bobby bleistein
When I wake up in the morning, I will take
a shower, brush my teeth and get ready for the day. Yea I might think about my appreance but only
in the sense of “do I look persentble.” Personally I am not one to change my
clothes unless they are not presentable for that day. However this is based
upon my daily routine and my mental process. I know many men who try to always
look their best and are willing to take the time to do so. In male beauty work, the importance of male
outer beauty is assessed and discussed in a way in which I don’t normaly think
about. the article states that women would prefer men with a personality and
inner beauty then just superficial looks, however this was taken in 1992. In
todays world this would certainly not be the case because women and men alike
will mostly look at the outer beauty of a person and that would be the basis
for a quick judgment.
In this article mens salons were also
explained and discussed. This was very interesting because as a male, I have
yet to see a all male salon; but when I
was younger my mom would take me to her hair salon and sit there while she got
her hair done for what seemed like hours. So when the words male and salon were
put together I found it weird in the sense that I don’t feel that a male would
take hours to do his hair. But later when thinking about this I found that I
personally know a few guys who have hair styles that seem complex and must be
intensive and timely. Male hair removal is also discussed. This I was aware of
but I began to think about how my life would be different if all my leg hair
was shaved like a girl, and quite frankly Im not sure how I would react. Yes I
do take into account what people think of my appreanace but it is not a big
concern of mine, but I would feel very different and I probably wouldn’t like
it. In the political ecomony of choice, hair removal is a topic of discussion
again but this time In a violent and apparently dangerous sense. It is stated by herzig that a woman suffered “infections
and a related bout of hepatitis. Problems began for the young woman, her
doctors learned, two weeks before she appeared at the hospital, when she used
hot wax to remove all of the hair from her mons pubis, vulva, and anus (Dendle
et al. 2007).” Also stated later how waxing and other forms of body hair
removal can harm the indivisual but how popular their methods are becoming
today. If I were a woman I wouldn’t want to risk my personal well being in
order to remove hair for a month. In miss representation, the problems of media
with under representing women especially those in high power such as Sarah Palin
and her “breast implants” or the weight and masculinity of actresses. This film
shows the ugly side media and how relevant self-representation and self-objectivity
are to the media in today’s world. One striking example was with the statistics
that 13% of teens cut them self because of the pressures of todays society that
is forced upon them by the media. The film also showed the governemt in a new
light, governments of Iraq, cuba, china, and Afghanistan have more women in
government then the united stated. The video was eye opening because I can now
begin to see the effects of media and how serious women take self objectivity
and self representation as expressed through media.
As Bobby said in his post, he never really put the word male and salon together and in some sense I kind of agree. I don’t think of men as caring much about how their hair is styled or paying attention to and altering their looks. I have guy friends who obviously care that they look presentable and somewhat good, but not to the extent where they use an extreme amount of products to alter their appearance, they just don’t worry about it. I don’t know many men who care a great deal about their hair style, except for maybe the fact that they like having “flow,” yet they most likely don’t spend hours working on their hair. I have grown up with two older brothers and they have never been to a salon, my mom always cut their hair, and they were never worried about altering their appearance in order to “look better.” It seems odd when I hear of men being concerned like women with their looks because our society has made it the norm for women to change, but not necessary for men to change. Bobby talked about the horrible effects waxing can have on women, and I find the level of pain women are willing to go through to be attractive, ridiculous.
ReplyDelete-Charlotte Sargent
Lily Cannon
ReplyDeleteContinuing on what Bob and Charlotte have talked about, having two younger brothers and noticing that they don’t take as much time or care about their appearance seems normal but reading this article opened my eyes in the sense that men do have problems just as women do on there obsession of appearance. Personally I have noticed that one of my brothers, Ethan, who is a senior in high school, has more and more become interested in his appearance. Making sure that he has the proper brand on and he doesn’t look like a “slob” at school. This is similar to Bob’s statement on how he only thinks about in appearance in the sense if he looks “presentable”. Moving on to women and the extremes they do to look a certain way is also mind-boggling. Bob explained the danger of waxing and also brings up the documentary, Miss Representation, and how far women will go to “fit in” with society. What surprised me most about this documentary was the high statistic in which women don’t like how there bodies look. This is disturbing because I believe all women should feel confident inside and out. Although this is easy to say and sometimes hard to actually feel and do it is possible.
Bobby, your response was very interesting because it showed the male point of view to all of these pretty feminist articles. I like how you started your response with what you do in the morning and how your appearance isn’t your primary concern. Like Lily and Charlotte, I actually also have two brothers. I never noticed that they cared about their appearance until they got acne, then they started washing their face more and using special products from the dermatologist. But other than that, I remember them always getting mad at me for taking so long in the bathroom when all they needed to do was brush their teeth. I also liked how you said that if you were a girl, you wouldn’t go through the trouble of waxing. If you, having a male perspective, think this, then I’m sure there are tons of other men who believe it too! The idea of waxing has gone way out of proportion nowadays. I bet there aren’t really that many men who prefer a wax, it’s just a common misconception about how women think men want them to look.
ReplyDeleteKelsey Warkentin
Anna Grofik
ReplyDeleteAs Bobby discussed, most Americans would find it strange if men started waxing their bodies. It is interesting to note that the article of “Beauty Up” states that Japanese men do this for the approval of Japanese women and for their own aesthetic reasons. Also the prevalence of hair dying and facial care for Japanese men is something that I have seen first hand. In my old high school, I had always noticed that the Japanese male transfer students seem to take major care of their appearance. Some of them had died hair and looked as though they took very good care of their complexion. They appeared to be very feminine to me, in that, it was such a change compared to the American male classmates who held little concern for their appearance. I believe that it seems strange to us just because we haven’t experienced male beauty work as a major industry in the U.S. Also, Bobby’s discussion of the dangers of waxing as discussed in “The Political Economy of Choice” is something that should be paid attention to. I believe that harmful bodily practices shouldn’t be validated as a cultural expectation.
I find it very interesting where you say "If I were a woman I wouldn't want to risk my personal well being in order to remove hair for a month." This just shows how different the mindset is between men and women. No woman 'wants' to risk her personal health, but most all would due to the pressures they feel from our society, men, and even other women.
ReplyDeleteIn response to what Kelsey said, my little brother has started getting acne, and i have to say, it's pretty bad, but the only way we can actually get him to wash his face or use the products we've gotten for him is to hound him on it. He says he cares what he looks like, but he clearly is just not willing to put any amount of effort into his appearance at all. He's a sophomore in high school now, and I have been noticing some changes in his opinions. Before school started we spent hours in Vineyard Vines trying to find all the absolutely perfect pieces, and he even spends time in the morning now picking out something nice and that actually goes together rather than following my father's approach of just putting on whatever's on top of the pile. He's even made comments of how badly he wishes his leg hair would darken and every time I come home he'll stuff his armpit in my face to show me the improvement in his hair growth- obviously I love this part.
-Natalie Bennett
DeleteJust like Bobby mentioned, for males, getting ready in the morning is not a very daunting task. Looking presentable is all that they are looking to achieve. After reading the article about male hair removal, I was very shocked. Bobby said that he couldn’t imagine what it would be like not to have hair on his body. The idea of male hair removal in America is barbaric. It is very interesting for me to see Bobby’s point of view when it comes to female hair removal. Just like he stated, and I’m sure most men would feel the same, it’s not really worth the pain. However, for women it is more than just being hair free. By not removing hair, women are making a political stance. Women that do not remove their hair are put into certain categories such as being a hippie or a lesbian. It seems like a simple solution for guys, but when it comes to hair removal, women are trapped.
ReplyDelete