m4dd0g said:
Hee hee, of course makeup, high heels and push-up bras are leading the way in female honesty
As clearly you keep peppering your posts with this old chestnut, I'll be the one to pander to your cantankerous ways and shoot you down in flames, mainly because for some godforsaken reason I am up at 8.17 on Australia Day, and can't get back to sleep
The problem with your argument is this:
How are any of these things dishonest? If you were citing cosmetic surgery as dishonest, I'd probably agree with you - but those 3 things are so fucking blatantly obvious when they're being implemented (ok, a push up bra the least so, but still) that calling them dishonest would be insulting to their audience.
Makeup: On one hand, makeup is used to express who you are in a creative way, with colours, effects, styles etc - I'm fairly certain you wouldn't have a problem with gothic make up artistry - because it would clearly fall into this category, but using your blanket/universal law, it's still 'dishonest', right? After all, people's faces aren't naturally white!!!!
Where make-up is used as a deliberate "natural" enhancement/concealment, I think is where your problem (or rather, what you are baiting people with by pretending your problem) lies. Here are some questions for you:
- If a guy who had what he perceived to be an unattractive scar on his chin grew a beard that covered it, would you call him dishonest?
- If a girl who has what she perceives to be bad skin and is so self-conscious of it that she would stay home over be out somewhere where she thinks people are staring and laughing at her wears makeup, would you call her dishonest?
Using your rule, you should for each of these people - but it's all about the intention. Why not take advantage of a product that can improve elements of your physical appearance that can negatively impact on your self-image? I'm not saying everyone who wears makeup wears it for this reason, but it's about "making the most of what you have" a philosophy I think surely everyone follows, regardless of gender or the level of grooming they employ.
I don't consider it dishonest because it's quite obvious when someone's wearing makeup - even applied naturally. Eyelids aren't normally smeared with various shades; eyelashes aren't normally long and jet black; lips aren't normally glossy etc etc
Anyway - high heels - no brainer, if you can't fucking tell someone is wearing high heels, then you have no right to be complaining about it. It is sexist to imply that women are not allowed freedom of expression in dress because you think it means they are being deceptive about their height. Next!
Push-up bras. This out of all your examples I agree with the most, however I still blatantly disagree. Besides bras being a necessity for most females, in a lot of cases for health reasons more so than purely cosmetic, I guess you're claiming to gripe that push-up bras misrepresent a woman's chest size.
Again this comes down to the 'making the most of what you have' side of things. People wear bras anyway, so why not wear one where the end result will be improved confidence. Lots of girls have trouble fitting into certain styles of clothes which are cut to accomodate larger/smaller boobs, and a pushup bra can be handy to make clothes sit better on.
To be completely honest, and I know in your mind at least this will open up another can of worms, I don't think you can condemn any females use of beauty products/clothes to
enhance their existing assets until you have endured the potential ridicule and taunts so many girls who have "less than perfect" physicality have to endure

This point on its own (to me at least) makes your entire argument moot.
Ahhhh, nothing like an argumentative essay to start your morning off!
