Newsgroups: soc.women
Subject: Re: Makeup - a male perspective
From: rivero@mdcbbs.com
Date: 6 Apr 92 13:20:12 GMT
Organization: M&E (Division of EDS), Cypress CA
Nntp-Posting-User: lems

In article <97VLiB1w164w@allen.com>, carolyn@allen.com (Carolyn Allen) writes:

  Hey Carolyn! (Where you been, and how's your son?)


> Excellent essay on makeup's role in our society, Michael.  It was very 
> thought provoking, and one of the thoughts that followed is that if 
> makeup hides women...what do men in our society do to alter their 
> appearance in order to be more attractive, sexy, etc.

  Well, the obvious answer is that men tend towards creating the image of
successful provider, rather tham fertile procreator.

> 
> I have observed that they shave their beards...is that a form of exposing 
> themselves and their "masculinity" for the world?   How much is spent per 
> year on shaving accessories that could better be spent on clothing the 
> cold and feeding the starving?

  Shaving of beards is a military invention designed to keep the enemy from
grabbing your beard while he whacks at your neck with a sword. Shaiving of all
bodily hairs used to be a health practice designed to deal with small life
forms that find hairly places nice and cozy. When lice were no longer
a problem, shaving, for both men and women, was declared and advertised
to be fashionable" by an industry which did not want to close down.

> 
> They also go to some lengths to wear striking clothing....I know, women 
> do too and the fashion industry is probably even more gargantuan than the 
> cosmetics industry.

  I think that you wll find the gargantuan fashion industry is focued on the
female, who enjoys far more freedom in terms of what she can wear in the
corporate workplace than do men.

> 
> They also buy souped up cars as extensions of their ego...and the paint 
> on those cars could in many instances be seen as makeup to enhance their 
> image...such as red, black, etc. that are common status-laden images.

  That's sexist, as wmen also buy sports cars with flashy paint jobs  (my
ex did), and a quick check of the new car ads showa a clear appeal to the
female market.

> 
> It's interesting that once we really start looking at the philosophy 
> behind our actions, we can keep peeling off layers and layers until we 
> get down to the core of our being.  And that is a most valued part of 
> this group, at least in my book.

  Here we have the very essence of civilization. The goal of every
political system, whether,civil, royal, theocratic, or even corporate, is to
domesticate it's subordinate population and to extract the greatest amount of
work for the least return possible. In this century, manipulation of self
image has become the overwhelming means to condition a population; to get them
to work harder and to purchase more useless luxuries that they otherwise would
live without. 

  This adherence to form over substance has many facets. We tolerate shoddy
behavior in people that look "snazzy" or fashionable. We take the measure
of each other almost totally on the basis of wardrobe. Like Pavlov's dogs, we
are trained to pant and drool when we see a 3 piece suit. We, as a culture,
will look suspiciously at someone who dresses differently. God forbid,
they might be a bank robber! And yet we handed Charles Keating 30 times 
more money than all the bank robberies in 1990 combined. People saw 
his suit, and stopped looking. Richard Nixon wore suits. Leona Helmsly 
wore suits. Michal Milkin wore suits. Robert Lee Vesco wore suits.
Politicians who can't balance their checkbooks wear suits. Mafia dons 
wear suits. And yet we have an automatic respect for anyone in a 
suit, male or female, which is why the greatest swindles in recent history
have all been perpetrated by people wearing suits. 

  We are all "hooked" by our own insecurities, and as we focus more and more
attention on our "image" and less and less on who we are as humans, the
deeper and more addicted we become. 


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|  Michael Rivero rivero@mdcbbs.com Homo Cyberneticus-Computational Man  |
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Newsgroups: soc.women