“Feminism made women too picky”: more on male rage, sexual entitlement, and backlash

[iverglas]

19. and that European stuff ...

In Europe, especially France, Italy and Spain, it is accepted for men and women to pay attention to their that attractiveness, self-presentation, and grooming, and this is highly valued. One of the most delightful companies I have ever worked for was a luxury goods group where everyone, without exception, was well-groomed, charming and flirtatious.

Who the hell cares, really?

And really, a "luxury goods group"? Somehow, I think the people who worked there were chosen for their grooming, charm and sexiness. What the hell is that telling us?? Maybe that people who have better things to think about and spend their time on than their hair aren't hired? I don't think those adjectives actually mean "clean, neat, pressed and pleasant"; they mean dyed, made up, personal-trainered, surgically altered where necessary, balanced on dangerous and painful devices, spending a lot of money on it all, and adhering to heterosexual stereotypes in their workplace relationships. And pretty obviously, we're not talking about a majority of Europeans, by a long chalk. Class comes into this rather a lot, I would think.

And I'm still very sure that the range permitted men within those qualifiers -- age, body type, personality, expected corrective measures -- is just a lot broader than for women. If a woman looked like Nicholas Sarkozy ...