Beauty: We Know the Truth

 

I was in a store a few weeks back with my mother. Whenever I go down there, I offer to help with heavy lifting, such as bringing in cases of bottled water or bags of salt for her water softener. Naturally, we go to stores where such products are purchased. In this case, it was a general merchandise store and Mom wanted to pick up some other things, including make up. There was a very large make up department, and the aisles were arranged by brand. My mother was looking for several products of different brands, so we traversed several aisles with each brand advertising its wares with pictures of what passes for beautiful models according to the fashion industry.

I should say here that I am generally a hermit. I don’t go out of my cave much. My wife does most of the shopping, and I certainly have not had any occasion to go into a make up aisle in my memory, except for when helping my mother. I also don’t watch television and use an ad blocker with my browser. I generally am not inundated by commercials or advertisements and have no idea what the latest fashion trends may happen to be. I also work from home and make money through the Internet. In other words, I am totally clueless on the fashion scene and have been blissfully so for decades.

What struck me as we walked through those make up aisles was the eyebrows. When I was growing up, women’s eyebrows were to be neat and relatively tamed. My father worked with this one guy who had veritable caterpillers of eyebrows, and unfortunately, his lovely daughter had inherited that trend. Now, I only remember meeting her once when she was twelve or thirteen, but I am certain that as she got older, she took efforts to control and tame those eyebrows. But she was the only female human I ever saw with such robust eyebrows. As I walked through the make up aisles, I saw eyebrows like hers on every model. I even stopped at one advertisement where it showed how to create these great woolly caterpillers to crawl across one’s face. It was like someone in the fashion industry suddenly decided that Frida Kahlo was their It Girl. What are these people thinking?

The fashion industry is in business to sell products. To sell more products, they vary the fashions from year to year. You certainly can’t be seen in last year’s styles, they’ll tell women and the nancy boys who pay attention to that sort of thing. The make up business is also in business to sell products. The more of their products they can get you to use, the better for them. What better way to do that than to promulgate some unnatural fashion trend that requires a lot of make up? Such as painting half one’s forehead the color of terminal hair that is only on a small patch of the face, for instance? Still, I suspect this trend will pass given a little time. Next up, we’ll have the trend of painting the whole face white with a few spots of red to look like a clown, as they did in Good Queen Bess’ time or in certain periods of Japanese history. These things come and go.

It is like the trend of skinny, narrow-hipped models in the fashion industry. I know that it has been a trend for more than fifty years now. One might speculate that it is partially fueled by fashion designers, both male and female, who like men and so want their models to look more like men. Other speculations might be even less charitable, but we needn’t go there. What is important is that this trend will not last forever. Why? Because we all know what is really beautiful.

What constitutes beauty in the long term is programmed in by our genes. What we know to be beautiful is determined by selective pressure to breed. Our genes want us to pass them on. If a guy liked women who had narrow hips and carried very little fat, in the old days his genes would probably not get passed on. Why? Because narrow hips mean a narrow birth canal and harder and fewer successful births. What about women with no fat? Well, no fat, no breast milk for the child. In many cultures through the ages, fat has been seen as a sign of prosperity. When the lean times come, and throughout human history they have come frequently, people who have easily stored fat have survived better, as have their children. More surviving children equals more of those genes passed on through the ages.

While there are some random quirks in the evolution of beauty, the reality usually comes down to signals of health and fitness to breed. The plumage of many species of male birds declares that these individuals are fit enough to invest resources in display. A healthy, wide-hipped, well-padded woman has the signs of a breeder, and nothing the fashion industry does can change that long-term. We know the truth.

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  1. Randy Webster Inactive
    Randy Webster
    @RandyWebster

    Amy Schley (View Comment):

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    Amy Schley (View Comment):

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    Amy Schley (View Comment):
    The 90s was the era of “Drawn on with a .5mm pencil,” which just ain’t normal.

    That’s true. You have to have at least a .7mm pencil or the lead breaks too often.

    Depends on the lead and how much you leave outside the casing … Get one on the B instead of the H side of the scale and they’ll shade nicely.

    Are we talking about the same thing?

    https://pencils.com/hb-graphite-grading-scale/

    I might have told this story before, but it’s good enough to retell.  Back when I was having to go to the office in Asheville, I was working using a mechanical pencil, which ran out of lead.  The secretary, totally innocently, as far as I could tell, asked me if I would like her to put lead in my pencil.

    • #91
  2. profdlp Inactive
    profdlp
    @profdlp

    Ahead of his time:

    • #92
  3. GLDIII Reagan
    GLDIII
    @GLDIII

    Aaron Miller (View Comment):
    Shucks. My dream of being an elder gentleman dating college girls didn’t account for changing fashions.

    Unless you get to that end of life with an exceptional thick wallet, and well endowed portfolio, I doubt that as an elderly gentlemen, you will be experiencing that dilemma.

    • #93
  4. Mike LaRoche Inactive
    Mike LaRoche
    @MikeLaRoche

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Now, look, the example of the eyebrows was just a way to segue into the real subject, which is women who are not fashion models and have curves. If we’re going to inundate the thread, how about doing so with curvy women. Do I have to tag @mikelaroche for this job?

    • #94
  5. Aaron Miller Inactive
    Aaron Miller
    @AaronMiller

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    Aaron Miller (View Comment):
    Shucks. My dream of being an elder gentleman dating college girls didn’t account for changing fashions.

    You aren’t even an elderly gentleman yet. I’ve met you.

    Right. So, by the time I am, the ladies will all be boys in drag.

    The Benedict option looks better all the time.

    • #95
  6. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Aaron Miller (View Comment):
    The Benedict option looks better all the time.

    Become Pope?

    • #96
  7. Ansonia Member
    Ansonia
    @Ansonia

    I knew an elderly man who claimed that women who were meant to be plump were now inclined to give up and get frumpy and fat due to despair over not being the 1960s Twiggy type.

    Some truth to that, I think.

    • #97
  8. J.D. Snapp Coolidge
    J.D. Snapp
    @JulieSnapp

    Cat III (View Comment):
    I like big noses. I wonder if that’s an evolutionary adaptation for that.

    I like big noses on men. You know what they say about a guy with a big nose…

    • #98
  9. Matt Balzer Member
    Matt Balzer
    @MattBalzer

    J.D. Snapp (View Comment):

    Cat III (View Comment):
    I like big noses. I wonder if that’s an evolutionary adaptation for that.

    I like big noses on men. You know what they say about a guy with a big nose…

    He uses more Kleenex?

    • #99
  10. Judge Mental Member
    Judge Mental
    @JudgeMental

    J.D. Snapp (View Comment):

    Cat III (View Comment):
    I like big noses. I wonder if that’s an evolutionary adaptation for that.

    I like big noses on men. You know what they say about a guy with a big nose…

    He smells great.

    • #100
  11. J.D. Snapp Coolidge
    J.D. Snapp
    @JulieSnapp

    Matt Balzer (View Comment):

    J.D. Snapp (View Comment):

    Cat III (View Comment):
    I like big noses. I wonder if that’s an evolutionary adaptation for that.

    I like big noses on men. You know what they say about a guy with a big nose…

    He uses more Kleenex?

    Well, I was going to say “He has a biiiiiiiiig handkerchief!”

    • #101
  12. sawatdeeka Member
    sawatdeeka
    @sawatdeeka

    I’ve never noticed the new eyebrow trend. But I will now, whether I want to or not.

    • #102
  13. Matt White Member
    Matt White
    @

    Arahant (View Comment):

    OldDan Rhody (View Comment):
    I clicked on the fat-bottomed girls tag and this is the only posting that came up. How long has Ricochet been in existence, and this is the first?

    Dan, I think you must have added this part into your comment later, because I don’t remember seeing it the first time. That was exactly my thought when I saw that nobody had used that tag before.

    That kind of works against the premise that men who like men are pushing the skinny look.

    • #103
  14. Randy Webster Inactive
    Randy Webster
    @RandyWebster

    J.D. Snapp (View Comment):

    Cat III (View Comment):
    I like big noses. I wonder if that’s an evolutionary adaptation for that.

    I like big noses on men. You know what they say about a guy with a big nose…

    Actually, I don’t.  What do they say?

    • #104
  15. Cat III Member
    Cat III
    @CatIII

    Cat III: giver of what the people want.

    • #105
  16. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Cat III (View Comment):
    Cat III: giver of what the people want.

    Indeed. Thank you, sir.

    • #106
  17. OldDan Rhody Member
    OldDan Rhody
    @OldDanRhody

    Matt White (View Comment):

    Arahant (View Comment):

    OldDan Rhody (View Comment):
    I clicked on the fat-bottomed girls tag and this is the only posting that came up. How long has Ricochet been in existence, and this is the first?

    Dan, I think you must have added this part into your comment later, because I don’t remember seeing it the first time. That was exactly my thought when I saw that nobody had used that tag before.

    That kind of works against the premise that men who like men are pushing the skinny look.

    Huh?

    • #107
  18. iWe Coolidge
    iWe
    @iWe

    Amy Schley (View Comment):
    Maybelline’s subtext is “if we can make a normal looking guy look this good, just think what we can do for you!”

    He looks HIDEOUS.

    • #108
  19. iWe Coolidge
    iWe
    @iWe

    I love how this thread has totally reversed the OP’s claim that there is an ageless and nature-defined ideal of female beauty.

    There’s nowt so queer as folk. And thank G-d for that, or else the species would have died off long ago.

    • #109
  20. J.D. Snapp Coolidge
    J.D. Snapp
    @JulieSnapp

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    J.D. Snapp (View Comment):

    Cat III (View Comment):
    I like big noses. I wonder if that’s an evolutionary adaptation for that.

    I like big noses on men. You know what they say about a guy with a big nose…

    Actually, I don’t. What do they say?

    http://ricochet.com/448038/beauty-we-know-the-truth/comment-page-4/#comment-3881611

    • #110
  21. RightAngles Member
    RightAngles
    @RightAngles

    My mom used to say, “Every man to his own taste, said the old man as he kissed the cow.”

    • #111
  22. Pete EE Member
    Pete EE
    @PeteEE

    Q Why is the standard of beauty for women to weigh less
    A because most women weigh more than they should.

    Q But why do men want women so exceptionally skinny?
    A We don’t. Those extremes come from the fashion industry, notably dominated by women and gay men, not the “male gaze”.

    Q How can beauty standards be objective when Rubin painted heavyweight beauties?
    A In Rubin’s day, the most salient threat to health was starvation and related disease. In our day, poor health comes from obesity and related disease. Men want women to look healthy.

    Q Neither Rubin’s models nor heroin chic models are healthy.
    A And neither represent men’s tastes. But there is still an unchanging standard at work. Both Rubin’s too fat models and today’s too skinny models are an exaggeration of the unattainable ideal.

    • #112
  23. Amy Schley Coolidge
    Amy Schley
    @AmySchley

    iWe (View Comment):

    Amy Schley (View Comment):
    Maybelline’s subtext is “if we can make a normal looking guy look this good, just think what we can do for you!”

    He looks HIDEOUS.

    It’s a case of the whole being less than the sum of the parts.

    • #113
  24. La Tapada Member
    La Tapada
    @LaTapada

    Pete EE (View Comment):
    …Q How can beauty standards be objective when Rubin painted heavyweight beauties?
    A In Rubin’s day, the most salient threat to health was starvation and related disease. In our day, poor health comes from obesity and related disease. Men want women to look healthy….

    I read an essay once about corsets, in which the writer explained her theory that since women in earlier times were strapped up tight in hard corsets when in public, being nude meant being soft and droopy and so that was what was sexy.

    • #114
  25. Man With the Axe Inactive
    Man With the Axe
    @ManWiththeAxe

    It seems to me that the so called “standard of beauty” is not really the standard of anyone in particular. You could ask pretty much any normal man what sort of women he finds attractive. Then you could ask him what sort of women are deemed attractive in the culture. Nine times out of ten he would give different answers.

    • #115
  26. Matt White Member
    Matt White
    @

    OldDan Rhody (View Comment):

    Matt White (View Comment):

    Arahant (View Comment):

    OldDan Rhody (View Comment):
    I clicked on the fat-bottomed girls tag and this is the only posting that came up. How long has Ricochet been in existence, and this is the first?

    Dan, I think you must have added this part into your comment later, because I don’t remember seeing it the first time. That was exactly my thought when I saw that nobody had used that tag before.

    That kind of works against the premise that men who like men are pushing the skinny look.

    Huh?

    The post I quoted included a video of queen singing Fat Bottomed Girls. I don’t know why it didn’t make it into the quote.

    • #116
  27. profdlp Inactive
    profdlp
    @profdlp

    Matt White (View Comment):
    The post I quoted included a video of queen singing Fat Bottomed Girls. I don’t know why it didn’t make it into the quote.

    They probably stopped off at the Wendys drive-thru on the way.  Give them time.

    • #117
  28. Ansonia Member
    Ansonia
    @Ansonia

    Re 115

    And I’ve seen men and women irresistibly drawn to women and men who don’t look anything like what these people claimed they found attractive.

    • #118
  29. Matt White Member
    Matt White
    @

    Ansonia (View Comment):
    Re 115

    And I’ve seen men and women irresistibly drawn to women and men who don’t look anything like what these people claimed they found attractive.

    I don’t think a list of traits really works for that sort of thing.

    • #119
  30. Matt White Member
    Matt White
    @

    Ansonia (View Comment):
    Re 115

    And I’ve seen men and women irresistibly drawn to women and men who don’t look anything like what these people claimed they found attractive.

    I don’t think a list of traits really works for that sort of thing.

    • #120
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