Now that I've got your attention with that vain title, (unless you're an Emilie Autumn fan, in which case you'll get the irony)...
I was reading an article on my new favourite time-wasting website, Mookychick, about the essential uselessness of beauty in society. The author compared it to canoeing; it's great to have if you're doing it professionally, but it doesn't serve any purpose other than self-gratification and if you're lucky, a bit of amusement for others. I agree with this, to an extent. I feel that beauty is becoming more and more unobtainable (or at least the degree of it which is expected is becoming higher), and people are frankly taking it way too seriously and wasting too much time agonising over it to be entirely healthy. HOWEVER... Aesthetics is an evolutionary trait, developed so that we could tell the difference between healthy and sick animals, rotten and ripe fruit, which caveman/woman had the best genes. It's so intrinsic to our value-judging system that we've created art, which is exclusively about aesthetics. So having a sense of aesthetics is not the same as being shallow and vapid.
Personally I probably spend more time worrying about my personal aesthetics than a lot of people, but that is in part because of ballet's very heavy emphasis on one's look, so in a way, I am one of those people who are fortunate enough to be able to tell critics that I'm "professionally aesthetic" and therefore have an excuse to look after myself and spend time and money on it. But I do feel that the reaction towards a concern for one's looks can be as judgemental and extreme as the obsession with looking good. Firstly, being healthy should really be everyone's end goal. That's what attractiveness was based on, once upon a time. It wasn't how many colourful twigs and leaves our ancestors put in their hair, or the cut of their loincloth, it was the physical sign of strength and good genes that got you laid. Now aesthetics have changed (drastically), but some of those instincts remain to this day. So while it's lovely and wonderful that people are being encouraged to love each other for their beautiful brains and not their faces or figures, this is no excuse for not eating right and exercising to stay fit. I've seen things on social media sites saying stuff to the effect of "instead of going to the gym (ie being vain), read a book (ie be intellectual)", and while I totally, unequivocally feel that intelligence should be nurtured like crazy, it doesn't mean that you should stop looking after yourself.
Another issue that annoys me, is some feminists getting all up in arms about women doing things such as pole dancing, burlesque, belly dancing etc. Apparently they do not feel that this is the proper way to "empower" yourself as a woman. Excuse me, but how the fuck would you know what makes me feel empowered? And what is wrong with wanting to feel feminine and beautiful and, yes, sexually attractive? As long as you honestly do it for yourself, you are doing nothing wrong, and you most certainly do not have anything to be ashamed of. It is a very different matter when the intention behind it is to be sexually attractive for the sake of someone else, or to gain love or more attention. But you can be a feminist and still be okay with the fact that you are female, which I think a lot of feminists lose sight of.
Essentially, girls need to play nicer, and be more fair toward themselves and each other. Stop judging the girl with no fashion sense or desire to be beautiful. But also, stop judging the one who likes making herself pretty, for her own enjoyment. She's not hurting anyone.
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