jamcmullan@wateng.UUCP (Judy McMullan) (08/13/84)
>In my opinion, women wear makeup because they aren't >really sure of themselves -- they *think* their best features are their >looks and they want to enhance them as much as possible to "make up" for >their personality (hence the name). Then, what might happen is since the >woman gets such good results with just makeup and some nice clothes, she >sees no need to further develop her personality and it stagnates. That >might be why you find it a "turn-off". Alright ladies, if I'm wrong (and >it wouldn't be the first time), why *do* you wear makeup? Just to *look* >nice? I wear makeup, occasionally. However, if I thought my best feature was my looks, I would be in big trouble! (Anyway, I don't see why my personality would stagnate if my best feature was my looks -- doesn't follow at all. Think about that statement if one said that a person's best feature was her ability to listen. NEITHER of them would be a reason to stop growing and changing). I wear makeup on the same occasions when I get my best dress out and get all dressed up for some special occasion. Makeup, to me, is just part of getting 'duded' up and I jab a little on here and there. I was at a talk last year, for teenage girls, given by a woman who runs a modelling school. Her rationale for wearing makeup and dressing carefully (i.e. make sure you are wearing well-fitting clothes that suit your body and colouring and anticipated activities) and standing tall instead of stooping, etc. were that you would gain confidence from knowing you look your best. She in NO WAY implied that careful attention to one's appearance should be all the girls should work on. In a certain sense, she had the same attitude that I have -- which is almost totally a product of advertising -- that makeup is part of careful dressing and attention to the way one looks. She just thought it was more important than I do. These ads ignore the fact (that someone else brought up) that makeup is messy, it gets on your clothes if you are not careful, smears if you rub your eye or lean your cheek in your hand, etc. I used to wear makeup every day -- when I was in high school -- but when I got to university I was too busy for something that was so unimportant. Also, I discovered sex. Makeup and sex DO NOT mix well. I prefer to be clean-faced if I'm anticipating burying my face in that special little spot at the side of the neck between the...... Sorry! I got carried away. You get the idea, I'm sure. I don't buy the ad image that makeup makes one 'sexy'. I am much more likely to wear makeup when I see my mother -- who wants me to dress up more and look nice -- than my lover -- who doesn't notice these things at all. --from the sssstickkky keyboard of JAM ...!{ihnp4|clyde|decvax}!watmath!wateng!jamcmullan
alan@allegra.UUCP (Alan S. Driscoll) (08/14/84)
The cosmetics industry has nothing to worry about. They've convinced the younger woman that the way to look nice is to cover up her natural beauty with a lot of gunk. When she gets older (and hopefully wiser), she'll *need* make-up, because she screwed up her face by wearing the stuff all those years. Anyway, I cast my vote for the natural look. I don't see why a woman should abuse herself in the name of looking nice. (The same goes for high-heeled shoes, uncomfortable clothing, fad diets, etc.) -- Alan S. Driscoll AT&T Bell Laboratories
alan@allegra.UUCP (The Flaming Poet) (08/14/84)
-- she's a plastic woman she doesn't look like a woman she looks pale and thin anorexic no round, shapely curves she has blue eyelids and rosy lips and gobs of glop on her cheeks. she doesn't smell or taste like a woman she smells like antiperspirant and perfume she tastes like mouthwash and feminine deodorant. she doesn't feel like a woman she feels rough where the stubble lies under her arms and on her legs. she's a plastic woman not much of a woman at all.
warren@ihnss.UUCP (Warren Montgomery) (08/14/84)
I think that this is about the third time I have seen this topic on netnews, with very similar results every time. I think that makeup is a little like smoking, designer jeans and cadillacs. I'm not trying to comdem all or all by the association, merely pointing out parallels. It's part of an image that people create about themselves. Most of us nerds (no offense intended) in the computer business value ourselves and others by our brains, not by an image based on appearance. Thus you don't tend to find much of what is sold on the basis of image. (You do, however, find all kinds of high tech gagetry which we buy to enhance our self images by our standards). The culture in this regard is very different in different fields or different areas. In a business or sales environment, image means a lot, and people do a lot to play roles. I think a lot of people who are initially reluctant get caught up in it and come to feel that they need all of these things. (This probably sells more unnecessary merchandise than madison avenue or hollywood). It's not that people who use them are compensating for feeling inadequate, it's just natural to them, just as sending electronic mail or using the telephone to communicate with someone in the next office is natural to many of us. -- Warren Montgomery ihnss!warren IH (8-367) x2494