Another Young Woman Who Shouldn't Do 'Selfies'

Valeria Lukyanova  after her 'Barbie' transformation and before (left). She is now advised not to even attempt a selfie - because of the risk of turning it into a parody.

In a previous post, I noted that Winter Olympics star Meryl Davis probably shouldn't be doing any selfies because of the risk they'd be interpreted as parodies of a selfie, or Selfie Poes. See e.g.
http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-case-for-ugly-selfie-and-why-meryl.html

Now, we behold a living "Barbie" doll, a Ukrainian by the name of   Valeria Lukyanova, who has undergone successive plastic surgeries to transform herself into a living manikin with the appearance of "Barbie". (The classic little girl's doll created by Mattel.)  According to the author of a recent piece in GQ, encountering this being (who now calls herself "Amatue")  for the first, time,

"Is the closest you will come to an alien encounter"

Why? Well, let's start out with her proportions being ridiculous, as the image above shows. The author points out other aberrational aspects:

"The head is cocked like a sunflower too heavy for its stem, there's the plasticky skin and wasp waist.....her mouth .....like a cheap cartoon is the only part of her face that moves. The eyes, the staring eyes ...are the scariest. (There is essentially an eye drawn around each eye- an optical effect brought about by the makeup).. "

Why the hell would a young woman deform herself to look like a doll?  "Beauty"? No, I don't believe so, and as the author observes:

"Her beauty, though I hesitate to use that term, is pitched at the exact precipice where the male gaze curdles in on itself"

He also makes a similar point to what I did re: Meryl Davis, that while evolution predisposes us to think of big eyes as beautiful (a "neotonous"  feature)- but "tweak that delicate scale just a little and you have a wraith"

And who wants a wraith, or wants to do a selfie of one?

Incredibly, "Amatue" makes reference to reincarnation, as if the existence of such a post-death outcome could justify altering her physical appearance to that approaching an artifact designed by Mattel.   But this belief is misplaced. As noted by my spiritual adept sister-in -law,  Krimhilde (recent Skype chat):

"Any being on the path of reincarnation doesn't advance by altering her body to imitate an artifact. The body is enfolded within spirit, so if one warps the body the spirit is warped also.   This warping means that one's path of reincarnation is disturbed or delayed from what it would have been.

The advancing being, the advancing human, accepts his or her body as it is, but treats it well:  no bad food, no smoking, no drugs, nothing that can disrupt its wholeness or the spirit related to it."

What about 'selfies"?

"These are the creations and obsessions of the immature human, which remains steeped in narcissism, in self-absorption. No truly advanced or advancing human on the path to a higher spirituality takes a selfie. Our true motivation and mission in this life is instead to embrace selflessness. That means placing one's body in proper relation to one's spirit."

So, irrespective of Amatue's distorted features and body it's probably not a good idea to do a selfie in any case. Indeed, Krimhilde emphasizes she'd be better off - if she intends to keep on the path toward advanced spirituality- to avoid them at all cost.

Perhaps we'd all do well to take that advice!