This morning at breakfast Bruce told me about the amazing revelation he had recently. And I thought it was worth posting. But I think it will be better if he says it in his very own words, so I'm going to let him tell you. I think you'll find it interesting. :-)
As a young guy, I only ever cared about my appearance when I was going out in public. And I might be seen by a girl. So, going to school, basically. If I was going out with my friends, we were going out to play. Messy hair? Didn’t shave yet? Didn’t matter in basketball. Or camping. But for the movie theater? Well, maybe…we might see some girls we know. Better shower and wear a clean shirt. That’s just how it was.
But now—I had a sudden flash of UNDERSTANDING! A Revelation! Holy Frijoles! Now I see the TRUTH! How could I have been blind for…for DECADES?
Behold:
Loralee was working on her blog book, Loralee’s Fancy—Season Two. I checked on her today, and saw an entry from last year, where she was feeling a need to change her hair. She showed pictures of herself, and pictures of hairstyles she was considering, and got several comments. Okay—I have interest in Loralee’s hair, because I like to look at her. Often. But as I stood behind her chair, I remembered browsing through another lady’s blog just yesterday; she had excitedly posted pictures of herself in two new skirts. And got 54 comments. Pretty much all women comments.
Hey…what is that—there on the horizon?
WHY does this lady care about what all these women think about how she dresses? Or fix her hair? Or…ANYTHING? I always thought she wanted to look pretty for, well, for a guy. But Loralee wasn’t looking for her guy’s opinion on her blog (she usually texts me when she wants my opinion). The other lady’s husband did not comment on her BLOG about her new outfits.
It was a bright, blinding light, cresting the horizons of my mind, melting the fog of confusion, piercing the darkness, melting the ice of misconception in my brain. I stumbled into the sunrays, and asked Loralee for help:
Bruce: So, women want to look pretty for…OTHER WOMEN?!?!?
Loralee: I hadn’t thought of it like that, but . . . yeah.
Bruce: ?!?!?
Loralee: Yep.
But…men don’t WANT to look attractive for the other men...not the guys I hang around with, anyway. And asking my buddy if I would look better in green or blue would be like Loralee asking her mom if the van would last longer if she were to switch to synthetic motor oil. Both my mother-in-law and my friend would have one answer: "?!?!?"
So, WOMEN notice the appearance of OTHER WOMEN. All the time. Huh.
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3 comments:
OK. This is because we women know that men notice us all the time, and that their male eyes approve of everything we wear as long as we look like girls. And they tell us we're gorgeous first thing in the morning when we're still dressed in their old gray sweats that are too big for us—before we've showered, brushed our teeth, or even fixed our hair. Hmmm.
But if another woman compliments us . . . now that is sincerely flattering! ;)
I agree with you, for most women yes. I'm surprised it took you so long to realize this.
"So, WOMEN notice the appearance of OTHER WOMEN. All the time."
I think this is true for many women. One reason could be that women have lots more ways to enhance their look...hair style, hair color, clothes, make up, shoes. That's a lot of stuff to think about so other womenfolk's perspective, ideas and opinions are helpful when sorting it all out or trying something new.
The men I know have the same hair and wear the same clothes for years and years without changing. Perhaps because they don't have as many options?
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