I think many young females are herd animals, desperate to fit into the group, and will do anything, anything, that Cosmopolitan magazine tells them to do.
I first saw the dynamic when on the first day back in high school all the girls had the same hairstyle, an insouciant (sp?) pony tail meant to look spontaneous but upon inspection very carefully executed. And all the pony tails looked exactly the same. It was then that I began to understand the power of Cosmo.
I am raising my daughter to be the antithesis of that.
Good for you.
I work with some grown women who have NO clue how to conduct themselves in public and consciously TRY to achieve the slattern appearance.
Looking disheveled and dirty is not feminine, and I really think it sends a wrong signal to guys.
The ladies I work with are loud and crass at all times so I avoid them. I always say they went to the Tonya Harding school of etiquette.