close

Don’t be a Pooshover

3 min read

Notice: Undefined variable: article_ad_placement3 in /usr/web/cs-washington.ogdennews.com/wp-content/themes/News_Core_2023_WashCluster/single.php on line 128

I don’t know about you, but I’m totally down with the “willing suspension of disbelief.” Writer Samuel Taylor Coleridge (“Rime of the Ancient Mariner”) invented the term in 1817 in the preface to “Biographia Literaria.”

In short, the concept means that you must be willing to accept things that seem impossible in order to extract the best, most entertaining experience from a work of fiction.

For example, although we know full well that there ain’t no such thing as a dragon, we still enjoy “Game of Thrones.” And in Pittsburgh, although the Pirates may never be above .500 to stay after Memorial Day, we are still willing to believe that a berth in the 2019 World Series is possible.

Which leads us to Kourtney Kardashian’s new website, Poosh.com.

After hearing and reading about Poosh, I still could not suspend disbelief – willingly or otherwise – to accept that this site is real. So I visited.

I discovered that Poosh is a beauty brand and a “lifestyle brand.” I haven’t heard of a lifestyle brand since the late Hugh Hefner came up with the “Playboy philosophy,” a style of living that he successfully sold to men for more than three decades. “You, too, can cavort in the grotto with young, naked playmates,” Hefner promised. Men who had no hope of either grottos or even fully clothed playmates bought in.

Now the oldest Kardashian sister seems to be using the same tactic with women, with one key difference. Hefner never tried to sell products designed to make his readers look like him; KK seems hell bent to recreate every woman in her own image.

Poosh is overflowing with beauty advice – all neatly tied in to products KK sells on the site. “Collagen vibes,” for example, which KK says she drinks every morning and night. “After a busy day of filming, meetings, and mommy life, I can’t wait to wind down in the peace and quiet of my bedroom,” KK says. “I turn on my diffuser, take a bath, slip into some silk pajamas, wash the outside world off my face and settle in for bed with a warm glass of Pink Moon Milk (a collagen drink).

KK doesn’t sell diffusers, bathtubs or silk pajamas but, in addition to collagen, she is hawking a variety of skin cleansers, moisturizers and other beauty products that she implies will make you look like her. Here’s where the willing suspension of disbelief fails me: I simply can’t believe that any woman would want to.

Ladies, please don’t get me wrong. I like beautiful women. But in an age when female empowerment, from #MeToo to Capt. Marvel’s latest hairdo, is a topic of heated debate, why go all Kardashian on us. The Kardashian women are the prime examples of unnecessary plastic surgery since Michael Jackson moonwalked off this mortal coil.

But I guess I’m in the minority.

As NPR reported last week, the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery has revealed that there has been a 20-percent increase in Botox injections among 18- to 37-year-olds since 2014. Why?

So they can look like their selfies, which they have doctored with a variety of phone apps to make cheekbones more prominent, lips puffier, eyes less wrinkled and noses more button-like.

That sound you just heard was your suspended disbelief hitting the floor.

Ladies, don’t be “dooped.” When Poosh comes to shove, step aside.

There is no phone app for inner beauty.

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $3.75/week.

Subscribe Today