About #2: Yeah I’m a guy and I’ve recently taken up makeup classes (mostly for theatrical/fantasy purposes) but sometimes I go out and I think I look bad and I just puff it up a bit now that I know to give me a bit more of a healthy glow. Just slightly so, tiny bit of powder, a bit of color to cover the dark under my eyes when I’m tired, stuff like that.
I think most women do this without thinking, as a man I was not even aware of the possibilities. I thought makeup was all the super obvious stuff. Like mascara, eyeshadow and lipstick.
Im glad you’re pushing the boundaries for men and happy it’s working for you. Personally though I could never see myself using makeup. I look like a goddamn revenant so I could use it but vanity is just so dysphoric for me in general. I want my outside to reflect my inside. I’m deeply cynical, pessimistic, and unfortunately very jaded. Putting on makeup, showing any skin, or wearing colored clothing kind of feels like a perversion of my self image.
Despite very little care for my appearance, people still tell me I’m attractive somewhat regularly. I don’t really feel it though. I can’t tell if it’s because I don’t believe it or because I don’t want it. I’m not really sure if I love beauty or hate beauty, or maybe both because it evokes so many polar opposite emotions for me simultaneously. Is striving to be beautiful a noble goal for anyone? In some ways I think we should all try to be beautiful, then I think some more and feel like it’s all a dirty trick.
Why do we even want to be beautiful? So we can trick people into treating us better than we deserve? So we can trick people into locking their life to ours when they wouldn’t otherwise? Or is it something higher level than that, like striving to reach closer to some divine form?
I’m in California right now, surrounded by beautiful people. It’s driving me insane. Seeing so many beautiful women fills me with such a strong feeling of sadness, knowing I’ll never be able to hold them, care for them, love them, protect them, etc. But why do I even feel this compulsion? I know nothing about them and for all I know they could be completely without any virtue at all. The more I think about them the more I feel that could be the case. I think back to all the time I’ve wasted chasing beauty, the numerous times I’ve completely fucked up my life for beautiful women. Then I come to hate myself knowing my perfect match may not be beautiful and I might never give them the time of day for that. Or I will, and live my whole life secretly resenting them for not being beautiful, wishing for something else.
I guess that’s the end of my unhinged rant. But I want to know, in your view, what is the purpose of being beautiful?
It’s about feeling good about myself more than about others. I tend to be pretty elaborate with party makeup, like in a cosplay sense. People like it when you make an effort. And it makes me feel better about myself which in turn gives me more confidence. And control over my appearance.
So for me changing my outward image also improves my self image!
The other stuff I mentioned is more just tricks. Sometimes I’m tired and I don’t want people to notice that too much.
About #2: Yeah I’m a guy and I’ve recently taken up makeup classes (mostly for theatrical/fantasy purposes) but sometimes I go out and I think I look bad and I just puff it up a bit now that I know to give me a bit more of a healthy glow. Just slightly so, tiny bit of powder, a bit of color to cover the dark under my eyes when I’m tired, stuff like that.
I think most women do this without thinking, as a man I was not even aware of the possibilities. I thought makeup was all the super obvious stuff. Like mascara, eyeshadow and lipstick.
Im glad you’re pushing the boundaries for men and happy it’s working for you. Personally though I could never see myself using makeup. I look like a goddamn revenant so I could use it but vanity is just so dysphoric for me in general. I want my outside to reflect my inside. I’m deeply cynical, pessimistic, and unfortunately very jaded. Putting on makeup, showing any skin, or wearing colored clothing kind of feels like a perversion of my self image.
Despite very little care for my appearance, people still tell me I’m attractive somewhat regularly. I don’t really feel it though. I can’t tell if it’s because I don’t believe it or because I don’t want it. I’m not really sure if I love beauty or hate beauty, or maybe both because it evokes so many polar opposite emotions for me simultaneously. Is striving to be beautiful a noble goal for anyone? In some ways I think we should all try to be beautiful, then I think some more and feel like it’s all a dirty trick.
Why do we even want to be beautiful? So we can trick people into treating us better than we deserve? So we can trick people into locking their life to ours when they wouldn’t otherwise? Or is it something higher level than that, like striving to reach closer to some divine form?
I’m in California right now, surrounded by beautiful people. It’s driving me insane. Seeing so many beautiful women fills me with such a strong feeling of sadness, knowing I’ll never be able to hold them, care for them, love them, protect them, etc. But why do I even feel this compulsion? I know nothing about them and for all I know they could be completely without any virtue at all. The more I think about them the more I feel that could be the case. I think back to all the time I’ve wasted chasing beauty, the numerous times I’ve completely fucked up my life for beautiful women. Then I come to hate myself knowing my perfect match may not be beautiful and I might never give them the time of day for that. Or I will, and live my whole life secretly resenting them for not being beautiful, wishing for something else.
I guess that’s the end of my unhinged rant. But I want to know, in your view, what is the purpose of being beautiful?
It’s about feeling good about myself more than about others. I tend to be pretty elaborate with party makeup, like in a cosplay sense. People like it when you make an effort. And it makes me feel better about myself which in turn gives me more confidence. And control over my appearance.
So for me changing my outward image also improves my self image!
The other stuff I mentioned is more just tricks. Sometimes I’m tired and I don’t want people to notice that too much.