Newsgroups: soc.women
Subject: Re: Re: Feminists ignore Cosmetics?....Why don't you guys get a JOB?
From: rivero@mdcbbs.com
Date: 1 Sep 92 14:47:36 GMT
Organization: Electronic Data Systems, Unigraphics Division, Cypress CA
Nntp-Posting-User: riley

In article <73740001@hpsad.sad.hp.com>, sam@hpsad.sad.hp.com (Vicky Hansen) writes:
> 
>  I am not nearly as concerned with western women's use of cosmetics as I
>  am with their 'need' to be scrawny.  At 5'5" our society claims I should
>  weigh in the neighborhood of 120lb.  Yet to maintain 20% body fat (that
>  is the level recommended by the medical people), I need to weigh 150lb.
>  That 30 lb discrepancy oppresses more women than makeup does.  If I were
>  to weigh in at 120, my health, intelligence, personality, etc. would all
>  suffer -- all in the name of "looks".
> 

  A VERY valid concern. As far as I am able to tell, the pressure on both
men and women to be thin is based in part on the fact that it demonstrates some
kind of personal discipline. Certainly, as the resources of this planet
continue to fade away it is in the interests of evry world government to
encourage their population to survive on the least food possible.

  One other part that most peple do not realize has to to with the fact that
the process of photography tends to make people look heavier in the 2D
print than they do in real life. Common wisdom in the film business is
that you have to be 10-20 pounds underweight just to look "normal" on film
or videotape. Since most fashion and cosmetics advertising is through
photographs, professional models must be very thin indeed. Somehow,
as a secondary aspect of the process, that ultra-thinness has been promulgated
out as the ideal.


>  Men are allowed to carry a lot more excess weight before being considered
>  unattractive.

  That's a result of our evolving to value wmen for sexual/reproductive
reasons while valuing men for financial/protective reasons. If a man
can kill that cave bear before he eats you, he's going to look like a damned 
fine catch, even WITH a pot belly! And let's face it, that new Mastodon fur 
coat your wearing doesn't hurt either!

 In the other direction, if a woman doesn't get your glands cranked up to 
high speed, you probably won't reproduce (and might just let the damned 
bear eat her next time). I suspect that, over the course of the last
half million years, the really weak men and the really ugly women have long
since vanished from the gene pool, and what we've got left is worth
appropriate appreciation.

  Remember also that for the most part, physical strength and earning 
capability are fairly absolute. Beauty and "allure" are subjects which 
are redefined from society to society and generation to generation, and 
the faster the definitions get moved around, the more economic opportunity 
exists in the marketing of the required props and chemicals.

  However, the quest for strength also creates a market, one that yeilds a
high degree of the trade for exercise clubs. Most people go there to look
good or to meet other people; the health benefits are a secondary issue for
many, but at least they are there. That caveat cannot be said for cosmetics.


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|  Michael Rivero rivero@mdcbbs.com  Middle-Aged Mutant Ninja Animator   |
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Newsgroups: soc.women