On Mon, 14 Jul 2003, Hilary Russ wrote:
> Beauty products do make some people look better. Case in point: crusty,
> nasty, dry, scraggly, blistery toes hanging over sandals. Now, a pedicure
> will usually fix that right up. Some fetishists might like it, but
> otherwise, it cannot be said to appear healthy. I don't think it makes
> someone a bad person, and I will still be very good friends with people who
> have nasty feet. But I'm OK with saying that aesthetically, decently
> maintained feet look better than fucked up ones.
>
> -H
This provides another good example of the point I'm making. Why are people so concerned with having toes that look good in sandals? Again, it's not just because people naturally desire pedicures: it's because there is a beauty industry that generates and enforces this standard of how toes should look and obviously profits from the reinforcement of this standard. People lived on this planet for tens of thousands of years without pedicures and beauty salons! It's just lack of imagination to say "X is simply ugly", because the standards are not static and inevitable; they vary across time and place. (One example: piercings that a few generations ago would be considered "disgusting" in our society are sexy and beautiful now. --And so with all appearance standards.)
Miles