By Bruce Haight
©2018 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
10/09/18

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

10/09/18

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

Release Date: Tuesday, October 9, 2018

ACROSS
1 “Big Board” that
lists GM and GE
5 Strauss of jeans
9 Scam using
spam, say
14 Fireworks cries
15 Eye layer that
includes the iris
16 Roman robes
17 How something
precarious may
hang
19 Love, to
Casanova
20 Soft toss
21 “Out with it!”
23 List-ending abbr.
24 Diplomatic office
26 “No more for me,
thanks”
28 Simon __
29 How a good
comedian leaves
the audience?
33 Farm layer
35 Lamp-to-plug line
36 Little mischief-
maker
37 Marisa of “My
Cousin Vinny”
40 Asian New Year
41 Very unpleasant
43 “It’s __-win
situation”
44 Clinton’s veep
46 Fifth scale note
47 Difficult time
50 Queries
54 Schlepped
55 Eats a little
57 “Verrrry funny”
59 Stem (from)
61 Opposite of “yep”
62 Overplay the part
64 Care
66 Career employee
67 New __: modern
spiritualist
68 Rebuke from
Caesar
69 Put off
70 Gridiron throw
71 Stinging insect

DOWN
1 Aristocrats
2 Grammy-winning
cellist
3 “Not too __!”:
“Good work!”

4 “To the max”
suffix
5 Slyly attracts
6 “Brideshead
Revisited”
novelist Waugh
7 Wiener schnitzel
meat
8 Words of
confession
9 School
fundraising gp.
10 Household skills
class, for short
11 “Let me handle it”
12 __ Lee desserts
13 Canine
command
18 Elevs.
22 Mideast
chieftain
25 Arthur of tennis
27 Dictation pro
30 Like dessert
wines
31 Ambulance pro
32 007, e.g.
34 Figure skating
figure
37 Sticky subject?
38 Musical Yoko
39 Get sassy with
someone

40 Import-export
imbalance
42 “Sadly ... ”
45 Newspaper
opinion page
46 Norelco products
48 Pointed beard
49 Baked potato
topping paired
with sour cream
51 Piano piece
52 Some big box
stores

53 Clinched, and a
hint to the four
longest Across
answers
56 “... and two if
by __”
57 __ up: robbed
58 Parisian gal pal
60 Latvian capital
63 Blow it
65 “Do the __”:
soft-drink
slogan

Of all the fads that have
come
and
gone
societally,
one of the more prominent
cultural obsessions is the push
for immersion in a world of
DIY. From your own house,
to your clothes, to the entire
world of crafting, there really
isn’t anything that we can’t
somehow make for ourselves.
A beautifully, and in most
cases
empowering,
concept
emerging from this hands-
on world is a completely new
breed
of
self-motivators,
spearheading
self-activism
and opening the world of “do it
yourself” to the complex realm
of
cosmetics.
With
beauty
blogs,
tutorials,
YouTube
channels, Instagram accounts
and even entire businesses
dedicated to self-improvement
— through not just cosmetic
products, but beauty routines
as a whole — an entire new
concept fabricates itself from
within the depths of DIY
pitfalls. This world, practice
— or rather, expectation — is a
concept called aesthetic labor,
and it’s changing femininity as
we know it.
We’ve seen it on Vogue’s
regular
Instagram
posts
showcasing
and
promoting
various
celebs’
seemingly
flawless makeup routines, and
Glossier’s entire blog “Into the
Gloss” rests not on the actual
products, but rather aesthetic
labor. As defined by Ana Sophia
Elias in her book “Aesthetic
Labor:
Rethinking
Beauty
Politics
in
Neoliberalism,”
aesthetic labor is the privilege
that women have to take
ownership over their beauty
routines. It is more than just
some Glossier Boy Brow or
Covergirl mascara. It is the
process, the labor of beauty
as a whole. From a young age,
girls are exposed to the world
of cosmetics and expected
to uphold societal norms by
taking ownership over their
routines in terms of their
cosmetic choices and steps of
their routines. In theory, this
ability to build a routine seems
easy, breezy and beautiful,
but in a culture so heavily
focused on self-improvement,
the dedication to aesthetic
labor
becomes
more
than
just a minute-long Instagram
video, but a full-time job.
A full-time job that, once it
starts, the constant buzzing
of
beauty
blogs,
videos,
channels, tutorials, magazine
editorials, new and improved
product lines, makes it nearly
impossible to let go.
As more and more women,
and young girls especially,
dedicate themselves to the
burden
that
is
aesthetic
labor, the link between the
pressure to uphold aesthetic
labor and femininity becomes
ever-present.
With
the
constant watchful eye of DIY
culture and social constructs
reminding us that there are
never enough changes we can
make to our appearances to
achieve true beauty, aesthetic
labor
suddenly
becomes
a
crucial aspect of a woman’s
femininity. In other words, to
be a woman is to be an aesthetic

laborer, a hunter for the latest
and
greatest,
an
upholder
of routine, a user of the best
products. The only problem?
To
be
the
best
aesthetic
laborer is to be inhuman. It is
practically impossible to keep
up with DIY culture, to obtain
the perfect routine. Yet women
are deemed less feminine for
failing to put enough work
into their routines, and for
not
taking
ownership
and
bettering their appearances,
because as society likes to
remind us, we are never good
enough
and
cannot
make
enough changes and choices to
our beauty regimes to embody
perfection. And this, this is
where the vicious cycle starts
all over again.
Especially
with
the
emergence of Instagram as a
platform of social media, the
feeling to aspire for a perfectly
effortless routine and lifestyle
is
ever
present.
Countless
profiles
saturate
Instagram
with
regular
postings
of
photos and videos of products,
various makeup looks and just
the day-to-day lives of the
account owners. With so many
of these accounts on one’s feed,

it is nearly impossible for viewers
to escape the constant reel of
content and comparison from
these accounts. Account owner
Huda Kattan runs @hudabeauty,
a page featuring tips for all
things cosmetics, with regular
video
routines
showing
extensive
contouring,
fake
lashes, bright eyeshadow and
skincare techniques, to name
a few. Kattan also regularly
posts photos of her extensive
makeup
collection,
packed
with name brand products
conveniently laid out on her
Louis Vuitton makeup bag.
In theory and on paper,
it seems obscene that a few
photos and videos could hold
so much weight in society for
women ascribing themselves

to the philosophy of aesthetic
labor. But in a world revolving
so much around materialism
and
looks,
aesthetic
labor
thrives on the social media
scene’s
overwhelming

properties. Because aesthetic
labor is always changing, it
preaches for us to find the
latest and greatest, to always
assume that we can be better.
So naturally, following one
beauty
Instagram
account
simply will not do. To keep up
we follow not only our favorite
blogger’s
pages
but
also
brands like Benefit Cosmetics,
Glossier,
Lush
Cosmetics
and Birchbox, adding up to
a large percentage of daily
Instagram
scrolls
to
be
overtaken by routines, new
products and more photos of
Kattan’s perfectly contoured
face, Glossier’s perfect new
packaging for Coconut Balm
and
Rihanna
effortlessly
glowing while explaining her
10-Minute Guide to Going Out
Makeup for Vogue.
Although all different in
exteriors and makeup choices,
what
unites
these
women
and accounts is how they are
socially constructed. Because
Kattan has a specific routine
including her own makeup
brand, because the women
on
Glossier’s
account
are
incorporating
Cloud
Paint
and Lash Slick into their
looks, because Rihanna has a
different routine for going out
than day to day, they are all
considered feminine. These
women are working to better
themselves, their appearances,
they are laboring working to fix
the flaws society has told them
that they have, yet making it
look effortless. And for that,
they
are
considered
truly
feminine women. They are
trying new products, keeping
up with what’s on trend in the
cosmetics world and posting
about
the
labor
they
are
putting into their routines.
And for what in return? For all
this work, society deems this
body of women to be beautiful.
The only issue with this
is that the aesthetic labor
portrayed
through
social
media especially is so far
from effortless. And while
the videos, posts and brands
make it seem as though it’s
OK to have a routine unique
to yourself, there are always
consequences. Whether you’re
wearing too much makeup, not
enough or if you’re not up to
speed on the latest cosmetics
trends, there is literally no
right answer. Yet, as women,
we are still expected to work
away at our routines and
appearances, to be aesthetic
laborers
and
neoliberals,
because this is what it means
to be feminine. With social
media as our overseer and
constant reminder that there
is always something more to
strive for, the vicious cycle of
dedication to aesthetic labor
never ends. It is as unending
as it is unrealistic, something
that we as women may never
exactly know what it means, as
we curate our Instagram feeds,
purchase our Glossier and stay
in the know on cosmetic blogs,
all completely unsure of just
how far from easy, breezy and
beautiful this lifestyle is.

Aesthetic labor and the
changing of femininity

MARGERET SHERIDAN
Daily Arts Writer

GLOSSIER

STYLE NOTEBOOK

As more and

more women,

and young

girls especially,

dedicate

themselves

to the burden

that is aesthetic

labor, the link

between the

pressure to uphold

aesthetic labor

and femininity

becomes ever-

present

When Michael Cera first
burst onto the scene almost
two decades ago, he played
almost exclusively nerdy and
whiny, nasal-voiced dweebs. No
character better encapsulates
this than George Michael Bluth
from “Arrested Development.”
I have a firm belief that you can
trace the entirety of Michael
Cera’s career as an almost direct
parallel to how the character of
George Michael is portrayed.
Cera has gone from the pedestal
of innocence, to the embodiment
of strangely dickish and cool,
to a young man-child who has
perhaps overstayed his welcome
and now it’s not entirely clear
what is next for him.
In
the
early
days
of
Michael Cera and “Arrested
Development,”
both
were
quirky, well-loved and a wee
bit indie. Cera went on to star
in “Superbad,” “Scott Pilgrim
v. the World” and a number of
other popular comedies, his
celebrity status slowly rising.
Simultaneously, Jason Bateman,
Will Arnett, Mae Whitman and
other “Arrested” alumni began
to make it big in multiple facets
of the entertainment industry.
Netflix users discovered and

binged the early seasons of
“Arrested Development” and
clamoring for a revival slowly
reached a fever pitch.
It’s
2013.
“Arrested
Development” returns in a new
format with a new Michael
Cera. In the intervening years
since the show went off the air,
Cera had grown up and become
“cool,” appearing as a parody of
himself in the raunchy comedy
“This is the End” and redefining
the role of George Michael Bluth
as a suave (but still bumbling)
college
student
who’s
now
knocking
up
his
Euro-zone
hookup and sleeping with a
woman who’s also dating his
father. This version of George
Michael still has the youthful
charm of young Michael Cera but
now also includes the irony of
the fact that that youthful charm
has now slightly grown up.
This is the transitional Michael
Cera, the liminal Michael Cera,
the Michael Cera that you still
trust despite some feeling deep
within your soul telling you
that doing so is a huge mistake.
This
version
of
“Arrested
Development”
was
similar.
Some loved it, some didn’t, most
people shrugged their shoulders
and said, “Hopefully next time it
will be better.”
Cut to 2018. Michael Cera
is now bordering age 30 and

appearing
in
Aaron
Sorkin
movies
as
Tobey
Maguire.
“Arrested
Development”
is
back for another go around
except this time it is mired
in
controversy
surrounding
Jeffrey Tambor’s alleged sexual
misconduct and the male cast
bumbles their way through one
of the cringiest New York Times
interviews in recent memory.
Everything from “Twin Peaks”
to “Roseanne” to “The Last Man
Standing” is getting revived.
Donald Trump is President. The
days of pining over new episodes
of “Arrested Development” are
a distant memory. If anything,
most fans of the original show
are now helplessly hoping they
never have to watch Jessica
Walters break down in an
interview because of the way
her co-stars are acting ever
again. Michael Cera being in
love with his cousin just isn’t
funny anymore, not when both
are old enough to have kids of
their own. This is the final stage
of Michael Cera. The moment
when the bitter taste of nostalgia
comes back to bite you in the ass
and leaves you wondering what
it will be like when a 70-year-
old Michael Cera is hitting on
a similarly aged woman who’s
been rejecting his advances since
they were 11. Still laughing? I
sure hope not.

The arrested development
of Michael Cera’s career

IAN HARRIS
Daily Arts Writer

NETFLIX

6 — Tuesday, October 9, 2018
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

FILM NOTEBOOK