My client was telling me about how she
loves getting into her tracky dacks if she’s just staying home, and did I also
do this.
“Oh god no!” I gasped. “I don’t even own a pair.”
“What about your shoes?” she asked, looking
pointedly at my extreme platform heels. “Do you kick those off when you get
home?”
“Usually. And I put on my ugg boots. But I
don’t really do trackies,” I said, perhaps with a mere hint of superiority.
“And that coming from a woman who thinks ugg boots
are okay….” she muttered in good humour.
And she has a very valid point.
We took another group of clients to the
launch Kaz Cooke’s new book, Women’s Stuff (another great event put on by The Wheeler Centre). It was Judith Lucy chatting with Kaz – really funny and sufficiently
insightful, but what really bugged me were the judgments. So here are two smart,
well groomed and made up women on stage saying how ridiculous it is that so many
women now wear “prostitute shoes” (platform
high heels that were once only the domain of the working girl – and now me!),
having Botox, etc. I mean, really, if I like those shoes, why is it ridiculous?
I often think that in the
30s and 40s, a woman might have been considered a bit racy if she coloured her
hair. I’m not sure about you, but loads of my friends colour their hair and no
one thinks twice about it. So at what point do such things become okay? And who
decides that?
The Age this weekend had a story of women protesting in Harley Street London over the ‘pornographic
influence’ on the trend for the complete removal of pubic hair and the dramatic
increase in gynecological cosmetic surgery. It sounds bizarre and weird to me, but a
doctor I met who performs such operations assured me that in his practice, it
was mostly about being able to wear jeans, jog and have sex without discomfort.
And you can’t blame a girl for wanting that!
Porn has had a dramatic influence of our
current culture, (a subject for another post I’m sure!) but I’m not sure it’s
responsible for all female image concerns. I strongly suspect it’s us; the
sisterhood. We women are just all so judgmental of each other, we have our own
ideas of what is and isn’t acceptable in the pursuit of ‘beauty’ and we don’t
hesitate to apply that to everyone else.
So I’m going to try really hard to
remember that when trackie dacks next come up in conversation.
6 comments:
This post can't help but remind me of a time my dearly beloved boss (who shall of course remain nameless) suggested I should try wearing a bit more makeup to work. Ouch! She even went so far as to start buying me makeup as gifts - subtle as a brick. I now blame her for my insatiable appetite for overpriced MAC eyeshadow pots!
Oh come now JB, you know my motto - the only thing worse than mutton dressed as lamb, is mutton dressed as mutton!!! Go the lamb every time I say.
Yep, the sisterhood always more judgemental about each others appearance than any male I know. Get yourself a pair of trackies to go with the Uggs and try a day on " the dark side." Just don't get caught strutting down the high street in them as I did at the weekend. Damn - there goes my reputation as an " elegant" lady was my first thought. Ughhhh!
Okay JB - what colour where they? Confess now....
I'm often seen about on the weekend in knee length Nike running leggings - which seems completely acceptable on Melway map 59 for some reason, but it's pretty similar if you think about it...just tighter. MWWxx
From anonymous: This post can't help but remind me of a time my dearly beloved boss (who shall of course remain nameless) suggested I should try wearing a bit more makeup to work. Ouch! She even went so far as to start buying me makeup as gifts - subtle as a brick. I now blame her for my insatiable appetite for overpriced MAC eyeshadow pots!
Black of course MWW! I have contemplated Map 59 acceptable alternative [ Try current uniform] but " mutton dressed as lamb" comes to mind. My inner b$%ch making my judgement
Post a Comment