um, Paul Newman, Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford are still looking pretty damn good..

yeah, men get at least 25 more years than women before their
sell by date is up..

WTF Charles, she's 33.

and her lips have always been that way.

Reading what you have written, I imagine that you would like to be treated as well as your BF apparently is. Would you be willing to consider the possibility that his being well treated has more to do with his sensitivity to and consideration for others, than with his being a man?
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Wow, what an asshole you are. What place do you have to assume K has a shitty personality based on what tiny bit you know of her here? Wake up, dude. This is the way of the world. Perceptions of men and women differ regardless of their looks, and they also differ BECAUSE of them. lf you're assuming based on a couple of posts that it's because her boyfriend must just be nicer, you're either on another planet, or you're a sexist. l'd bet on both, personally.

l'm surprised nobody else noticed or commented on such a nasty and unsubstantiated suggestion.

Um, you can now scratch everything I said about his being beautiful on the inside as well.

I had a few phone calls last night that have pretty much caused me to lose complete respect and admiration for this man. At this point, I hope his looks can carry him along successfully because his lack of character and inability to be honest about damn near anything isn't going to help...well, unless he goes into politics (which has been on the table for a few years, believe it or not).

Beautiful or not, he's no longer a part of my equation. And I believe that the hundreds of other that have invested their time, effort, energy and money into ths biz we have ought to be given full disclosure as well. He's fucked up pretty big this time and it will affect many, many people if he doesn't grow the fuck up and find a way to make this right.

-K

For what it's worth, I find myself in agreement with almost everything you have said in this thread.
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l'm willing to bet that whatever she's said isn't quite what you said, however.

Women don't beat each other up over beauty (as often, anyway), but they can get downright evil with their words and manipulations. Some things jealous women do to one another can ruin lives, careers and reputations.

I've had sugar put in my gas tank because a girl liked a man who was interested in me. She hated that he gave me his attention. I have been accused of all manner of unethical things at my previous corporate job because my male employees had crushes on me. Some of the women got pissed off and a former assistant was angry that I wasn't attracted to him. He told a friend of mine he was sure he would be able to bed me, and when that dream was shattered, he launched a vendetta to get me fired. I guess the upside of being unattractive is that you don't have to deal with that bullshit... and why should I make myself look less attractive so assholes won;t show their own insecurities? I'm not going to straighten my hair to make better money in mainstream society either.

Oh yeah quel...you wanna play it like that.....Girl fight!!!!!!! Male fantasy alert! Beautiful women fighting! *hands quel a pillow since this is a retro fantasy*

Jealous people will always attribute your (or my or someone else's) success to something other than brains or hard work. People see something they want, they think it's unfair you (or I) have it and they don't, they attribute it to something outside of their power (the other person got it because they're beautiful, they're rich, they're friends with someone, etc). Of course, there *are* advantages and privileges that our society gives certain people - attractive people do get an easier time of it (which is why it's worth making oneself attractive, you don't actually have to be "beautiful" just look like you are) and there are doors that open when one is rich or educated at a certain school, etc. Whether the beautiful person consciously panders or uses their beauty to manipulate outcomes makes little difference ultimately since the person on the receiving end is the one being influenced and it has more to do with them than the beautiful person. Anything one stands out for will be the thing that also garners envy from others, particularly if it's something that innately holds social power - such as being beautiful or rich. People's jealousy essentially *comes* from their own unfulfilled needs and insecurities so for them, for whatever reason, there's a need to compete (a stupid need in my opinion but obviously important to the person feeling competitive).

I'd say that being beautiful is very much like being rich - both are forms of social power that one can work for or inherit, both are things held up as the apex of success and power in our society, both are things that even those who have want more of (there's never, ever enough and always someone richer or more beautiful!), both are things that give privileges that are automatic and taken for granted if one's born rich or beautiful, both can be burdens and destructive if not managed well (and if mistaken for substance not surface).

It happens that WOMEN aren't taken seriously for their non-physical attributes in professional and academic environments. One doesn't have to be beautiful or even obviously sexy to face this kind of discrimination. Envious and competitive people find other ways to diminish less attractive women who get great grades or excel too - often by pointing out that they're not classically beautiful or are a geek. There seems to be a somewhat similar dynamic in male culture between jocks and geeks/swats - the brains vs beauty dichotomy where it's considered unfair/unthinkable/undesirable for someone to be both brainy and beautiful, to be intellectual and sensual, to be a swat and a slut.

It's also worth mentioning that our society sells and completely runs on the idea that we all will be infinitely happy if we attain beauty and/or wealth, if one possesses what is desired and advertised as desirable. It's why there's never enough money or plastic surgery because people are looking for the cure for their existential malaise in the wrong places - a superficial bandage for a very deep need for meaning and purpose in our lives. So, it's kind of to be expected that anyone who buys into that paradigm will be resentful (or filled with vengeful glee) if the rich and beautiful aren't playing their role and fulfilling the social promise. You'll notice that people who have found meaning in their life and are good with who they are don't really give a rat's ass about this kind of thing, so it's really not worth sweating the resentments of petty people. Just my opinion, I *do* think it is worth being aware of the privileges as well as the burdens that come along with being beautiful simply because we're always aware of the downside and what we don't like about something but we're often unconscious of the upside and privileges since they're just how we're used to being treated. It allows us to be conscious of the experiences of others who may not have been as lucky in the birth lottery and have a realistic appreciation for both sides of the coin.

l would, unfortunately. l can't imagine it's any easier. Out of curiosity, what's your experience from a male perspective?

Where do you get that, Ali? I'm pretty straight forward and I don't believe I said younger men are at all smarter. I just think it's a counter experience to the former. It was tongue-in-cheek. It was a physical premise.

I actually have no preference in that way. I like guys for very cerebral reasons.

apparently Josh does!


i17.photobucket.com/albums/b...alban.jpg


:)

Alright, I digress, not ALL men become distinguished, BUT if a man has an awesome personality, he can slay, SLAY, at any age. A woman with an awesome personality at, say 50, is just deemed a cool old lady (I wish she were my mom.)

l guess it's something like a 10....? ;)