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Beard the lion in his den

Posted by Lewis on November 12, 2004

In Reply to: All Dolled Up posted by Lotg on November 12, 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.)

: Haha, I don't think most intelligent men would be lured by a burped alphabet - although, let's face it, if she's exceptionally gorgeous, and he thinks he's got a chance, I'm sure he'll at least pretend he thinks it's clever.

: I tend to agree with Smokey, it's as much about the reason and effort behind it, as the result. I know that if I'm feeling low, I tend not to bother with make-up (which is funny really, because it's probably when I most need the enhancement), but when I'm fired up, I make the effort. That doesn't mean I spend all my time 'dolled up', I also like to relax without it. It really depends on the situation, and as Smokey says, to some degree what you're trying to achieve.

: My father is an exceptionally conservative man who once said to me "I don't know why you women wear make up. It's unnatural." I said "if that's the case dad, why do you shave?"

: Silence was his reply. After a while he said, I feel clean and I look neat. I said "I've seen plenty of clean, neat men with beards - so I think it's more to do with the image you want to convey." He conceded defeat.

sounds like you "bearded the lion in his den" - which is better than "singeing his beard".

under stage lighting, make-up is necessary to avoid looking washed out, but so the women on the store beauty-counters sometimes make David Dickinson look natural. Their orange faces are 'cheap as chips'. Yuk.

Mind you, when I was a teen working in a store, a friend Melanie was a real babe and worked on the cosmetics without turning orange.

BTW - Slightly off-topic - talking of make-up promoting celebs - I think Big Brother's Nadia served me one time, but not in THAT way - I was buying perfume for the Mrs. She may now be nationally famous, but she still has to fill up the tank with petrol, in petrol stations that local people use.

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