beauty standards: moving even further away from gender equality

[sandra]

maybe in the 90's, when the more natural look was trendy, it gave a false impression that we were actually progressing. i can't tell if it's me, my profession, or LA, but now, more than ever, it seems that women, even and probably especially, professional women are becoming sex kittens all over again. stilettos in court, fitting skirt suits, make-up on almost every woman i see, i feel almost naked because my nails are unpolished.

and it's not just in my profression, i see accountants, teachers, admins, everyone, all the same way. perhaps the only women who haven't given in are university professors...and even then, it's the ultra liberal ones.

is this something that you guys see as well? would you consider this regression? what do you think is the cause of this? does it bother you at all?

[SunWuKong]

but Ally McBeal began airing way back in 97 though. shouldn't this trend be pretty old?

anyway, most of the women in my profession do not do this. i don't think they even know how to be "sex kittens".

[cloudzero]

http://www.tonychor.com/archive/lemmings.jpg

[Craig]

http://www.tonychor.com/archive/lemmings.jpgYour comment is insulting to lemmings ...

[VV o n g B a]

i'm not sure about business attire, but here's some info about slutty dressing (http://akinokure.blogspot.com/2008/07/ive-already-shown-that-young-peoples.html) that's interesting.

it shows sales of thongs have gone way down and boy shorts are way up. also, those low rise jeans may be challenged by the babydoll tops where a short dress is worn over regular jeans. so it's possible trends are moving away from showing as much skin as before.

but overall, i'm not sure if i'd call trends in either direction progression or regression w/o understanding what drives the trends. is it b/c career women think they need to be cuter to attract a guy that would otherwise be scared off? is it b/c younger women are growing up w/ more conservative values?

[AngryABCGirl]

I have to say at my previous place of work, in investment banking land where professionalism was supposed to be a rule- business suits even for women at all times had a huge emphasis. I have to same, some women managed to make something drab and boring look porno video cheap. I do have to say though doing is pretty detrimental to being taken seriously in the workplace, not just by dudes, but by other women in the office.

I haven't been observant enough to know if it's been occurring more or less though. But it's been a marked trend in the last few years at dressing down in the office more and more, and for some people it means going skank apparently.

[kusojiji]

Am I missing the part where this is a bad thing?

[Napoleon Chynamite]

I dunno, throughout history there has always been extra emphasis and value placed on a woman's ability to look good or attractive. Even though there is undoubtedly a social aspect, I believe that part of this will always be biological in that men seem to naturally place more emphasis on looks when searching for a partner and women place more emphasis on the man's character and financial stability.

I'm not sure about the regression part, but at the very least it seems nowadays there's more pressure on men to look good as well and it's become more socially acceptable for men to express a type of care or concern for how they look as opposed to yesteryear, even though men have always cared about how they look but have been afraid to show it b/c it's been more taboo. This may be partially due to the progression of society as well as the fact that there are more successful and independent women out there now that don't have to settle for some schmoe anymore just b/c he can pay the bills.

But anyway if you ask me, society in general does seem to be going down some downward spiral, as there seems to be this slowly growing overarching acceptance for the continuous pursuit of pleasure and abandon at the expense of morals or any ethic, but that's a whole 'nother can of worms.

[Sunflare]

But anyway if you ask me, society in general does seem to be going down some downward spiral, as there seems to be this slowly growing overarching acceptance for the continuous pursuit of pleasure and abandon at the expense of morals or any ethic, but that's a whole 'nother can of worms.

I agree. But yeah, that is another story . . . .

[cloudzero]

I dunno, throughout history there has always been extra emphasis and value placed on a woman's ability to look good or attractive. Even though there is undoubtedly a social aspect, I believe that part of this will always be biological in that men seem to naturally place more emphasis on looks when searching for a partner and women place more emphasis on the man's character and financial stability.

I'm not sure about the regression part, but at the very least it seems nowadays there's more pressure on men to look good as well and it's become more socially acceptable for men to express a type of care or concern for how they look as opposed to yesteryear, even though men have always cared about how they look but have been afraid to show it b/c it's been more taboo. This may be partially due to the progression of society as well as the fact that there are more successful and independent women out there now that don't have to settle for some schmoe anymore just b/c he can pay the bills.

But anyway if you ask me, society in general does seem to be going down some downward spiral, as there seems to be this slowly growing overarching acceptance for the continuous pursuit of pleasure and abandon at the expense of morals or any ethic, but that's a whole 'nother can of worms.

hey mr 5'11, you forgot about height again

[AngryABCGirl]

But anyway if you ask me, society in general does seem to be going down some downward spiral, as there seems to be this slowly growing overarching acceptance for the continuous pursuit of pleasure and abandon at the expense of morals or any ethic, but that's a whole 'nother can of worms.

My very religious co-worker talked about this recession like it was needed for us. I agreed from a economic perspective- that all the bad business strategies and craft needed to be flushed from the system. But she talked more about how this is the way we needed to learn to not be materialistic and greedy and that this was the taste of our own medicine.

But then she talked about going to Macy's to get some comestics after watching the inauguration. Don't know what that says. Personally I find make-up and all this do-up for men and women kind of artificial. It's one thing to be totally sloppy, it's another to make yourself up so much and fix your hair so much that it's like you won't recognize the person you wake up next to in the morning because they haven't cleaned themselves up.