Well, it's not exactly the same thing. Standards are like grading on a curve; they're set according to the range of what's possible. The praise women get when they dress up and look great is real; the praise men get is faint praise, more or less a pat on the head, because women are capable of looking that great when they dress up, and men aren't. And because men aren't capable of serious competition that way, it's not expected of them.
I'm sure there are a lot of men and a lot of women whose temperaments clash with this. Men (me among them) who would sometimes like to be able to look that great; women who wish they could just throw on a suit and be done with it. I just figure, no matter what state of affairs there is, there will be people dissatisfied with it.
And I wouldn't pay much attention to the criticisms some women level at women who don't care as much as they do about appearances and dressing up. (It's just about always women doing this, and providing a market for reporters reporting about it.) Men know how women's appearances make them feel, and we need no more; by and large we give no weight either way to women's opinions about the appearance of other women.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2008-02-27 03:41 pm (UTC)I'm sure there are a lot of men and a lot of women whose temperaments clash with this. Men (me among them) who would sometimes like to be able to look that great; women who wish they could just throw on a suit and be done with it. I just figure, no matter what state of affairs there is, there will be people dissatisfied with it.
And I wouldn't pay much attention to the criticisms some women level at women who don't care as much as they do about appearances and dressing up. (It's just about always women doing this, and providing a market for reporters reporting about it.) Men know how women's appearances make them feel, and we need no more; by and large we give no weight either way to women's opinions about the appearance of other women.