Pucker Up, Its Cold Outside

I started out by thinking of DomestiSexy as a manner of self-expression. As a female child of the 80s/90s, I had my fair share of conflicts with femininity and domesticity, so my peers' increasing interest in domesticity and my simultaneous reorganization of my own priorities took me by surprise. Ever since, I've understood these needs as an expression of reactionary counter culture.

While discussing the topic with others, however, I have noticed that another justification for our newly found domesticity pops up even more regularly: the recession. Anne summed up this argument when she recently pondered whether "this resurgence in domestisexy has to do with the economy. When things are bad, people turn towards home. also, people might return to traditional gender roles?"

Historically, national and financial insecurity often forces social structure into a more traditional mold (think the 1950s and the Cold War). Another, less comprehensive and thus measurable, sign of financial insecurity is the Lipstick Index. The Lipstick Index postulates a negative correlation between economic health and cosmetics sales, in particular lipstick. Shortly after September 11th 2001, Leonard Lauder, the Chairman of Esteee Lauder, identified this relationship. He postulated that, as a comparatively cheap thrill, lipstick satisfies the American womans need to splurge in a time of cut backs. During the winter of 2001/02, Lauder Inc. had to create extra shifts in their lipstick factories to respond to this surge in demand.

The lipstick index has not performed as cleanly during our recent recession. Different newspapers are reporting different trends, and overall economists are complaining that the shear size and lump-sum reporting of the cosmetic industry make any statistical work impossible. The most striking aspect of the study remains that a (female) need to splurge is thought as justified (even expected) during a time of cut backs and further, that this need is spent on cosmetics.

There is more behind the lipstick index than cheap indulgence. I spent the summer of 2007 in Moscow, Russia. One of the most enthralling aspects of Russian culture is the Russian woman. Russian women are stunning, always dressed to the T, perfectly coiffed and incredulously thin. While musing about the unusual plenty of attractive and well groomed women, I came upon a study which argued that financially emerging economies, such as the Russian economy, create appearance weary populations. The fact that a cosmetic product becomes a predictive variable during economic downturn echoes this theme. In times of instability, women attempt to secure their future by establishing social standing and bonds. Our attempt to create a manicured and welcoming domestic life fits right into this world view. The question remains how we should feel about it: are we dressing up with no where to go? or is our newly found interest in baking a creative attempt to party like its 1999?