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17w Arts in Psychotherapy, Vol. 11 pp. 101-107, v Ankho International Inc., 1984. Printed in the U.S.A. 0197-4556/84 $3.00 + .00 IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT DURING CREATIVE MAKE-UP SESSIONS* NANCY BREITENBACH, RDT (BADT)t Like drawings and dramatic play, creative make-up has stable and meaningful forms which parallel psychological development. Particularly attractive to children, such playful transforma- tions of the body are in fact declarations of identity by which the individual makes contact with himself and with others. The author describes the developmental stages of make-up as observed in normal children and supported by the case study of a 14-year-old psychotic boy. Long before human beings learned how to write lasting signs on walls, they were more than likely inscribing messages on their skins. Make- up is one of the oldest forms of expression, its basic function being visual structuring of the bearer's identity. Deliberate coloration defines one as distinctly human, ensures membership within a group, advertises social status, protects against aggressive elements and enemies, and helps attract sexual partners. It is a prime exam- ple of role play, the paradoxical situation of find- ing out who one really is by pretending to be something different. But make-up is also one of the most archaic forms of spontaneous self-expression, a creative gesture whereby children discover who they are, what they want others to believe they are, and who they would like to be. My first creative make-up sessions began twelve years ago, when I was studying the specific forms of child drama. After observing the children's initial reactions to greasepaint, I decided to abandon the professional make-up techniques I had acquired as a student of theatre, preferring to let the children find their own ways. It quickly became obvious that this open struc- ture was not a problem for the children, that re- specting their self-expression left space for them to illustrate their own characters, and that the activity provided unique satisfactions. Since then I have worked on developing differ- ent intervention techniques and a body of theory regarding make-up as a form of creativity as well as a social phenomenon. The therapeutic appli- cations are now established, after a two-year experiment financed by the French government involving regular sessions with more than 100 handicapped and disturbed children in special institutions. This paper will present my initial hypothesis concerning children's make-up as evidence of developmental process, taking into account sub- sequent experience in the last seven years of observation and practice. My consistent use of the masculine form when referring to the typical child is a deliberate choice based on more than writing style. In western cul- ture make-up is commonly associated with fem- ininity, and it should be emphasized that boys enjoy this activity as much as girls do. FOUNDATIONS Children start to appropriate their bodies as soon as they can move the egg yolk up their fingers. Unfortunately, though understandably, *Based on the presentation at the international conference, "Psychomotricity and Identity," Florence, Italy. +Nancy Breitenbach, drama therapist, is Director of Expression Dramatique Pour Enfants in Paris, France. In addition to clinical work in child psychiatry at the Salp~tri~re University Hospital, she teaches in various staff training programs. 101

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17w Arts in Psychotherapy, Vol. 11 pp. 101-107, v Ankho International Inc., 1984. Printed in the U.S.A. 0197-4556/84 $3.00 + .00

I D E N T I T Y D E V E L O P M E N T D U R I N G C R E A T I V E M A K E - U P S E S S I O N S *

NANCY B R E I T E N B A C H , RDT (BADT)t

Like drawings and dramatic play, creative make-up has stable and meaningful forms which parallel psychological development. Particularly attractive to children, such playful transforma- tions of the body are in fact declarations of identity by which the individual makes contact with himself and with others. The author describes the developmental stages of make-up as observed in normal children and supported by the case study of a 14-year-old psychotic boy.

Long before human beings learned how to write lasting signs on walls, they were more than likely inscribing messages on their skins. Make- up is one of the oldest forms of expression, its basic function being visual structuring of the bearer ' s identity. Deliberate coloration defines one as distinctly human, ensures membership within a group, advertises social status, protects against aggressive elements and enemies, and helps attract sexual partners. It is a prime exam- ple of role play, the paradoxical situation of find- ing out who one really is by pretending to be something different.

But make-up is also one of the most archaic forms of spontaneous self-expression, a creative gesture whereby children discover who they are, what they want others to believe they are, and who they would like to be.

My first creative make-up sessions began twelve years ago, when I was studying the specific forms of child drama. After observing the children's initial reactions to greasepaint, I decided to abandon the professional make-up techniques I had acquired as a student of theatre, preferring to let the children find their own ways. It quickly became obvious that this open struc- ture was not a problem for the children, that re- specting their self-expression left space for them

to illustrate their own characters, and that the activity provided unique satisfactions.

Since then I have worked on developing differ- ent intervention techniques and a body of theory regarding make-up as a form of creativity as well as a social phenomenon. The therapeutic appli- cations are now established, after a two-year experiment financed by the French government involving regular sessions with more than 100 handicapped and disturbed children in special institutions.

This paper will present my initial hypothesis concerning children's make-up as evidence of developmental process, taking into account sub- sequent experience in the last seven years of observation and practice.

My consistent use of the masculine form when referring to the typical child is a deliberate choice based on more than writing style. In western cul- ture make-up is commonly associated with fem- ininity, and it should be emphasized that boys enjoy this activity as much as girls do.

F O U N D A T I O N S

Children start to appropriate their bodies as soon as they can move the egg yolk up their fingers. Unfortunately, though understandably,

*Based on the presentation at the international conference, "Psychomotricity and Identity," Florence, Italy. +Nancy Breitenbach, drama therapist, is Director of Expression Dramatique Pour Enfants in Paris, France. In addition to clinical work in child psychiatry at the Salp~tri~re University Hospital, she teaches in various staff training programs.

101

102 N A N C Y B R E I T E N B A C H

mothers do not appreciate this playful transfor- mation and tend to block further creativity with a washcloth. We have here in an eggshell the basic power struggle over make-up: Will the individual be allowed to do what he wants, or will he be taught where/when/how to do it? Many educa- tors are now aware of the spontaneous qualities of child art and play and will respect them if possible. But make-up, situated halfway between doodling and drama, is kept on a tight rein. The majority of children do not have access to face- paints until they have thoroughly assimilated the cultural codes dictating their usage.

Make-up has been used a number of t imes, however , to p rovoke self-recognition in small children. Amste rdam (1972), Bertenthal and Fischer (1978), Brooks-Gunn and Lewis (1975), Gallup (1970) and Zazzo (1975) all s tructured situations where chimps, babies or toddlers were daubed with color and placed before a mirror so that their reactions could be observed. The goal of these studies was to establish a developmental scale showing the age at which the average child is capable of self-identification.

Careful scrutiny of these exper iments also re- veals a number of things concerning the make-up process itself which the authors have not ex- plored, in particular specific effects on behavior and implicit relationships.

(color, placement) determined by the older per- son ' s cultural background.

These observat ions reflect common attitudes regarding children and make-up. It is taken for granted that children enjoy having their faces painted, just as it is assumed that the adults will inevitably take over. But the question arises: What is likely to happen if the child controls the make-up situation? Will he want make-up at all'? Will he do it by himself'? Will he give priority to colors or features other than those preferred by adults'? Will the child's age make a difference? Will he achieve anything besides making a hor- rendous mess? The answer to all of these is YES.

T H E E V O L V I N G IMAGE

Rend Zazzo (1975) advances the idea that if a child is capable of finding a spot on his nose at approximate ly two years of age (Bertenthal & Fischer, 1978, suggest 18-20 months), the same child could probably have identified his mouth a few months earlier, and his forehead somewhat later. This sequential order of mouth ~ center of face --~ forehead occurs spontaneously in crea- tive make-up, but the process requires years rather than months.

Like children 's drawings and drama, facial composi t ion emerges through a developmental process with distinct phases.

Reactions Observed Folhm'in~,, Make-up Activity

P L E A S U R E : Although younger children are distressed by t ransformation, older children tend to react positively.

FOCUS: The pigment draws attention to the colored feature(s).

I D E N T I F I C A T I O N OF B O D Y PARTS: Children a t tempt to touch and, if possible, name the colored part of the face.

Reinforcement of the Social Order Via Make-up Ac'tivity

H I E R A R C H Y : The child is made up by a sig- nificant elder.

S U B J U G A T I O N : The child is seldom if ever consulted before the t ransformation is imposed.

V A L U E SYSTEMS: The " f a c e " given to the child is the result of a series of esthetic choices

1. Be~.,innin~,,s

H E S I T A T I O N in a normal child may last only a split second and appear insignificant. This phase is quite important , however , when working with special populations. Resistance to make-up can attest to real difficulties which must be recog- nized and dealt with sensitively.

Inhibition associated with toilet training is only one of the problems. The decision to color the skin implies taking some control over one- self. Such commitment is not necessari ly easy since it depends on basic identity structures, in particular a sense of one ' s own permanence and continuity (Guardo & Bohan, 1971). Unlike the poet faced with a blank page, the subject is con- fronted with his body and must ask himself: Who am I? What do I look like'? What am I going to become'? Will I ever look like myse l f again'? Such self-interrogation brings up existential questions which go far beyond the fleeting experience of

CREATIVE M A K E - U P AND ID EN TITY D E V E L O P M E N T 103

make-up, and are quite pertinent to the child's state of constant metamorphosis .

2. First Options

The initial spot of make-up is both a wound and a cornerstone. Once it has appeared, new decisions must be made. The child can try to reduce personal commitment by removing the spot, limiting its size or keeping it as far from the face as possible. Some children will stick with detachment for years, developing it into a per- sonal style based on spot multiplication. They create elaborate PATCH patterns which deco- rate the face without transforming it.

More likely, the young beginner will travel with the spot in a spontaneous tactile and graphic EXP LORATION of his face. The color- ing occurs primarily in the lower half of the face and spreads via movement patterns or free asso- ciation. Many children do very well without a mirror at this stage, the make-up representing sensation more than sign.

3. Landmarks

Facial scribbling quickly gains precision and organic growth turns into planning. The spots become large circular forms filling in the flat zones of the face, or lines staking out the most prominent forms. This encirclement of the indi- vidual features of the face is characteristic of the stage I call A F F I R M A T I O N and constitutes a coherent declaration of identity: "This is my mouth, this is my nose, these are my eyes . "

4. Establishing Title

The natural symmetry of the face encourages spatial composit ion, and during the next phase the child links up the various parts to make a whole. Lines connect the features or go around the entire face, large areas are filled with color, a distinct frontier distinguishes pigmented from bare skin. This awareness of the limits between provisional and permanent identities coincides with the new level of consciousness observed in children approximately 7-9 years old.

During this MASK stage the dominant feature moves from the mouth towards the eyes, a signif- icant shift in priorities. Narcissistic gratification gives way to the quest for social recognition, and

the child organizes his creation to ensure peer response: use of graphic "quo ta t ions , " discov- ery of letter reversal guaranteeing legibility for the viewer, etc.

5. More Options

At around ten years old the child has a new set of choices. Having achieved social competence, a sense of self and a certain skill in drawing and writing, he combines these with personal imagi- nation to create strikingly expressive faces.

Preadolescents experiencing increased tension due to new role expectations often develop make-up into the fine art of PROVOCATION. Caught between conflicting desires, they exag- gerate and deform the accepted codes, directing dramatic messages towards the community at large. The cultural images adopted suggest ques- tions about social and sexual identity. Girls may opt for masculine faces, boys try on the attributes of mature male authority, and both sexes enjoy flaunting the traits of antisocial characters.

Other children of the same age may abandon personal creativity and slide into CONVEN- TION. This is indicated by reproduction of socially recognized faces and avoidance of idio- syncracy. Taking refuge in a predetermined physiognomy can be observed in younger chil- dren, but is a common occurrence in this age group.

The third possibility is the forerunner of adult make-up, typified by a taste for pure design, angular as opposed to fluid forms, lines cutting across the features, a tendency towards asymme- try, and a general DECORPOREITY where the center of interest lies in the forehead. Make-up ceases to be an affirmation of the body . . . . The body has become a support for the abstract symbol.

These different stages have been observed in hundreds of normal children between the ages of 2 and 15. The actual product depends on the amount of experience with make-up, individual maturity and the social context . A child may ex- periment with any one of the facial types leading up to his level, for instance a boy well into MASK who decides to tease a companion by copying her EX P LO RA TIO N movements.

What is clear, however, is that children do not

104 N A N C Y B R E I T E N B A C H

H E S I ' I A l I O N A p p r o x i m a t e age group

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A F F I R M A T I O N ~'- ,~ .~[',

NIASK 7 9 ~r, ,

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I)FX?()R P O R E I I xt

jump ahead on their own. If this same boy sud- denly appears with an angular, abstract pattern on his face, some older person " h e l p e d " him make it.

Each phase is characteris t ic of an approximate age group, and many children have been re- corded shifting f rom one pat tern to the next in the order described. It has been difficult to con- duct any longitudinal studies covering more than three years. However , in 1980 I encountered a case which illustrates almost the entire facial cont inuum and demonst ra tes creat ive make-up ' s positive role in stimulating and strengthening identity development .

T H E S E T T I N G

A small psychiatric day-hospital for children had invited me to work with the patients on an experimental basis. The goals of the project were to provide a space for creativity and develop- ment, and to test make-up ' s therapeutic potential within a short period of time. Eleven children be- tween 6 and 14 years old, with problems ranging from hospital syndrome to severe autistic behav- ior, were chosen to participate by the staff psy- chiatrist and psychologist . The exper iment was documented as carefully as possible. Every face was sketched by the therapist (and occasionally

C R E A T I V E M A K E - U P AND I D E N T I T Y D E V E L O P M E N T 105

by the patient) and detailed notes were written after each session. The material produced by the children was not used either for public display or for interpretation.

Jc(lll

Jean ' s medical history could have explained his apparent intellectual deficiency, although no organic damage could be traced. His role in the family was definitely that of a zombie. An older brother had died shortly before Jean was born, and the grieved parents gave the new baby a name which maintained permanent confusion be- tween him and the deceased sibling. According to his parents, Jean "should have d ied ."

Jean avoided bothering anybody by playing dead for a long time. When he was twelve, people suddenly realized that he had spent years in the same class at school without learning any- thing, barely speaking to anyone. Subsequently hospitalized, he spent another 29 months with almost no change. When I met him he had been diagnosed as psychotic , and was described as having very poor language skills, passive, non- communicat ing, and difficult to involve in any activity.

I worked with Jean in weekly hour-long ses- sions for three months, somet imes one to one, somet imes in a small group. At the end of the ex- periment my observat ions were compared with staff notes in the daily log, where the records indicated that this self-effacing boy had begun to express his emotions , speak more readily, and take an active part in institutional activities. Much of the new behavior coincided with Jean ' s participation in the make-up workshop, which had been the only modification in his hospital routine.

.lean's Self-Image

Even before he knew that he had been se- lected as one of the subjects for make-up ses- sions, Jean abandoned his apathy and deliberate- ly showed a desire to participate as soon as he saw me with a smear of color on my nose. For several weeks his faces consistently began with a similar spot, and throughout the exper iment rubbing the tip of his nose was his way of asking to come to the workshop.

Though almost 15 years old, Jean started using

I

Fig. 2. Second session ( l l black, :::::red).

make-up much like a preschooler . By the second session, however , the free E X P L O R A T I O N was turning into A F F I R M A T I O N , with partial cir- cling of the features. This phase lasted several weeks, during which Jean often used my face to test what he was unable to develop on his own. By the fifth session Jean had gained confidence. Repeated se l f -AFFIRMATIONS had made it pos- sible for him to confront his made-up face in the mirror and to draw a fairly accurate picture of it.

The MASK appeared during the sixth session, in both linear and full-faced forms (Fig. 3). This somber image appeared regularly throughout the rest of the make-up sessions. The presentation var- ied, but its identify was dependably confirmed by color choice and verbalizations: " Z o r r o , " "al l b lack ," " b e a r d , " etc. Jean expressed definite pleasure in giving this face a form and finding names for it.

In the seventh session Jean made me up in his dark face, then asked me to make him up. Nor- mally I never paint a child but in this case I felt an obligation. Through his request for reciprocation Jean was seeking help to " f a c e " something he wasn ' t prepared to do alone. So I asked for pre- cise instructions and together we made a vivid face (Fig. 4), almost as if a mourning face were bringing forth a live one.

Ninth session: For two weeks Jean recapitu-

106 N A N C Y B R E I T E N B A C H

"t Fig. 3. Sixth session: successive phases (Left: • black, [] green; Right: • blue or black, = green or violet, :;:: black, green and violet mixed).

lated his progress up to the dark face. What ap- peared to be a leveling-off was probably a neces- sary pause following production of a significant image. But at the end of the ninth session he used my face as a meeting ground for the black and red images, and one week later he tried it on himself. Such two-sided faces (here a double-handed in- version) are typical of the PROVOCATION phase.

Eleventh and last session: Jean continued to experiment with mixing black and red, the results increasingly unified and translucent. His self- portrait was a composite of the early and final stages of his latest creation, suggesting a new ability to fix self-images in time.

The black smudges he left me with when it was time to part were a clear reminder of his red encounter with my face three months earlier, even to the daub on my nose which had been our first means of communication. Just as each ses- sion had ended with a return to the stable every- day face, the cycle of sessions closed with a reference to the starting point.

Within eleven weeks Jean 's make-up creations had progressed from preschooler to preadoles- cent stages, traversing in order all the graphic phases in between. Only C O N V E N T I O N was neglected, probably because Jean 's narcissism

Fig. 4. Seventh session: Jean as he asked to be made up by the therapist (n black or blue, ::::: red, D yellow).

prevented him from adopting any fixed schema outside of himself.

Make-up style was not the only thing which was changing. The transformations of Jean 's face

C R E A T I V E M A K E - U P AND I D E N T I T Y D E V E L O P M E N T 107

Fig. 5. Ninth session (11 black, :::: red).

were accompanied by evidence of a sexual iden- tity, a new ability to act on his own, and consid- erable changes in self-expression. Confronting his reflection in the mirror was easier for him; relationships with the other children and with staff were richer and more differentiated. He began to use dramatic play. The 14-year-old boy who had never troubled anyone since he was born started to exist.

C O N C L U S I O N

Jean 's case is of course exceptional, but regu- lar sessions of creative make-up have demon- strated similar processes with other clients. Al- most all children would like to define themselves through the use of skin colors, and they are quite prepared to do it themselves. Make-up is child's play and it's fun.

Facial composit ion is a gradual process coin- ciding with other phases of childhood develop- ment. The presence of specific graphic patterns in chronological order would suggest exploitation of make-up as an observational tool. However , "secre t faces" are not exterior objects like draw- ings or pinchpots which can be easily distanced or discarded. They are illustrations of the serf, in- scribed on and existing through the face. These close embodiments must be treated with respect,

not only as nonverbal expressions often suffi- cient in themselves but as images easily distorted by flaws in the mirror relationship.

Individual creativity can be compromised at any time by the cultural framework as well as by the social dynamic. It is easy to mistake conven- tions belonging to other ethnic groups for origi- nality, to misread a child's reproduction of a cur- rent cultural model, and to influence an emerging face by one 's own expectations. The therapist should be fully aware of his own resistances, pro- jections and learned associations before drawing premature conclusions about a subject's behavior.

But if "face- test ing" is a questionable pros- pect, sensitive support of the search for an ap- propriate image has definite possibilities as a form of therapy. Acknowledgment of the client as a whole person capable of acting on his body in a positive manner allows him to put his usual role aside and discover himself, instead of always seeing himself through the " o t h e r . "

If we can reverse traditional attitudes and conceive of make-up as a kind of self-realization instead of dismissing it as a deceitful disguise, we will see that it allows the individual to structure himself in a new way, and that it gives form to that which escapes words even as it stimulates language. This theatrical game is an invitation to better communication.

REFERENCES

AMSTERDAM, B. (1972) Mirror self-image reactions before age two. Developmental Psychobiology 5(4): 297-305.

BERTENTHAL, B. & FISCHER, K. (1978) Development of self-recognition in the infant. Developmental Psycholo~,,y 14: 44-50.

BREITENBACH, N. (1977) La verit6 des masques. Psychol- ogie, Juillet: 90.

BREITENBACH, N. (1979) Secret faces. Journal ~/'the Brit- ish Association oJ" Dramatherapy, Winter.

BREITENBACH, N. (1981) Le maquillage libre dans un h6pital psychiatrique de jour pour enfants. La Psychomo- tricit~; 5: 121-131.

BREITENBACH, N. (1981) Le maquillage et le miroir. Psv- chologie M~;dicale 13(9): 1429-1433.

BROOKS-GUNN, J. & LEWIS, M. (1975) Mirror-image stimulation and self-recognition in infancy. Unpublished paper. Princeton, N J: Educational Testing Service.

GALLUP, G. (1970) Chimpanzees: Self-recognition. Sciem~e 167: 86-87.

GUARDO, C. J. & BOHAN, J. B. (1971) Development of a sense of self-identity in children. Child Development 42: 190%1921.

ZAZZO, R. (1975) Des jumeaux devant le miroir: Questions de methode. Journal de Psychologie 4: 38%413.