Essay examines the ethics of aestheticism in relation to cosmetics and objectification of the female body, suggesting ongoing implications.
This essay considers some of the ethical issues surrounding the objectifying tendencies of the aesthetic gaze, both during the nineteenth century and today, with particular reference to the ways in which it treats the female body. It discusses Max Beerbohm's famous essay “A Defence of Cosmetics” (1894) before turning to Walter Pater's ethics and finally addressing what these debates might reveal to us about aestheticism today, with reference to Vernon Lee's take on the aesthetic gaze in her imaginary portrait “Dionea” (1890).
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Giles Whiteley (2025) studied this question.
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