It's just another way to keep women in front of a mirror and out of the senate.

Ohh- sore point! Read my Blog entry from a while ago:"The Beauty Buck Stops Here"

On my blog. I've written on this subject rather a lot before - but my conclusion wavers - does beauty culture distract us from more important work, or do we distract ourselves from things we worry about with beauty culture?

Generally, I think that men and women who are “normal” looking and go through with plastic surgery, gastric bypass, etc, are petty, vain, and sad excuses for human beings. That is not a sympathetic stance, I realize, but I don’t have much sympathy for these things.

Oh, but there is more. Much more.

I agree, the beauty culture is a female driven market to satisfy the female vanity. Men don't buy into it no matter how many "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" or "Trading Spaces" shows there are. I loved the commercials where the family comes in with their eyes closed to see the new garage renovations and there are new dirt bikes and 4 wheelers in the same old garage. The guy is thrilled and the woman mortified. I think that sums it up pretty good.

If women don't want to buy into it-don't. I don't buy make up, hair products, or designer clothes, and my husband thinks I am hot and my job was uneffected. If some guys think you are not worth dating because of a lack of these things, then do you really want those guys in the first place? Jen

Well, I've posted my thoughts on this topic. But, I'll probably rewrite it as I think about it more. My first reaction was that having it related to patriarchy or empowerment were both laughable, but now, I'm leaning toward the thought that it is only empowering because of the patriarchy. If there was no benefit, it wouldn't be done, but the heirarchy defines "who" does the primping. But, I am also leaning toward social status and class more than sexual identity. There is more pressure to conform to the latest fad or hip hop style than there is for a woman executive to wear make up.

I disagree with the idea that anyone who doesn't like the beauty culture can just up and leave it. While you do have some degree of choice about how much you participate in beauty culture, what happens when your choice comes into conflict with your choice of job, say?

More often than not, a woman in a professional field will be seen as less capable if she doesn't adopt a "professional" (made up) appearance, for instance (same for a man, though the definition of "professional" varies. And for women who choose to be in the most beauty-focused industries, the pressure is no doubt even greater.

I wrote something else on this subject awhile back.

I wish I had a link for this but I can't remember what I did with the article. Apparently those three-to-four inch stiletto "fuck me" shoes are so popular with some women that they've gone into orthopedic surgery to shorten their big toe bones so that their feet fit more comfortably into the shoes. They also have fat deposits surgically moved on the balls of their feet closer to their toes to provide cushion for when they walk.

I can't imagine for the life of me doing that. Reminds me of Victorian women having their floating ribs surgically removed so they could tighten their corsets.

Posted my own thoughts on beauty and patriarchy here.

interestingly enough, i just posted my own personal statement here. i think that if you like makeup, wear it. if you love your body, adorn it with beautiful clothes. but i definitely think that the cult of obligatory beauty restrains people who don't fit from enjoying their basic rights. society today demands that a woman meet not only a requirement of achievement and intellect, but also the beauty standard. in many cases the first two can be overlooked in favor of the third. i wish that those that have a vested interest in women's consumerism would brave the advertising industry's wrath and pander to all manner of woman. at the very least. but- we all know where the money is.

I've been obsessed with my NaNoWriMo novel but decided I needed to take a break and answer this and the new topic. They are both great subjects. My answer to this one is up here

A week late, my response is up. I think this is a little more complicated than "beauty is bad..."

I think body augmentation is only empowering if you're the one who chooses the changes. If there's any outside pressure (and it's SO hard nowadays for the pressure of perfection to be absent!), forget about it.

The Hollywood machine is a consistent offender when it comes to pressuring actresses to alter/augment their bodies. Just today it was reported that Liv Tyler has been told to lose weight. Liv Tyler!

What next?!

I think that the idea that women would be looked apon as inferior for not doing the beauty bit is ridiculous. If women wore hairstyles which looked nice after a wash and comb like men, if women wore clothing that was simple yet dressy, like men, then the beauty issue would be mute. Women choose to buy into the fashion industries standard of things, including difficult hairstyles and faddish clothing. Women are NOT victims, but full willing participants. Women like to look nice, they enjoy shopping and grooming and accessorizing or else they would not do it in such huge numbers. It is funny because those of us who do not care about those things do not do it, and our lives are uneffected. I think that the reason women feel their lives would be shattered by not buying into the fads is because other WOMEN would look down apon them. I really wish women would get off the victim kick. You cannot change other people, only yourself. So lets change ourselves if we don't like what we are doing.

I know someone who has gastri bypass and loves the results. she was extremely overweight and now she can do things she could never do before. I don't thinl that it was petty of vain for her to want to get this surgery done. she wanted to better herself by making changes in her life. this surgery has helped her improve eating habits and change her lifestyle. i think that anyone wishing to get plastic surgery etc. should do it if they think it will help them improve thier lives and help them do the things they've dreamed of doing.