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All Dolled Up

Posted by ESC on November 11, 2004

In Reply to: All Dolled Up posted by Smokey Stover on November 11, 2004

: : : : :
: : : : : where did the phrase, all dolled up come from?

: : : : children's dolls are made to look artificially 'pretty' - so for a woman to put on her best face (use make-up) - she makes herself more doll-like, hence "to doll up".

: : : : Personally, most women look better without the appearance of working on the 'beauty' counter of a department store, but each to their own.

: : : : "Lip-gloss bitches suck!"
: : : : ("Big Brother" reference)

: : : : L

: : : Should women primp and use make-up? Well, there must be a reason for it, since they've been doing it as far back as there are any archaeological sites that might show it. (My spelling is in deference to Lewis, who I think is British.) In a way using make-up is like a politician lying. It's deception, and everyone knows it's deception, but it works anyway. After serious thought and a heavily biased survey of the subject, I've concluded that the enhancement of beauty that results from the use of cosmetics is less important than what the use of cosmetics says about the user. A woman who makes herself up says, "I want to look pretty. I want to be the lure that traps the flies. I'm interested in being interesting. Come on, fellows, take a look!" I like that in a woman. SS

: : I once read that a French painter once referred to piercing, tattoos and cosmetics as "vandalizing the body". Since it has been done since prehistory I see not point in fussing about it but I do agree that persons look better without all the attempts to affect appearance.

: I'd like to hear from the women, whether they do or don't. The first thing they will say is probably that men, too, get all dolled up. "Vanity, thy name is woman." Or man. Any men out there who confess to not being vain? Maybe we're mostly vain about other things than appearance. God made women highly conscious of their looks. We men can complain, or we can make the best of it. In either case, there must be an evolutionary reason for it. Duh! SS

DOLL, DOLL UP -- Calling a woman a "doll" dates back to 1904, according to Listening to America: An Illustrated History of Words and Phrases from Our Lively and Splendid Past by Stuart Berg Flexner (Simon and Schuster, New York, 1982). Another reference says "an attractive young woman" was called a "doll-baby" starting in 1908. "Dictionary of American Regional English," Volume II by Frederic G. Cassidy and Joan Houston Hall (1991, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., and London, England). "Doll up" meaning "to dress up" comes from the 1930s, according to "Flappers 2 Rappers: American Youth Slang" by Tom Dalzell (Merriam-Webster Inc., Springfield, Md., 1996)

In answer to the question above, I just try to not scare people. (Phrase attributed to my best friend June in the 1970s, West Virginia.)

Looks are everything in our society. If a woman is beautiful, she can burp the alphabet and men think she is brilliant. (Paraphrased from "Third Rock from the Sun," U.S. television program.)

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