The dreaded five o'clock shadow became fashionable some years ago rather than an indicator of "it's Saturday and I don't have to go to work today." Leaving several days stubble apparently became to be considered macho. Now, will shaved heads pass through the same phase and it become the thing to sport five o'clock shadows? Bringing back memories of the 50's heine haircuts, later dubbed crew cuts (and what crew referred to was always a mystery to me).
Who ever said it was women who spend more time than men fussing over their hair? Now, there are even a number of products for men to use in order to maintain their beards.
Why do women shave their legs and under their arms? There is an old joke that hair on women's legs ceases to grow as they age, relieving women of razor-burn and the need to continually inspect their legs. The reason for this phenomenon is so that women can spend more time plucking tiny little facial hairs, which increase in numbers correlated with a women's chronological age. (That is the joke).
Seriously, why is hair on one's legs not socially acceptable? And under the arms. Feminists during the 80's declared the practice more evidence of male domination and stopped the practice. However, I never noticed any men monitoring my daily shower (the place where women keep their legs hair-free) demanding it was razor-time if I was to remain respectable.
Why do men wear neckties? Especially when many men would rather not. Yes, some men do look quite dashing with that colored, very expensive, fabric tied around their neck. Women drape scarves around their necks in various and sundry ways - but they never tie them tight around their Adam's apple. Whereas many men in ties look quite uncomfortable.
And I always think neckties are a handy device to seize hold of in order to threaten a man. Why would men leave themselves so vulnerable?
Why do women wear high heels? Yes, I know the rationalization that heels make the lower legs look slimmer. But if that was the case, a woman would never wear heels while wearing slacks and one's legs are not visible.
Heels are a walking disaster (poor pun here). They leave a woman vulnerable to twisting an ankle and unable to run fast if pursued. And try walking across a grate in heels - such fun when a heel gets caught in one of the holes.
Additionally, protocol insists that a woman's heels are never to make her height greater than her male partner - a rule some tall women take pleasure in violating. Somehow, women are supposed to be shorter than men - a throwback to days when male egos were considered fragile and tall women needed to be sufficiently submissive.
Pity the poor short man and all the humor about little Napoleons and the like. I remember one occasion in a Paris hotel with a tiny elevator the size of a phone booth - and a very short French man who kept insisting on riding the elevator with me. If I had allowed him to do so, his face would have been snuggled right between my two breasts (a word we didn't used to be able to use in print). I won the argument, all conducted in his French and my American English - and universal sign language.He had to wait until the elevator returned for him. I did notice he was not interested in the elevator when shorter women were using it . . .
Perhaps there is something to the idea that size (height) gives one an advantage.
Why do men slightly older than middle-age buy power cars? Including convertibles. This question is more easily understood, though I have read no research verifying such assumptions. That is - men just past their prime, at the same time that their earnings have reached a peak, are able to afford such cars - as an outward sign of male virility.
Is this car-buying behavior related to men at this age, who divorce their long-suffering wives and replace them with blond bombshells who are 20-30 years younger?
I wonder if buying a power car is a variation of an older phenomenon. When I was young, big men tended to buy small cars while small men bought big cars. It was always quite interesting to see a six-foot four man fold himself carefully into a Volkswagen Beetle.
Why do women dress to attract men? This behavior echos the reverse behavior for many animals. In the animal and bird world (insects as well), it is the male who is the colorful one and who dances around the often drab females, hoping to be the lucky one she chooses. Somewhere in the evolutionary trajectory, women become the attractors and the "dancers," hoping a man might choose her.
Frankly, I'd be suspicious of any relationship based on outward appearance!
* * * * *
All of this observation of people around me is what happens
when it continues to snow outside.
Too much snow repeatedly falling day after day
(and cancelled appointments and slippery roads threatening cars)
addles one's mind.
However, the questions are reasonable ones about
the irrationality of human behavior, which in turn
provide amusement for the observant.
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