I actually didn’t reflect about her having makeup. I recall (but hopefully don’t misrepresent in my paraphrasing) Julia Galef discussing that a society where people wear makeup is perhaps a more fair option since the difference between the most and least naturally beautiful people would be smaller then. I haven’t thought deeply about this, but in that case, wearing makeup might be the rational thing to do. However, regarding the appraisal that the artwork represents the woman’s beauty more than her strength, I can totally see how that reinforces problematic norms.
Rationality is in part about taking control, and you have more control over your strength than your beauty. Still, if I could sculpt myself I would probably rather be sculpting myself pretty than musculus (well, I guess they intersect for some people). Beauty probably has more benefits than muscles these days and physical strength is much less important for rationality than mental strength. An unnecessarily muscular body might also be a sign of prioritizing the wrong things.
It’s hard to get the metaphors perfect and it is easy to rationalize how details make it fit or not. But it’s interesting to see which metaphors resonate with the community, and would be even more interesting if more people wrote why as you did. So thanks for your perspective!
My objection to makeup is that it’s sorta a zero sum game, where if everybody spends 1hr a day on makeup, the world isn’t really a better place since beauty is a relative thing.
I agree that, in a society where everybody is judged by their made-up looks, innate beauty would matter less, and that’s good.
However, people will start competing on effort spent on makeup, which to me feels like a really bad thing. Imagine everybody having to spend 2 hours on make-up every day before heading out. I think that’s what some women already have to deal with in their workplaces and I’d rather not everybody’s lives be like that.
Agreed!
I actually didn’t reflect about her having makeup. I recall (but hopefully don’t misrepresent in my paraphrasing) Julia Galef discussing that a society where people wear makeup is perhaps a more fair option since the difference between the most and least naturally beautiful people would be smaller then. I haven’t thought deeply about this, but in that case, wearing makeup might be the rational thing to do. However, regarding the appraisal that the artwork represents the woman’s beauty more than her strength, I can totally see how that reinforces problematic norms.
Rationality is in part about taking control, and you have more control over your strength than your beauty. Still, if I could sculpt myself I would probably rather be sculpting myself pretty than musculus (well, I guess they intersect for some people). Beauty probably has more benefits than muscles these days and physical strength is much less important for rationality than mental strength. An unnecessarily muscular body might also be a sign of prioritizing the wrong things.
It’s hard to get the metaphors perfect and it is easy to rationalize how details make it fit or not. But it’s interesting to see which metaphors resonate with the community, and would be even more interesting if more people wrote why as you did. So thanks for your perspective!
My objection to makeup is that it’s sorta a zero sum game, where if everybody spends 1hr a day on makeup, the world isn’t really a better place since beauty is a relative thing.
I agree that, in a society where everybody is judged by their made-up looks, innate beauty would matter less, and that’s good.
However, people will start competing on effort spent on makeup, which to me feels like a really bad thing. Imagine everybody having to spend 2 hours on make-up every day before heading out. I think that’s what some women already have to deal with in their workplaces and I’d rather not everybody’s lives be like that.