Multiple questions about makeup and shaving

northernlights190 · 2022-11-16T19:01:30+00:00

I’ll take a swing at some of these.

Within normal female ranges, it’s not typically evident how much testosterone a woman has — ask anyone who has had theirs tested, it’s not what you might guess from looks or behaviour based on stereotypes. There is a normal female testosterone range, but it’s quite low and so doesn’t necessarily have any obvious effects. (When you get into abnormally high ranges it can have masculinizing effects on the female body that most men won’t find appealing.)
Pubic hair preference seems to largely be based on cultural trends that are likely influenced by other aspects of gender and culture. At different times just in North America, full-bush pubes have been much more popular than are currently en vogue. In some cultures today, removing pubes is way less common than in North America. But body hair removal isn’t recent technology, no — razors, waxing or sugaring, threading, we know that all of these date back literally thousands of years, and different cultures have had different approaches they find attractive. Overall, women removing leg hair has been relatively common throughout history, likely as it emphasizes sexual dimorphism, but pube trends seem less overall consistent. Sometimes pubes are hot, sometimes not.
Makeup can do a lot of things, but it’s typically used to highlight and enhance features associated with health (clear skin, bright eyes), youth, sexual arousal (flushed lips and cheeks), and sexually dimorphic features associated with femininity. There are also simple trend aspects that don’t necessarily reflect any of those. (I.E. how eyebrow shapes or eyeshadow colours come and go.)
Whether women are “forced” or “choose” to wear make-up is complicated question. On its face, of course it’s a choice: nobody is holding a gun to our head making us wear it. However, because makeup is often treated as an expected part of grooming for women, it’s not necessarily a totally free choice.

Consider that there have been numerous cases in employment law of women being penalized in the workplace for not wearing makeup. And broadly, it likely makes a major impact that can’t be solidly proven: for instance, a female job candidate wearing makeup will very likely be seen as more professional and well-groomed than one who doesn’t wear any makeup. The latter will be unlikely to ever prove discrimination in hiring practices; but we can be assured this type of judgment happens, even subconsciously.

Overall, I know from extensive experience that even a little makeup makes a significant positive difference in how people perceive me, both in dating but also in any sort of social interaction. (Just ask any woman who doesn’t wear makeup to the office one day and gets the “oh, you look tired.” Nope, just my face without concealer, but thanks!)

So while it is technically my choice to wear makeup, there is a definite social reward to doing so and some social penalty when I don’t, so I just have to navigate that. There are many times where I seriously don’t want to sit there and do my makeup, but feel I “have to,” because it’s an event I wouldn’t feel appropriately groomed for without it. Does that mean I’m forced to wear it? One could argue yes. It’s coercive, at the least, but most of our social behaviours are in some way so that’s not unusual. It is what it is.

As above, no one person or group is “forcing.” Like most other social behaviours, our choices are heavily influenced by a complex interplay of social expectations and responses, as well as inherent tendencies of the species. (It is worth noting just how widespread cosmetics have been throughout human history, and not just women.)
Personally… yeah, if all men dropped dead tomorrow I’d never wear make-up again. Just being honest here. I mean, I wear make-up when I’m only going out with female friends, but if there were no men around I would just not care. That said, there are definitely straight women who really enjoy exploring the artistry and creativity of makeup, and would likely continue wearing it even if men vanished.
Shaving my pubes fucking sucks. I didn’t do it for years, in part because I was with a partner who much preferred a full bush. That was great. I’ve started again lately because I’m single and dating, and shaved is a more widely-accepted configuration at the moment so I’m just playing the numbers on what is most likely to appeal to a new partner. But I’m working on laser hair removal so I eventually I never have to shave again.
Anything in grooming can be seen as “faking” to some extent. Guys in our current culture don’t do makeup as much (again, in past eras cosmetics for men were quite popular!), but they do pube styles too. Hairpieces for balding guys, growing facial hair to hide less appealing facial features or make the jaw look stronger, etc. could also fall into that category.

TheCounsellingGamer · 2022-11-17T02:23:03+00:00

I can only answer the ones that are particular to me.

I'm really not a big makeup fan. I have some foundation, 1 eyeshadow pallet, 1 mascara, and I think 2 lipsticks. All in very neutral colours. In my day to day life I don't wear any makeup at all. My work is exclusively done over the phone at the moment. When I was still working in person then I'd slap a bit of concealer on under my eyes, since I have enough bags to be considered an airport at this point. I'll put some on if I'm going somewhere nice but that's a rarity. I just don't feel the need to wear it frequently. I know lots of people genuinely find it fun to do but I don't. I'm confident about the way I look as well so I don't feel like I need to hide my true face.
Sometimes I shave, sometimes I don't. I've been with my partner for 6 years so we're way past the stage of trying to look perfect for each other all the time. I prefer the way I look when I shave but I do get quite severe eczema from the waist down (yep, on my lady parts too. Nope, it isn't an STI, dermatologists have confirmed that it's eczema). It's not there all the time but when it is I can't shave at all, as it makes the itching so much worse. It's not socially acceptable to go around madly scratching your crotch in public, so the bush must grow in those times.

BlackPorcelainDoll · 2022-11-17T03:22:46+00:00

I don't have answers to any of these questions. Google them or something honey. Men care but not nearly as much women do, I'll tell you that.

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Plugandharam · 2022-11-16T18:38:05+00:00

Kinda reminds me of that one House episode

Oli_love90 · 2022-11-16T19:36:25+00:00

I can only answer a few for myself, other women may/will feel differently:

It’s a choice to me - I like how I look. I’ve never felt like it was necessary.
At most it’s uncomfortable to shave. Dealing with ingrown, razor bumps, etc. does suck and can be painful. As someone who will never have sex again - it’s a preference really. Having less hair feels comfortable under clothing, I like how smooth it feels, around that time of the month, having everything smooth is just less troublesome.

Mobrowncheeks · 2022-11-16T19:56:42+00:00

Since most of the courting and mating process after looks is in the social “ big brain “ realm of our species, I doubt hormonal levels are the primary components of and given coupling, though I’m sure they’re are trends.
Porn definitely did this. Even porn 50 years ago featured women who weren’t shaven. It probably has something to do with how it looks on camera I’ve never requested a women be shaven in my life, but plenty of worm have stated that they won’t do anything without being shaven first.
Make up makes people look younger ( which indirectly would indicate fertility) and it covers blemishes and discolorations. Make up being “ feminine” is just a social assignment we have given it, it’s not more or less womanly.
No one is born with make up, anyone who puts it on is choosing it no matter what they say. Not wearing make up is not the difference between finding a partner or not.
Their own self esteem and comparisons to others drives them to, but there’s no force to do so.
Probably. But if we lived a life with more manual labor and mortality was mord directly in your face, I think women wouldn’t care as much about how they look then either.
Most women only do it when they are presenting it to someone. They even do it less when they are in relationships where they are comfortable.
For the men that do, they overstate their economic status buy buying vehicles they can’t afford and wearing expensive clothes that they bought on credit.

Title	Multiple questions about makeup and shaving
Author	Ok_Scene_1799
Upvotes	4
Comments	20
Date	November 16, 2022 6:29 PM UTC (3 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/PurplePillDebate
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/PurplePillDebate/comments/yx1r8q/multiple_questions_about_makeup_and_shaving/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/PurplePillDebate/multiple-questions-about-makeup-and-shaving.1140070 https://theredarchive.com/post/1140070

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