Sunday, September 6, 2009

Feminism, Graduate School, and Nail Polish


*waves* Hi, everyone!!! I'm so sorry for my lack of posts lately but it has been a hellish week (and it is only going to get more hellish!). Diving headfirst into a full time graduate school schedule (4 classes) has been extremely stressful and overwhelming for me, especially since I have been out of school since May of 2008. I have been fighting with the administrative offices all week in addition to trying to take care of all of my name change paperwork while also struggling with the decision of whether or not to work or take out an extra student loan. Stay tuned.

My classes have been interesting so far (though the reading for one class has been very difficult to get through). One professor has us thinking about the dynamics of the body. What we mainly discussed in class was the separation between the body's external and internal parts and also the relationship between the mental and physical body. An interesting thought he brought up was the idea that when people are diagnosed with cancer, the goal is often to villainize the cancer, as in, "I'm going to beat this cancer!" But when you think about it, the cancer has developed inside your body and is growing inside your body, in your cells and organs. So is the cancer part of you, your body? How do you define YOUR body? As in, is YOUR body simply comprised of what's on the outside, or do you also take into account what's inside? I think a major reason for the separation is that we often feel that we have control over what's on the outside of our bodies while we sometimes feel we have no/little control over what goes on inside our bodies (maybe because we can't see our insides?).

One reason I brought this up is that I could connect this discussion with nails and nail polish. Our nails are part of our bodies and we cover them with colors most often to express our love for colors and our creativity. Yet sometimes we have little control over what our nails do, whether that be peeling, or chipping, or breaking, etc. Perhaps the "control" we feel over our bodies is all an illusion, as sometimes it seems that nothing I do can give me the optimal results I want (such as using acne medication to get rid of acne but then still breaking out, or using nail products that promise no more peeling and then getting peels).

But I'm just rambling. If I sound inarticulate it's because I'm just getting back into academia and I feel really rusty (who knew that only 1.5 years could do that?). But for those of you who come to this blog for pics, here they are!!

NOTD has been The Icing Roger That, which is a gorgeous teal green with a glass fleck shimmer. Imagine China Glaze Watermelon Rind with a touch more blue in it and you've got Roger That. Unfortunately, this color is one that is hard to photograph, but I did my best.

These pictures are 3 thin coats after 3 days of wear!

This first picture, though a bit blurry, is the most color accurate of the bunch.




You can find The Icing polishes at The Icing stores (typically in malls) and they are almost always around $3.50 each and B1G1 50% off.

Thanks for looking!

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4 comments:

mKat said...

Ah, I empathize with your 1.5 years out of academia. I finished up last October/November and aside from writing a few applications to grad school in December-January, I have been enjoying a break myself. I think you'll find you'll get back into the swing of things quickly enough. (Or at least that's what I keep telling myself.) I'm a little nervous about the start of classes. :P

I think I have a much longer response to your body definition question but I'm working out the wording in my head so I'll get back to you. :)

Lucy said...

Good luck with school this year. It will be tough but you can do it. Love the nail polish.

-L- said...

Hello! I just stumbled upon your blog, as a fellow nail polish lover (and graduate student!), I wanted to applaud your lovely work and great choice of color. If you have some time, check out check out my favorites . Take care!

flinty said...

Love Roger That -- definitely my favorite Icing polish to date.

Re: the body. I think it's more of a tendency to want to think the best of ourselves. When we accomplish a physical feat like running a race without having trained, we don't attribute that to an outside source. We compliment our natural stamina (though I personally think it's luck that I don't die on my occasional 4 mile fun-runs). As for cancer, we don't want something that destructive to be part of our identity. After all, cancer kills, it destroys our bodies inside out. Why would anyone want to claim credit for that?

...right, that thought was more organized and better in my head than when I typed it out. Gah. My brain really rusted over this summer.

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