4. The Hungarian case
4.3. Occidentalism
based on personal experience- looking natural doesn’t necessarily exclude the use of make-up or doesn’t even limit the number of products, as long as looking at the final result it is not obvious for the onlooker that the person in question is wearing make-up. Looking at the images that the Hungarian interviewees described as natural, it is the light eye make-up (lack of dark eye shadow, eyeliner or dramatic mascara) and the lack of lipstick or at the least the use of natural looking, nude colors that makes a make-up look is perceived natural in their eyes.
As the examples from previous literature and this present research shows, the idea of natural beauty is a subjective concept that can be different for each individual and we need to be conscious of this fact when reading and assessing opinions and descriptions using the term.
People have different extents to which they expect one to be natural and untouched, meaning the lack of using products and other interventions, in order to fulfill the requirements or standards for natural beauty. For some individual the use of any products or procedures is unacceptable, and only the way someone was born can be considered truly natural.
Meanwhile for some others it is only plastic surgery or a certain amount or kind of make-up products that rules out the label ‘natural beauty’, therefore in their perceptions to some extent, deliberately made beauty can also be natural. We need to be critical towards women’s use of the term ‘natural’ when talking about female beauty, because as of now, there is no commonly accepted definition in academia for natural beauty and this present research also only provides preliminary data suggesting the concept. Further extensive studies are needed in the field to gain a deeper understanding of women’s perceptions of natural beauty and to establish a definition that can be widely used in academia.
4.3. Occidentalism
For the third possible explanation as for why and how Hungarian interviewees differentiated between continental European and Anglo-American, in particular US women, I am going to highlight Occidentalism.
Although Europe and America are often grouped together in academic works as ‘the West’, there has been discussions about the broken West in academia (Calleo, 2004), where scholars mention the parting or drifting apart of Europe and America in particular. Lehti (2009) discussed how in contrast to the ‘traditional’ concept of the West “an alternative West –the Wild West” has appeared in academia, which metaphor meant the way Europeans often
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label their American counterparts “to present America as a barbarian, brutal and violent actor”
(Lehti, 2009, p.90). Delanty (2006) also highlighted the “growing tensions between Europe and the United States” (Delanty, 2006, p. 4), pointing out that certain concepts that are often used to characterize or describe ‘the West’, such as capitalism and democracy have become
“global forces and exist in a huge variety of forms throughout the world,” concluding that
“Europe, America and the West have become disentangled” (Delanty, 2006, p. 2). He also emphasizes new transitions in the world with Europe and Eurasia constantly converging to one another, the former becoming less Western, the latter less Eastern. As the result of such processes he states that “for the first time it is possible to peak of Europeanization emerging to rival Americanization” (Delanty, 2006, p. 4). As it can be seen from the above quoted works, it is clear that although continental Europe and Anglo-American countries are all still often referred to as ‘the West’, there has been a break and differentiation between the two groups.
One way to explain that, and in particular the way how Europeans perceive and look at Americans is through the concept of Occidentalism.
“Occidentalism –opposition to the West- is a significant movement in many parts of the world, and a force that keeps alive the notion of the West, which is generally associated with the United States” (Delanty, 2006, p. 3).
In his work Rob Kroes discusses the European perceptions of America, including Americanism and Americanization. The former, he writes can have two opposing interpretations, however,
“more often than not, Americanism is a term of rejection in Europe”, meaning that it “symbolizes America as the antithesis to everything that European intellectuals conceive of as their common cultural heritage” (Kroes, 1996, p. x).
Discussing the European perceptions of America Kroes characterizes them as “the European sense of American culture as capable of producing only spurious variety, subjecting as it does all cultural production to the leveling logic of America’s democratic ethos and capitalist organization” (Kroes, 1996, p. xiv). He refers to these perceptions, which he discusses in his book as a kind of a European Occidentalism.
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In their well-known book about Occidentalism, Ian and Avishai mainly describe the concept as for example Japan or Middle Eastern countries against the West. They contrasted these “spiritual and profound” cultures with the notion of capitalism and modernity that the West represented and as they write,
“the war against the West was a war against the poisonous materialism civilization” (Ian & Avishai, 2004, p. 2).
These nations and regions perceived the West and criticized it, especially the United States in particular as shallow and rootless, coldly mechanical and simply materialistic.
And although the book introduces Occidentalism mostly from the perspective of Japan and the Middle East, it also recognizes how the concept indeed originated from Europe prior to being disseminated to other parts of the world. Based on that statement and the interview responses with the Hungarian interviewees, the way they regard Anglo-Americans, but women from the United States in particular, can also be explained by the use of Occidentalism. Although it is coming from a country/region that is traditionally also considered part of the West, but indeed Occidentalism as they criticize America for the same reasons: its excessive consumerism, being shallow and materialistic, lacking the moral grounding and purity that Europe exhibits.
Reflecting to the striking differences between the consumer culture of the United States and Europe, in a follow-up interview one Hungarian girl explicitly said:
“Although obviously consumer culture is apparent in Europe with all its concomitants, as I see it, in America it reaches certain degrees we [here in Europe] cannot even imagine, with the mega plazas, Black Friday beatings and fights and huge fast food and retail chains, or which are at least a little bit strange and alien for us.” (HU01)
Talking about the result of this heightened consumerism specifically on beauty ideals and standards in the United States, and the way American women are expected to use a wide variety of products in order to be considered beautiful, she added:
“As I see it, in the United States, it’s a more of a requirement [compared to Europe] for women to have perfect hair and make-up and to follow the latest
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everyday, a friend of mine who lives in the States said they take 2.5 hours to go through all these steps and get ready in the morning.”
Figure 9. Contrast of posed American actress Blake Lively and natural French actress Angelique Boyer made by HU09
When talking about American influencers during the interview, even when they brought them as examples of women they found beautiful, in contrast to continental European women, they usually emphasized these consumption-driven attributes or the “artificially made/prepared” nature of the picture. When talking about American actress Blake Lively one interviewee said: “it is a posed picture and I think it has been Photoshopped too. She has a lot of make-up but it’s gorgeous”, contrasting her to a French woman, Angelique Boyer, whom she praised for her naturalness and simplicity, the lack of the usage of all these products.
“I think this woman is beautiful because of her simplicity,” she said, adding that she looked beautiful no matter the simple attributes and lack of fancy props like expensive clothes.
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“She is wearing a simple white blouse and she is still beautiful. And I really like how she has very natural and simple, low-key make-up” (HU09).
This example shows how in case of American women, the consumption of beauty-related products and services is the standard in the eyes of Hungarian young women, as they think of them as members of a highly consumerism- and capitalism-driven society who are required to put that money and effort into getting ready in order to feel and look beautiful.
Above mentioned American actress Blake Lively seemed to be very popular amongst the interviewees: apart from that specific image, I have received multiple others as well, usually showing her in full glam looks, professionally prepared for events, as it can be seen from these example images as well:
Figure 10. Instagram posts of American actress Blake Lively, prepared red carpet events
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Figure 11. American examples: Selena Gomez singer (left) and Lili Reinhart actress (right)
Another example can be the following picture of American singer Selena Gomez, where she can be seen in a professional photoshoot, with her hair and make-up done, wearing an expensive looking dress. Talking about this picture it was exactly these can-be-bought aspects of her that the interviewee described:
“the second picture is sexy and bold! I like it because of her make-up, this smokey eye look, you can see how she can emphasize her favorable features with it” (HU10).
In another image provided by another interviewee, American actress Lili Reinhart the description emphasized the usage of make-up and hair products and expensive fashion, explicitly adding the perception that she looks beautiful not just because she is that way originally, but because of all the preparations and usage of products that her team did in order to make her look good for that event.
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“I think this picture is much more elated by the make-up, clothing and hairstyle. You can see here that she was “made” for an event, they got her hair and make-up done and carefully chose her probably very expensive dress” (HU11).
In the Instagram screenshots that she has sent following the interview, this girl chose multiple other American women as well, who can be seen made ready for events, on the red carpet, hair and make-up professionally done, wearing expensive-looking, fashionable dresses and gowns.
Figure 12. American actresses on the red carpet: Aja King (left), Amanda Seyfried (center) and Ashley Benson (right)
These images feature: Aja Naomi King 33-year-old American actress, famous for her role in American TV series ‘How to get away with murder’; Amanda Seyfried American actress who is well-know for her performance in movies such as Mean Girls, Mamma Mia, Dear John or Les Miserables; and Ashley Benson American actress famously known for her role in successful American TV series “The Pretty Little Liars”.
Another interviewee, describing the excessive consumption of beauty-related products by American women that result in a fake beauty in her opinion, she also said:
“Americans spend way too much money to consume these things but we [Europeans] don’t feel we need all that” (HU10).
In general, when reflecting on the differences between the United States and Europe, all
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purchasing new things, which, as they believe results in a shallow and materialistic lifestyle and beauty ideals – exactly the qualities for which the West is criticized in Occidentalism.