Why does it take girls so long to go to the bathroom? As a girl I am quite acquainted
with this ancient ritual. I firmly believe that with each trip a full 2-3
minutes are spent looking in the mirror. It is also a requirement for most
humans to have a mirror in their bedroom. It is frightening concept to imagine
being forced to not know what mirror shows. There is a necessity to be sure
that what we want to be projected to the outside world is showing through. Who
has not been like Narcissus, "spell bound with their own self"
(Narcissus by the Pool, 85) ogling away at the image that is produced in
front of us. Our entire day can be ruined or enhanced by our obsession with the
mirror because we feel that it reflects us and our desires.
What is it that we find in our mirror? In Lacan's Mirror Stage he
says that even a baby "can already recognize his own image as such in the
mirror" (Lacan, 1). Therefore, surely we have an intuition as to what we
look like and should not be so obsessed with this image. But from what I
understand of Lacan's very convoluted and rhetorical paper, even as babies we
become obsessed with this image because it is our first sexual desire. I
believe that this sexual arousal that is first kindled from ourselves creates a
place hold as to what we will become attached to in the future.
However, it is not just our attractions it is also our demons. In this
mirror we "unite the I with the statue onto which man projects himself,
the phantoms that dominate him, and the automaton with which the world of his own
making tends to achieve fruition in an ambiguous relation." (Lacan,
76-77). We are able to take our images that should be nothing more than a
pretty picture and turn it into something we feel attraction to.
From the moment we first see ourselves in the mirror we become entrapped as
Narcissus in Narcissus by the Pool. Our ego and self-absorption
manifests with our physical and emotional desires. What realities we project on
the mirror determines who we believe we are and therefore what we act like.
What reality do we want? We want a reality where sex and love are involved. The
biological necessity to reproduce is so strong that it forces a mirror to form.
Lacan says that gonads of female pigeon's do not mature until they see another
member of its species. This mirror that they are looking at in the form of another
cause the psychology of the bird to change and effectually change the anatomy
of the bird, preparing it for sex.
We need sex to exist as species therefore our body does everything it can to
ensure that sex and reproduction occurs. The most well-known influence of this
desire for sex occurs in the form of love. Narcissus, a man who once knew
nothing of love, even scorned those who loved him, found love. This love
changed his emotions so drastically that he started to care and see the beauty
in the face of something that was wasting away. It says, "His fair
complexion with its rosy flush faded away, gone was his youthful strength , and
all the beauties which lately charmed his eyes"
("Metamorphoses", 87), yet he persisted to love and stare at himself
until he died. Once he found this one object that he could finally love, even
if it was himself, he could not let it go. He found the feeling of love so
ensnaring that he could do nothing but stare at the creature looking back at
him. The story says, "What you see is but the shadow cast by your
reflection; in itself is nothing. It comes with you, and lasts while you are
there; it will go when you go, if go you can"("Metamorphoses",
85).
Love and sex are such universal feelings that it's themes can be found in
most texts. Even the religious text of the bible has its erotic moments. Sexual
relations are depicted from the Genesis onwards. The Songs of Solomon are a
more common example of these erotic tales. "I am my beloved's and my
beloved is mine" (New International Version, Song of Songs, 6:3) is
still commonly said between husband and wife at wedding ceremonies. The Bible
is a one of the earliest histories put together and it is amazing how it has
managed to be passed down through generations, especially as a religious text,
and the erotic tales are still in there. But love and desire has always driven
humans and has been the catalyst for inventions, wars, and peace. It is there
for us to see that love and desire existed so long ago and it is a part of our
history.
The mirror shows a hint at whom and what we are. It is our one hint to show
us how people perceive us and when we do wrong we try to understand by looking
at our mirror. It holds our loves and desires that are never going to leave the
human psyche. This is supported by the fact that it can be found in the Bible.
It could be believed that if you do not know what you look like then there is
no way you can know yourself or that others can know you.
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