[quote=CA renter]Maybe they look unattractive to you, but their friends might think that whatever they’ve done (new hair, makeup, etc.) makes them look good; or, at least, better than they looked before.
But do women have that much of their self-worth tied up in their appearance? You bet! A lot of them, anyway. After all, females are usually taught from birth that their youth and beauty are their most valuable assets, even though many of their parents don’t even realize it. And even if their parents do everything in their power to avoid doing this, once the kids start living in the real world, they will soon be subjected to these standards.
Like we’ve seen in other threads right here on Piggington, people will criticize women for not looking good or for being too old. You don’t hear that type of criticism leveled at men nearly as often as you do with women.
Think about all of the criticism that Hillary Clinton has had to deal with regarding her appearance. People have been relentless over the years in making fun of her clothing, her “cankles,” and her “lack of femininity.” Whether one likes her or not, there is no question about her superior intellect, education, and experience; but she had to deal with people focusing more on her looks, her marriage, her “wanting to be a man,” etc., instead.
Which male politicians have had to deal with crap like this?
Sarah Palin had to deal with the same thing, as does every other woman out there, no matter her professional experience or intellect (not saying Sarah Palin is high on the list here, but many people focused more on her looks than on anything else).
And women are every bit as guilty of subjecting other women to this as men are, if not more so.
Do some women try to make others feel better about themselves? Yes, they do. Because they — the women who desire to be kind and supportive — understand the vicious nastiness that women have to deal with regarding their appearance. So we, and I’m including myself in this group, will point out what we feel are a woman’s best attributes to let her know that she is beautiful, inside and out.
FWIW, I’m not lying when I compliment other women (or men). I think that all people are beautiful, each in his/her own way. We don’t all need to look like some stereotype in order to be attractive and appealing to others.[/quote]
CA Renter, you nailed it. That’s what I wanted to express but hard to put the words together for. I am a woman of an intellectual type. The way that my parents raised me up was to focus my skills and capabilities and ignore my appearance. I used to feel embarrassed when receiving compliments on my look and used to not give compliments to the looks of my girl friends. That gave me a disadvantage on building relationships with my friends. As I grew older, I started to understand the beautiful look of a person actually IS a reflection of some internal quality of her (especially for an adult). It requires lots of knowledge and lots of work and persistency to achieve and maintain that, same as to be proficiency to any skill.
Therefore, a sincere praise to the look of a friend is as important as a sincere praise of her work, skills, quality… etc. It is a way to show support.
Now I give lots of compliment and do lots of Facebook Likes to my friends, and receive lots back as well. Those small things make my days happier.
