OT: Women and beauty

[zk]

I just got on facebook. I thought it would help me get back in touch with some old friends from Chicago, and maybe help me stay in touch with coworkers after I retire in a couple years. Whatever.

Anyway, I’ve noticed what probably shouldn’t be, but is to me, a striking trend. Women frequently post pictures of themselves, and their women friends almost invariably tell them they look pretty or beautiful. Regardless of how good or bad they look. Look to me, anyway.

I’d love to hear from some women on this. Do women have that much of their self worth tied up in their appearance? Or is it something else. I’m really very curious.

[zk]

Men post pictures of just themselves much less frequently than women. And when they do, their friends, male or female, rarely feel the need to tell them they look good.

[spdrun]

If you’re traveling with a friend or partner, I’d imagine that you’d post pictures of yourself quite frequently since someone has to take the picture 🙂

Maybe men in this country don’t travel enough…

[NotCranky]

I was just thinking about this….all the kissy faces and stuff….please just stop it.

[scaredyclassic]

it’s encouragement of some type to stay int eh fight. esp. for single women. new ahir or something.

it’s the opposite for guys. i posted a shirtless picture and got back various levels of utter repulsion. no encouragement for older dudes just older chicks..

[spdrun]

Putin gets a lot of encouragement. Maybe you should try to take over an Eastern European country if you want sycophants.

[zk]

[quote=spdrun]
Putin gets a lot of encouragement. Maybe you should try to take over an Eastern European country if you want sycophants.[/quote]

Or, if you want elephants instead of sycophants you could take over a small African country. Unfortunately, I don’t think there are any elephants in Liberia.

[spdrun]

Weren’t we just talking about buying a county or two in Liberia? Might be a better investment than SD real estate, even at 50% off peak value.

[njtosd]

To see this in action, watch a show called “Say Yes to the Dress” a reality show featuring women shopping for wedding dresses. I would say 10% look pretty good, the rest comme ci comme ca to horrible. All receive glowing praise about their looks, though, from the salespeople and family members alike. Sadly, you will also notice that all the dresses are strapless and most lace up the back, which allows them to fit on almost any figure, regardless of pre-wedding weight loss or weight gain. Shoulders are the hardest thing to tailor well, so they’ve just gotten rid of them. Many look as though the dress is going to give out before the end of the evening . . .

[NotCranky]

Not good to criticize women for overplaying the beauty object thing and criticize the ones that you perceive as failing at it at the same time. I have always kind of had sympathy for women who tried to play the beauty is power trip around me. They kind of reminded me of fish on land gasping at the air who really needed to be thrown back in the water.

[flyer]

I’ve read quite a few articles by psychologists who contend that social media distorts reality for many people. It seems this phenomenon has, sadly, encouraged many to believe they are “stars,” even within their own tiny universe. Many people feel insignificant, and this allows them to be “somebody,” or so the “pros” say. This analysis was not just confined to women.

My wife, who is in the film business, tells me that, whatever the storyline of a project, it must be fully grounded in hyper-escapism before she’ll greenlight
it–because that’s what the world wants to see.

When you look at the highest grossing films of all time, it appears most have that element in common, so, seeing this same premise played out on a smaller scale in social media doesn’t really seem too surprising.

[scaredyclassic]

it’s just for other women. right?

guys are scared of it.

or they shoudl be.

maybe im projecting.

i remember cute women as being enticing.

now they just scare me.

i cannot fathom men who start again and try secodn families. the unbridled optimism and entusiasm simply appalls me. as do women trying to be ebautiful on facebook. and talking about their dog.

good lord, why do i even go on that stupid website. must stop…

[bearishgurl]

[quote=flyer]I’ve read quite a few articles by psychologists who contend that social media distorts reality for many people. It seems this phenomenon has, sadly, encouraged many to believe they are “stars,” even within their own tiny universe. Many people feel insignificant, and this allows them to be “somebody,” or so the “pros” say. This analysis was not just confined to women.

My wife, who is in the film business, tells me that, whatever the storyline of a project, it must be fully grounded in hyper-escapism before she’ll greenlight it–because that’s what the world wants to see.

When you look at the highest grossing films of all time, it appears most have that element in common, so, seeing this same premise played out on a smaller scale in social media doesn’t really seem too surprising.[/quote]

LOL, flyer, you nailed it. For this reason (and my privacy concerns as well as the daily time element involved), I have never participated in “social media.”

When friends/relatives have logged into FB in my presence, allowing me to see what was “going on” with my kids and people I know, I, too, have seen poster-“friends” telling the (female) friend/site owner (who is fishing for compliments with a new hairdo, etc) that they “look beautiful” when nothing could be further from the truth.

I agree that this phenomenon is not confined to women but is, nonetheless, hilarious!

I’m sure you tell your spouse to continue making her decisions to produce whatever sells … more power to you!

[njtosd]

[quote=Blogstar]Not good to criticize women for overplaying the beauty object thing and criticize the ones that you perceive as failing at it at the same time. I have always kind of had sympathy for women who tried to play the beauty is power trip around me. They kind of reminded me of fish on land gasping at the air who really needed to be thrown back in the water.[/quote]

The original post had to do with indiscriminate praise regarding beauty – and where was it coming from. I notice it too, and can’t figure it out. People aren’t bad because they are/aren’t good looking, but that doesn’t make them good either. Same with race, sexual orientation, political party, etc. etc. I always think it’s strange when people profess to be proud to be something – gay, Finnish, whatever. It’s not as though any of us had a choice in the matter (in my opinion). It would be equally logical to be proud of having two nostrils.

[scaredyclassic]

proud to be an american.
where at least i know im free
and i wont forget the men who died
to give the right to me
and id proudly stand up
next to

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