry utilises sexual imagery (the affect of sexual imagery) to influence behaviour (the effect of sexual imagery). The affects and effects are utilised to influence behaviour for financial gain.

SEX... ITS AFFECTS AND EFFECTS ARE FREE.
It is stating the obvious to say that it costs nothing to experience the pleasant and potentially powerful effects of sexual stimulation. Such effects have the result of ensuring the population reproduces sufficiently to ensure the long term survival of Homo sapiens.
But the effects of the affects of visual and aural stimulation without physical contact are dominant forces in the advertising, movie and music-making, and pornography industries. Our views on these topics are socially significant. We have opinions, personal and collective.
The headline below the image of Yuja Wang at the start of this section is - "THE APPEARANCE OF OPINIONS" - we need to be concerned with the question already posed - "Do we control or are we controlled by our opinions?"

OPINIONS...Views from where? We all have opinions on many topics, but the inconsistency we may display in expressing them is quite remarkable. We manipulate our comments to suit our audience, modify our expressed opinions to suit circumstance and if we deem it necessary will lie about our views to avoid offence or misjudgement. If we have opinions but are fearful of expressing them what does that say about social circumstance?
Views from where? This is a question in need of honest consideration. It is not at all clear why we hold a particular set of views concerning any topic, but it is much clearer why we manipulate our expression of those views for better or worse.

Lets return briefly to a concert pianist dressed to perform on a public stage on TV. Below is Yuja Wang, almost 12 years to the day the now 36 year old taking to the stage on 4th August 2023 at the BBC Proms, in a perhaps an even shorter bright orange dress her 24 year old self chose to wear in 2012, to again play Rachmaninov, this time Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.

Comfort, the Uncomfortable and the Practical

Why do we wear clothes?... and why can what we choose to wear be so controversial?

Why do we wear clothes?... clearly the climate is the prime concern, if it is too cold, too wet or otherise unpleasent, or circumstances demand physical protection for the body we wear appropriate clothing.
But the physical environment is only a partial answer, there is clearly a psychological component to our choice to wear clothing in virtually all circumstances. There is a collective social conditioning that tells what to wear, which parts of the skin surface may remain on show and which should be covered either for practical purposes or for reasons that we may neither be sure about nor be willing to admit.

Beyond the practical physical protection the psychological motivations for wearing clothing is a topic requiring an in depth consideration.

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