Posted on 02/17/2007 9:55:23 PM PST by Dallas59
A lot of it has to do with expectations. We expect women to be in makeup (or used to), but we don't expect men to be in makeup. Therefore, we ignore the slight imperfections in men that we notice in women.
As to bald men, the reason for hair transplants is that no matter what women say, they will avoid bald men, with the exception of the buff Mr. Clean head shaved guy. Most women want a guy that's fairly tall with a good head of hair. Bald guys have to offset the appearance of aging that balding suggests with a very good build if they want to have success with women. Unfortunately, many try to offset it with big sideburns and a mustache. If you top it off with birth control glasses, a white short sleeve shirt and a skinny tie, you have an assistant manager at Kmart.
The unfortunate thing is that Britney is currently running that scenario in reverse right now.
When my daughters were growing up, I always told them that they didn't need to wear makeup because makeup was to cover up ugly and they weren't ugly.
Makeup is a girl's best friend. It is incredible what makeup, hairstyle and color, clothes and attitude will do for your image.
Because of the innate differences in the sexes that we recognize instinctively. Testosterone gives men rougher, thicker skins, so we equate a rougher, thicker, darker skin with masculinity and we consider it attractive if a man has this. But women generally have paler, thinner, smoother skin, without as much hair, so when we see a woman whose skin is a little rough and uneven we consider it less feminine and less attractive. Makeup covers evidence of uneven skin tone; it makes our skins look smooth, small-pored, ungreasy = youthful and feminine = attractive.
Also, as we age our lips get thinner, dryer, and paler, our eyes get smaller, and the fat pads in our faces shift or go away altogether. Male lips are thin and male eyes are small, so this process is okay for them; they're still masculine and attractive. When it happens to women they start looking less feminine, more masculine, thus less attractive. Makeup helps conceal these changes too.
Good answer.
If I dated any of those women and woke up in the morning with the picture on the left I would run for the hills. Most of the women I've been with have looked great without makeup and stunning with it. Your explanation makes sense.
Now you're scaring me into finding a younger woman!
I think the lighting on all of those pictures was organized to show the left picture as awful and the right-hand picture as very flattering. Anybody can be made to look ugly with bad lighting, even the most beautiful models and actresses.
But see, this just shows how our standards have changed. A hundred years ago, when women didn't have access to the sophisticated makeup we have today, some of them were still thought to be beautiful. We're more demanding today before we'll call a woman beautiful. Thank you, Mr. Hefner and the good people who invented Adobe Photoshop.
I lived in Buffalo in the early 80s and Kim Alexis (sp?) stopped into the place I was working and I never even recognized her. She was still pretty, just not the sort of pretty that her photos made her look like.
Someone once told me that men have good, even,
tight skin because they USE aftershave and they
DON'T USE anything that will clog their pores
or cause skin blotches - like women's makeup does.
;^)
LOL! Clooney is too looney for me.
Mel Gibson... now there's a man.
Nah, someone was wrong. Men and women have always looked like this even before aftershave and makeup were invented, and even among people who don't use aftershave or makeup today.
LOL!
If she don't look beautiful asleep in the morning without makeup, time for boots on the ground and "outa There!"
Kept me single for a long time and then....uh oh!
Looks like the power of lighting to me.
The last photo looks like two different people. Different noses, different smiles, and different chins.
Gee. They look like the "After one drink" and "Last Call" pictures from a typical Saturday night on the town.
Thank you - you are exactly right. I do my makeup on the bus in the morning - takes me about 5-10 minutes. A little foundation, blush, lip gloss, maybe mascara and eye shadow. Quick, easy, makes worlds of difference.
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