![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
"Facelessness"
Jul. 19th, 2009 08:00 pmFirst off, I'd like to apologize to all my viewers for not posting as often as I said I would. Due to my life becoming incredibly busy over the past couple of weeks, and my expecting things to stay that way for a very long time, I am now posting on PSY once a week (not necessarily on every Sunday) from now on. That way, I should have time to come up with decent, interesting posts that are more focused on educating vs. discussing (although you are still welcomed to post your thoughts!).
With that being said... here's this week's topic! :D
"Facelessness"
Let's start off with the American Amish. As some of you may already know, the American Amish people are part of a branch of Christianity (notably in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Indiana) that "are best known for their simple living, plain dress and resistance to the adoption of many modern conveniences" (Wikipedia). One of their customs involves the absence of facial features on their children's rag dolls. One theory for the origins of this practice revolves around the second commandment in the Christian Bible, which states the following:
"You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I The Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love Me and keep My Commandments" (Exodus 20:4-6, Revised Standard Version).
So why have the American Amish opted to create faceless dolls? In short, it may be due to the idea that giving rag dolls beautiful faces or any kind of defining facial features so would result in the idolization of material objects, something that they would naturally want to avoid at all costs.
In Indonesia, "the concept of 'face' is important to understand", according to Kwintessential, a language translation/interpretation website that aims to help clients succeed with cross-cultural communication/solutions. The website strongly emphasizes that foreigners "should never ridicule, shout at or offend anyone...imperfections should always be hidden and addresses privately...one manifestation of the concept of face/shame is that Indonesians...would never wish to cause anyone shame by giving them a negative answer so would phrase it a way where you would be expected to realise what they truly want to say" (http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/indonesia.html).
Another, broader example would be the describing of enemy forces as "faceless", so as to de-humanize the soldiers and politicians one is at war with. Prisoners and victims over the span of centuries have also been described as "faceless", demonstrating how their tortures and deaths go unnoticed/unaided by the world as a whole. In dreams, people may be faceless, for any number of reasons.
Discuss: Cases where you have seen examples of "facelessness" in literature, art, media, etc.
Share: What it means to you when something is "faceless". Anonymity? The unknown? Good? Bad?
With that being said... here's this week's topic! :D
"Facelessness"
Let's start off with the American Amish. As some of you may already know, the American Amish people are part of a branch of Christianity (notably in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Indiana) that "are best known for their simple living, plain dress and resistance to the adoption of many modern conveniences" (Wikipedia). One of their customs involves the absence of facial features on their children's rag dolls. One theory for the origins of this practice revolves around the second commandment in the Christian Bible, which states the following:
"You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I The Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love Me and keep My Commandments" (Exodus 20:4-6, Revised Standard Version).
So why have the American Amish opted to create faceless dolls? In short, it may be due to the idea that giving rag dolls beautiful faces or any kind of defining facial features so would result in the idolization of material objects, something that they would naturally want to avoid at all costs.
In Indonesia, "the concept of 'face' is important to understand", according to Kwintessential, a language translation/interpretation website that aims to help clients succeed with cross-cultural communication/solutions. The website strongly emphasizes that foreigners "should never ridicule, shout at or offend anyone...imperfections should always be hidden and addresses privately...one manifestation of the concept of face/shame is that Indonesians...would never wish to cause anyone shame by giving them a negative answer so would phrase it a way where you would be expected to realise what they truly want to say" (http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/indonesia.html).
Another, broader example would be the describing of enemy forces as "faceless", so as to de-humanize the soldiers and politicians one is at war with. Prisoners and victims over the span of centuries have also been described as "faceless", demonstrating how their tortures and deaths go unnoticed/unaided by the world as a whole. In dreams, people may be faceless, for any number of reasons.
Discuss: Cases where you have seen examples of "facelessness" in literature, art, media, etc.
Share: What it means to you when something is "faceless". Anonymity? The unknown? Good? Bad?