Jennifer Lytle
I remember my first visit to a restroom that had items available for guests. Recently, I visited one such bathroom hosting a basket that held multitudinous goodies which beckoned visitors. Everything from gum to pantyhose or hairspray had been set out.
“How nice!” I thought. If I required bobby pins, there were some! Body spray? Never fear. There was more than one scent to choose from. How about a quick shave? Wow. This offering was one of the most generous and curious I had found in a bathroom yet. Among the various pieces, I noticed a foil holographic package. The package was attractive. After reading the label, two thoughts occurred to me.
“Am I on candid camera?” and,
“I’d like to try this for my face.”
After that second thought, I wondered about my simple-minded attraction to this odd commodity. The lotion was called Snail Technology and though the packaging was possibly mesmerizing, it showcased weird messaging. Ingredients included snail mucus. Snail mucus? Really? Am I so desperate for a new face lotion?
Certainly, this isn’t the first round of perverting what is pure and innocent in regard to women. White lead was used to lighten the complexion of Greek women and crocodile dung was used as rouge for Roman women. In the ’30s, a dimple maker could be worn to help pronounce indentations that resembled dimples. China’s feet binding was one of the permanent beauty practices initiated between a girl’s fourth and ninth birthdays. In Italy, Belladonna (nightshade) was dropped into a woman’s eye to dilate the pupil. This created what was believed to be a more sultry appearance.
Maybe you’ve never been tempted to put snail mucus on your face, but have you ever found yourself following the most recent trend? Do you remember ever wearing a pair of overalls backward? Perhaps you teased and feverishly sprayed hairspray in your hair only to cry and cringe later, trying to brush out the tangles purposely pushed into your follicles?
These examples could be funny, separated from the postmodern vicious onslaught against all that is feminine. In Round Rock, Texas, high school girls are asked to find a separate changing facility if they do not wish to share locker room space with biological boys. A North Carolina high school boy unwittingly caused a concussion to an opponent resulting from his spike during an all-girl volleyball game. Though it took months, an arrest was made last fall of a biological boy who had assaulted girls while wearing skirts and entering the girl’s bathrooms.
It is a difficult time to be made in the image of God. The attacks are relentless. Difficulties abound. Christians are instructed to “be transformed” and cautioned against “conform[ing] any longer to the pattern of this world” in Romans 12:2. The New Living translation admonishes, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world.”
May Jesus help you and your daughters navigate this world with true beauty and grace; whether you choose to put snail mucous on your face or not, shine on in Truth and true beauty.
This revised article was originally published in May 2022 in Jennifer Lytle’s authored column in Thyme Magazine. She authored Chipped China from April 2020 until November 2022.The article has been revised from its original state.
