At school, we spend a lot of time trying not to say things that might gender stereotype or restrict things in any way make a child feel they can't do something because it is not 'typical' for their gender. I have had to talk to boys who refuse to do something because they think it is deemed 'girly' and explain that they can do that, of course they can, if they want to. Some stereotypes are hard to break... Strangely enough, I get it less with girls. However, when I write 'Girl things' here, I mean things that are often associated with girls!
1. False nails
Urgh, I think it would drive me mad! I can't stand my nails being long! Part of being a regular musician and a player of the piano, viola, flute and recorder is the necessity for short-nails, so I have always had them and honestly, I cannot cope if they grow long. Plus, I've always had a fear of excessively long nails due to a scary Doctor Who serial called, The Curse of Fenric, which terrified me for years as a child- the 'monsters' in this were vampiric girls with long talons. Shudder. Plus, I don't like the idea of having false nails such to my fingers.
2. Manicures regularly- again, or having to put nail paint on!
What a Faffety faff! I find I use my hands far too much to countenance this and it just seems a waste. Plus, sitting there waiting for someone to do things to your hands just seems a grand waste of time. They always look terrible when I do them nowadays anyway! Plus, the whole process just seems very expensive for what it is!
3. Plucking eyebrows
No way am I pulling hairs out by the root from my face! The precision and time-consuming nature of this fills me with dread, let alone the associated pain! I struggle to remember and have time to moisturise my legs (once a week or a fortnight if I am lucky!), let alone having to sort out unruly brows. Luckily, my ones are naturally a fairly nice shape and I don't have a mono-brow. When I went to have a hair trial at a salon for my wedding (didn't end up going with the salon in the end), the beautician kept telling me I should get my brows done. This was a) rather insulting and b) meaning I will be stuck with this chore forever more. No thanks!
4. Waxing
No, no, no, no....
I have had this done twice. And do you know, it is NOT worth it. Pain, awful pain and then it grows back! The idea of paying good money for pain does not sit well with me.
5. Clutch bags
I know I have bag issues. I struggle to fit things into one bag. CBC despairs of me hulking a great sack around with me (at one wedding, he was rather pleased with me for the delicate, petite handbag I was holding until he noticed I was holding a secondary larger bag behind me...), my Mum and old acquaintances refer to me as the Bag Lady. The idea of a clutch seems to me like trying to carry your essentials around in a pencil case! Impossible! I always have to have a book with me and all the essentials and a clutch does not cut the muster!
Thursday, May 25, 2017
24 comments:
Greetings! Welcome to the maaaaaadness! I am so glad you came to visit and leave me a pretty comment!! Would you like tea and cakes? The books are over on the shelf! I have sofas a-plenty so leave us a friendly comment and I'll pretty much guarantee I'll come a-visiting to you at some point soon!! This blog-post will self-destruct in 2 minutes. Go, type, type, type!!!!! (and put a hat on!)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I'm having bag issues. What is the perfect bag? It needs to carry that pencil case, ideally, for the notebook that also doesn't fit in my current one. I'm finding it trickier to discuss agreement of past participles when teaching the perfect tense (in French) because of the whole gender thing.
ReplyDeleteHahaha, this is hilarious. Oh my goodness, I can't even think of false nails. I do my own nails and would never pay someone to do my nails for me. I like to differ from the male gender anyway.
ReplyDeleteI can never wear long nails because I always have to have my hands in hot water but I love the manicures nails but it doesn't fit my farmer life style right now. I frankly detest the French square nails. They look awkward to work with. Mind you, I don't play a musical instrument but I'm scared to maim my face in my sleep haha.
I have a cute black beaded little clutch purse that is perfect for a classy night out but those classy night outings are far and few between lately from my own choosing.... Truth be told, after a hectic day, I love to stay put at home. My husband love to go, go go all the time. Maybe he should wear my cute sparkly clutch purse then.
I used to pluck my thick brows but I haven't plucked a single hair off my brows since I had chemo for breast cancer in 2003. My brow hairs have stayed plucked since them, really... I have a thin plucked permanent line since then.
Chemo has taken care of my hairy legs too and I haven't put a razor to my legs since chemo.
My motto is do what ever pleases you that makes you comfortable.
Ugs, Julia
Oops, That should be "Hugs, Julia"
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of these, plus no make up - ever, and no high heeled shoes. Comfort ahead of looks every time is my motto.
ReplyDeleteYep, they all sound about right to me! Also high heels.
ReplyDeleteTotally with you, especially on the false nails and bag thing! I'm a rucksack woman - clutch bags fill me with utter dread! Liz x
ReplyDeleteI LOVE THIS!!!!! Yep agree on all points. Eyebrows schmybrows. I'm not going with a fad.
ReplyDeletePs I don't even moisturise.
Me neither, despite a childhood in Norfolk, in sunshine and wind. Have you seen the price of moisturiser???!!!
DeleteGreat! No false nails or manicures here either, nor that dreadful fake tan. (the orange stuff) Still do the eyebrows though...old habits die hard. xx
ReplyDeleteI do admit to plucking my eyebrows just a tiny bit, but I totally can only totally agree with the other four, Kezzie. Although I love handbags, I can only ever use the ones with sufficient space ... The other are purely for decoration! xxx
ReplyDeleteAww, I can't stand not having my eyebrows in shape. I sort any unwanted hairs a couple of times a week, even more often. I don't like waxing, so much pain. I don't like false nails either, why would I use them. I keep my nails very long, but those are my nails.
ReplyDeleteIt can be annoying to do something delicate due of my long nails (like working with fondant), but I don't want to cut them short, unless one of them breaks. They are usually quite sturdy, even with housework and cooking and stuff.
I pluck my eyebrows when I remember, but I don't really shape them - just thin them out a bit. If I had a monobrow or really dark, thick eyebrows I would definitely pluck regularly just because that isn't a look I like.
ReplyDeleteNever had a manicure but I have quite a few nail varnishes from when I used to like painting every nail a different colour :-D
I've never waxed. Don't even like the thought of it! I'll stick to my razor, thanks!
I'm so with you on these things! My nails can't breathe with nail polish but I still do it maybe twice a year max. And long nails, I can't stand them. I admire beautiful manicures on other people but often wonder how really long nails function. Handbags, I wish I didn't need one at all. Waxing, never. Moisturizer just gunks up my skin after I've cleansed it. Why would I do that? Although it feels good sometimes. Great list!
ReplyDeleteI used to grow my nails really long, until one day I looked down, got creeped put, cut them short and they've been short ever since! And now there's this trend going around where people have pointy nails, I don't get it! I do like painted nails, but they chips in less than a day so that's kind of a waste of time. I do have a clutch.. That I throw in my backpack! ;) Fads are annoying, I think it's far more interesting when people follow their own personal style!
ReplyDeleteYep! Like everyone else, I'm with you on all of these (although if I do go to a wedding I can manage with a small bag - just not the rest of the time.) I'm not a girly girl, as I don't even wear make up - much to the dismay of a dear male friend of mine, who gave me a makeup bag full of appropriately coloured makeup as a gift. I hardly used it! I can't do with the faff of putting it on, nor the forgetting to take it off + associated dirty pillowcases! I don't moisturise, or cleanse/tone my face at night. I rarely wear perfume and can get ready for a night out in 10 minutes. I keep reminding Mr FD that I am remarkably low maintenence!
ReplyDeleteOoo yes I'm with you on all of these, except I do pluck my eyebrows on occasion. And I definitely have to have at least one roomy bag, I quite often head off to work with 3 bags (handbag, bag with lunch/cardi/scarf/books etc, and swimming bag - and I live 5 mins from work, I could easily walk home and get anything I need!!)
ReplyDeleteI've also given up using shampoo, makeup, wearing earrings, shaving my legs.....
I have a large basket full of different sized bags and I use whichever is appropriate for the event. Small cross-body bag when I want to cycle to shop for emergency milk or eggs (purse, phone keys) , tiny clutch for funerals (phone keys Hankie) middle sized bags (for church, bible, sermon notes, etc) through to large satchel containing everything (Inc sewing kit, tape measure, file fax...) OH despairs of my bag collection.
ReplyDeleteFalse nails are a no from me, although I have tried them in the past. I do like to have a bit of length to my nails and I am almost always wearing nail polish but I do get irritated by them if they grow too long. I’ve had a few manicures for special occasions but I can’t imagine bothering on a weekly basis - all that small talk you’d have to make - ugh! I have always wondered why people have false nails on their toes! Ugh, how weird must that feel…?!!!
ReplyDeleteAs for eyebrows I pluck a few strays but that’s it, my brows are really low maintenance. Waxing? Tried it, in a salon and at home but I can’t be bothered with waiting for regrowth to be long enough (they say o.5mm but that’s a lie!)
I do like a clutch bag as I find I carry things around with my that I never use, that said I only use them for special events - weddings, balls, parties which are all times I find I don’t need much more than my phone, purse and lip balm anyway.
One thing I don’t bother with is dying my hair. I’ve started to go grey but I really don’t mind and the weekly (or is it fortnightly) touch ups seem like too much hassle to me. Why is everyone so afraid of going grey? At the moment it really doesn’t bother me - note I say ‘at the moment’? Who knows how I feel when grey hairs start to outnumber the brunette ;)
I actually can't bother with any of these too:). I read somewhere that false nails and acrylic nails are extremely unhygienic because supposedly a lot of bacteria gets stuck in there between our real and false nails (it makes sense to me)... so now I fell justified in refusing to give in to this trend.
ReplyDeleteThis was GREAT! Love this post. I agree pretty much with all of these. I do occasionally go in and get a pedicure because it's a total waste of time for me to get a manicure ... rather like a hairless dog getting a grooming. My nails are pathetic, and like you, I keep them short-very-short for piano playing and gardening. I loathe all waxing and plucking. I used to pluck my bushy eyebrows, but I should have stopped sooner, because now they are rather thin and pale. And clutch bags? Argh! Save us all! I must have a bag that goes over my shoulder. How is it helpful to have a bag that occupies one whole hand all the time? I would lose it in 5 seconds. Thanks, Kezzie, for speaking for us all!
ReplyDeleteYou know -- I'm sharing this post on FB because I know many women need to read this! I hope you don't mind :)
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited to find a whole page worth of ladies who share my obsession with not being obsessed with this stuff, lol! I was recently worrying about what to take along as a handbag to my son's wedding. I think my huge bag will stay in the car and I'll wear a money belt under my dress containing car keys and valuables! Got to have a spacious bag. I have plucked a few thick, curvy eyebrow hairs lately. Seems they do weird things as you get older. But my brows are pretty spotty anyway, so I'm not aiming for perfection. I'm a natural gal of the '60's and '70's. I totally agree with all you said. Comfort first!
ReplyDeleteThat made me smile. Some false nails look great, some look hideous. I can't be faffed with it all like you.
ReplyDeleteAs for the waxing, never in a month of Sundays will you get me to do that!
Lisa x
98% of things we associate with one gender or the other are CULTURAL, not natural. Which is important to realize because when we reject them, we're merely declining to go along with what one society has prescribed at a particular point in time. Other societies, and even our own in the past, have had different rules for boys and girls.
ReplyDeleteThe degree of work and artifice called "beauty" today that is expected of women is astounding and not in a good way. When I was young, women weren't supposed to dye their hair, pluck and wax everywhere, etc. There's something wrong with those ridiculous expectations. I'm totally with you on these things. Long nails, fake eyelashes, etc. are just too much work.