[HPFGU-OTChatter] Meat Market Index- unselfconscious or slobs?

[Adana Robinson]

>From: dfrankiswork at netscape.net
(snip)
 >There are men who are completely unconcerned about their appearance, >and 
focus instead either on what they see as more important external >things 
like getting a job done,

I married a guy like that. Although sometimes I wish he'd make sure he's 
wearing the jeans _without_ the holes before he goes out in public, I'm 
proud of him for not being so conscious about his image.

>or on internal realities from which clothes and appearance are a 
> >misleading distraction.

Ummm...I think this is me. I know I stay locked up in my own head most of 
the time.  I make sure I'm neat and tidy in the morning, and that's pretty 
much it for the day.  ("Internal realities": Reading.  Writing.  HP.  
Lately, Strider/Aragorn.  "Misleading distractions": Work.  Housecleaning.  
Childcare...)

I'm thinking of starting a new religion with only a few commandments:  Thou 
shalt not iron anything.  Thou shalt not buy dry-clean-only clothes.  Thou 
shalt not buy new shoes until there are actual holes in the old ones.  Thou 
shalt not look in mirrors after 8:00 AM unless thou suspecteth something 
embarrassing, such as a piece of broccoli stuck in thy teeth.

I've got other things to do besides check my image all the time!

However, does this make me an honest, genuine un-status/self-conscious 
person, or just a slob?  Because I believe that "iron" and "blue-jean 
skirts" don't belong in the same sentence, my friends think that I am 
redneck trash.

>However, what intrigues me is that there are many men who *affect* to >be 
>unconcerned about their appearance, and may go to some lengths to 
> >demonstrate this by their scruffiness - but actually they are very 
> >concerned about their wider *image*.  They are, in effect, projecting 
> >the artificial message: I am a genuine kind of guy, and you can tell 
> >this because I'm not dandified (like those other people with whom I am 
> >in competition).  I have higher priorities than dress, or I know and 
> >live deeper realities than personal vanity.


This isn't just guys.  There are plenty of women out there who wear casual 
clothes that cost more than prom dresses, spend lots of money and time 
getting their hair cut in just the perfect fashion to tousle it recklessly, 
wear make-up advertised to make you look "natural" (and where's the point of 
that?) and otherwise go to great lengths to convey the fact "I don't care 
how I look."  The thing is, most guys are deceived by this.


>British people are very image-conscious.  I do not know enough about >other 
>nationalities to say whether we are comparatively bad, but we >are 
>absolutely bad without a doubt.

I don't know enough about British people to judge, but I'd have to say 
Americans are among the world's worst.  However, in the last few months the 
image we have tried to live up to has changed, and all for the better in my 
opinion.  I don't know how long it will last, but I'm grateful for it.

>Pippin, we need your second commandment post.

I haven't seen this, but it sounds interesting...

And Tabouli, could you just cross and uncross your legs a couple of times 
again?

Um...er....OK, whatever floats your boat.

I have some of those knee-high black boots.  They go really well with a long 
straight skirt I have, so at one time I was contemplating wearing them with 
a long flowing black dress.  I asked my friend about this, and she looked at 
me for a long moment, then made slow choking noises and gasped out "Luke...I 
am your father!"

I didn't wear the boots.

But, David, I'll send you a picture of the boots if you'll send me a picture 
of the straggly hair and beard (from the "Viggo" thread)...

:)

Adana


_________________________________________________________________
MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: 
http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx