Face-detection technology is everywhere. It has migrated from airports and banks to sidewalks and shopping centers. Being ideological dissidents, having our faces and locations documented by the powers that be is not an optimal fate.
Since 2010, people have been experimenting with makeup to defeat these sinister algorithms. Inspired by the naval camouflage of the early 20th century, projects like CV Dazzle have experimented with all sorts of haircuts and makeup techniques to break up the facial profile. If you’re feeling particularly edgy, you can always go down the TRVE KVLT route and experiment with corpse paint, which comes with its very own dissident opinions.
However, there are some downsides to this technique: It’ll make you stick out like a sore thumb if you go anywhere that isn’t a rave or a music festival. Yet this only looks good on young androgynous models, which I imagine many of us are not. Let’s not mention that this takes serious time and effort. For the modern dissident, this sort of makeup is a solution that is best relegated to the screen.
So, what other methods can we employ? The first method that comes to mind is the tried and tested surgical mask, made famous by Asian tourists who sought to avoid airborne disease. This was commonly used by Japanese Student protestors and motorcycle gangs in order toshield their identities from police cameras. The Zengakuren with surgical masks and dark glasses certainly set the standard for how student dissidents should look, but you should prepare to get some odd looks at the office.
Instagram alt-models and experimental rappers have made those cutesy Japanese face masks very chic, and even slightly more socially acceptable outside of anime conventions, but since when was it fun to be socially acceptable? Million-dollar “alternative brands” such as Off-white or High fashion are no stranger to outlandish ways to hide your face. Various fashion houses have experimented with masks and other accessories that would be more than suited for breaking up your facial profile. Gucci for example, in their Fall 2019 collection, had various masks of this sort.
As we are quite aware, not everything on the runway makes it to the shops. Yet as demonstrated, dissidents can protect their physical data and look good whilst doing it. Bathing Ape has started peddling their own couture face masks. There are now countless variations available at any price range. Protect your face and protect your heretical opinions while doing it.
The Anarcho Dandyist is a modern successor of the noble highwayman and the dashing rogue. He desires the finer things in life by any means necessary.
