Foo - In a Barbie world

So my friend Laura told me that she wanted to go to The Women's Ultimate Expo in SF - with Helen Hunt as one of the keynote speakers. Sounded good, I suppose. "Have fun, Laura!" :thumb:

Well, she came to me the next day and told me that she got two tickets because it was buy two for the price of one, and that I can go with her.

:rolleyes:

Lemme tellya, as soon as I got into the front of the place, I knew exactly what was going to go on in there. Just walking in, the smell of a strong mixture of fragrances hit me and immediately my allergies kicked in.

Looking around, I noticed that there was a HUGE sign telling people about the beauty seminars upstairs. There were booze sample booths all lined up on one side, and that area was crowded as if it were a slapchop demo. To the left the line for the women's bathroom was as bad as if this were a rock concert with an extended set.

550 booths. Make up, perfume, wigs, hair products, stiletto heels, figure enhancing undergarments, lotions, soaps, powders, things that make you stand up taller, things to make your teeth whiter, or your teeth straighter, things that make your shoulders go back so your bosom sticks out more, miracle skin tightening, things you ingest to clean out your colon so you don't have the tummy bulge. Plastic surgery.

Oh and of course jewelry, purses, accents for clothing such as dingle doo haws to hang on your phone to make it cuter.

Attending without make up such as I did was a curse. Walking though there, so many people were offering me this, a sample of that, Let me show you this, have a spritz of this, "Come, I'll make you look BEEEYOOTEEFUL!"

Sales sales sales. All designed to plant in your mind how ugly you are to be you.

Plastic women all around me with cakes of make up, breast enhancements and fake smiles having the hardest time walking in those ankle breaking high heels.

Five hours in Barbies world. Enough is enough. I had to leave. I didn't even get to hear Helen Hunt speak.

No wonder my headache wont' go away.

So what did you buy? We want pictures. ;)

Did they have any knives?

Sooo, whatcha buy?

So what did you buy? We want pictures. ;)

Did they have any knives?
Beat me to it (LOL)

They had Cutco kitchen knives. Whoopee.

I bought a handmade bag from Global Mamas (http://www.womeninprogress.org/globalmamas.asp), a non profit organization to support sustainable lives for women in Ghana who earn less than $2 per day.

They held this in SF? Talk about not knowing your local audience.

It would have been interesting to hear what Helen Hunt had to say. Probably something about women empowering themselves, I would guess. I'm betting the show promoters wouldn't see the irony.

They held this in SF? Talk about not knowing your local audience.

Were there a lot of guys there?

I hate what this country has become... doctors who don't care about anything but money, people who try to convince you that your too ugly or too fat to hock they're stupid products and make money off of all your insecurities. for all the great things we have accomplished....we still only care about profit and put it above all other things including human life.

The booze sample booths sounded promising.

I'm amazed that she lasted five hours,I would have bet less than two!

Why did I suddenly think of the Bebe ads? Angry looking, anorexic women with pasty complexions and raccoon eyes?

I'm amazed that she lasted five hours,I would have bet less than two!
I couldn't last 5 hours in a place I liked. Even 2 sounds excessive.

There is only one cure for this: You must go and spend several hours hanging out in your local bike shop, or the tool department at Home Depot, immediately.

Were there a lot of guys there?

Okay, you're in Texico so I will explain this for the out-of-towners without getting myself banned. SF is chock full of... hmm, shall we say, women who aren't exactly women and men who aren't exactly men, if you catch my drift. Also, it's full of people who would protest such an expo.

So Siu... were there any protests?

Were there a lot of guys there?

They were surrounding the breast enhancement booth.

Okay, you're in Texico so I will explain this for the out-of-towners without getting myself banned. SF is chock full of... hmm, shall we say, women who aren't exactly women and men who aren't exactly men, if you catch my drift. Also, it's full of people who would protest such an expo.

So Siu... were there any protests?

"Hello Frisco":thumb:

So my friend Laura told me that she wanted to go to The Women's Ultimate Expo in SF - with Helen Hunt as one of the keynote speakers. Sounded good, I suppose. "Have fun, Laura!" :thumb:

Well, she came to me the next day and told me that she got two tickets because it was buy two for the price of one, and that I can go with her.

:rolleyes:

Lemme tellya, as soon as I got into the front of the place, I knew exactly what was going to go on in there. Just walking in, the smell of a strong mixture of fragrances hit me and immediately my allergies kicked in.

Looking around, I noticed that there was a HUGE sign telling people about the beauty seminars upstairs. There were booze sample booths all lined up on one side, and that area was crowded as if it were a slapchop demo. To the left the line for the women's bathroom was as bad as if this were a rock concert with an extended set.

550 booths. Make up, perfume, wigs, hair products, stiletto heels, figure enhancing undergarments, lotions, soaps, powders, things that make you stand up taller, things to make your teeth whiter, or your teeth straighter, things that make your shoulders go back so your bosom sticks out more, miracle skin tightening, things you ingest to clean out your colon so you don't have the tummy bulge. Plastic surgery.

Oh and of course jewelry, purses, accents for clothing such as dingle doo haws to hang on your phone to make it cuter.

Attending without make up such as I did was a curse. Walking though there, so many people were offering me this, a sample of that, Let me show you this, have a spritz of this, "Come, I'll make you look BEEEYOOTEEFUL!"

Sales sales sales. All designed to plant in your mind how ugly you are to be you.
Plastic women all around me with cakes of make up, breast enhancements and fake smiles having the hardest time walking in those ankle breaking high heels.

Five hours in Barbies world. Enough is enough. I had to leave. I didn't even get to hear Helen Hunt speak.

No wonder my headache wont' go away.


Only weak minded people fall for that bull****. Most beautiful thing in the world is an all natural woman. Period.

I hate what this country has become... doctors who don't care about anything but money, people who try to convince you that your too ugly or too fat to hock they're stupid products and make money off of all your insecurities. for all the great things we have accomplished....we still only care about profit and put it above all other things including human life.

People who don't care enough to spell correctly or use the right words... :innocent:

BTW, Siu... SF Bike Expo is at the COW Palace on 6 Nov. Just in case you need to compensate. :)

5 hours! Were you restrained and without your knives? Row upon endless rows of make up, crappy accessories, and wigs would make me crazy in minutes. AND perfume spritzers?! Eek I hate those things. My best friend tried to guilt me into going to a wedding planning show and I refused hours of perusing flower arrangements and engagement ring displays (I think she's exchanged her engagement ring twice so far). Horrible stuff.

5 hours is a long time... and you didn't stab anyone? impressive.

I didn't stab anyone, I didn't bring a knife because I'm still kind of sore for stabbing myself the other day.

But seriously, I'm amazed at how many women there were out to impress...it was like a car show but with WOMEN. Who has the better upgrades?? Who has the coolest body modifications? On some of them, there was not a hair out of place. Well do you know why? Because of all the hairspray!! One gal leaned over to look at cosmetics and her hair did not move! At all!

And the sad part is, they say that it's done to impress the guys (thus making the women feel good about them self) but I'm wondering if the guys really do like all that makeup ....it's just a cover up! It's a facade. It's fancy paint on a regular stucco building.

I don't understand how someone would have implants either. To invade your body for the visual and physical pleasure of another person. I don't get it. Some women will say that they do it for them self, not for anyone else. But it's to feel good about the way she looks, which means she is not happy with her natural body, her natural self. :(

Siu, maybe you should have gotten a makeover. Look what they did for the teenage mutant ninja turtles:

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r162/jsharr/ninja-turtles.jpg

Seems like that's always been the world we live in; just with better technologies nowadays. Men & women both go for the best they can get (better for the gene-pool). Guys have to live up to certain ideals for women, why not women for men? Heck, I don't see hordes of women clamouring over each other to get the short, overweight, balding, lazy, unemployed couch-potato with bad teeth who watches sports on TV all day. When that happens, men will prefer non-Barbies as well.

Even with the same woman, which would you prefer?

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e346/DannoXYZ/Photography/beforeAfter_2.jpghttp://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e346/DannoXYZ/Photography/beforeAfter_4.jpghttp://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e346/DannoXYZ/Photography/beforeAfter_5.jpghttp://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e346/DannoXYZ/Photography/beforeAfter_6.jpghttp://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e346/DannoXYZ/Photography/beforeAfter_7.jpg

Siu, maybe you should have gotten a makeover. Look what they did for the teenage mutant ninja turtles:

Michelangelo is looking good for despite the consumption of large amounts of pizza.

Only weak minded people fall for that bull****. Shhh... don't give away the secret!!! Weak-minded chics area easier to get into bed! Bonus if they're a Barbie!!!

The booze sample booths sounded promising.


They were surrounding the breast enhancement booth.

Especially if they were close together. 2 hours sounds like way too much time to me too.

Danno, taking care of oneself is different than covering up. Bad teeth, overweight due to bad eating habits, that's not what I'm talking about. The negative state of mind to allow oneself to 'rot', that's not something that is attractive, I would think. But doing the best you can to take care of your body's health, that's awesome!

My sister in law is as active as she can be but she has a thyroid issue that keeps her overweight. Her heart and other organs are fine, as well as her blood pressure. She has a positive fun loving attitude about life and living and keeps active. And she wears no make up. She's absolutely stunning. :)

The ladies you have posted look nice and natural in their unfettered beauty. Especially the last two. They aged nicely. Why deny that?

Danno, taking care of oneself is different than covering up. Bad teeth, overweight due to bad eating habits, that's not what I'm talking about. The negative state of mind to allow oneself to 'rot', that's not something that is attractive, I would think. But doing the best you can to take care of your body's health, that's awesome! Exactly! I'm sure there's a lot of overlap and criss-cross between the "taking care of oneself" versus "covering up". There's only so much you can do with each, and when combined, you achieve a result that cannot be done with either alone. The problem comes in when people think that just one or the other method is all that's necessary. All societies have group-pressures to fit-in in order to get its benefits. I don't see anything wrong with doing everything you can in both techniques to get ahead in life.



My sister in law is as active as she can be but she has a thyroid issue that keeps her overweight. Her heart and other organs are fine, as well as her blood pressure. She has a positive fun loving attitude about life and living and keeps active. And she wears no make up. She's absolutely stunning. :)

The ladies you have posted look nice and natural in their unfettered beauty. Especially the last two. They aged nicely. Why deny that?It comes down to what kind of an effect you want to achieve out there. I agree that older women who've aged nicely shouldn't deny it. A lot of people do have aging issues and there are numerous aids to help them look younger. That's fine. It's actually quite silly when I see older people trying to dress like teenagers though; I can't help but laugh at them sometimes.

However, aesthetics does have a place in society in the mating-game. Way back when we could barely walk and talk, sub-conscious cues to the potential mate's probability of helping us produce viable and long-lived offspring was a real concern. Deep within us are still the same drives, desires and sorting mechanisms. Thousands of anthropological and psychological studies and careers have been based on this, so I won't go into details. Maybe just a little of the effects. When presented with this:

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e346/DannoXYZ/Photography/MaleModel1.jpg

The vast majority of women chose the sample on the left. Purely physical traits such as height and build plays a large role in the mate-sorting methodology.

Heck, I've been with so many models over the years. I really don't see their personalities as being any different than regular people. They are just born with a birth-defect, I won't hold it against them! Well, it did take many years of training and hard work as well. So if I'm going to have two samples with identical traits such as successful career, speaks 4 languages, knows when to shake hands, curtsy or bow, can keep up with me on the bike, motorcycle or racecar, can dance all the classics as well as salsa, tango, merengue, chacha and bachata, I might as well pick the hot one as a bonus. But I only allow Barbies 30-minutes of primp time, after that I'm bored and on my way out. So what if cover-up techniques can help anyone else find a mate? I won't disparage their efforts and think it's great!

I briefly heard on the local news that one of those "expos" is heading down this way. Yikeroni! Yet another festival of women overdoing other women for their "men" who don't care for that crap.

I briefly heard on the local news that one of those "expos" is heading down this way. Yikeroni! Yet another festival of women overdoing other women for their "men" who don't care for that crap.Well, guys are so good at lying, they even lie to themselves and believe it!

Plastic women are an extreme turn off for me. Any woman who goes to that much trouble to try and look like a barbie doll has got to have some serious baggage.

SBW-I'm glad you got the wisdom and confidence to see beyond the marketing crap. Even a couple weeks ago at Interbike, half of marketing ws designed to make one feel insecure about their current ride and eqt. The other half of the industry was just great bike gear. That was a blast.

SBW, with bikes, knives, PU and attitude is all the sexy any woman would ever need.

PS: Do you Fly fish?

Seems like that's always been the world we live in; just with better technologies nowadays. Men & women both go for the best they can get (better for the gene-pool). Guys have to live up to certain ideals for women, why not women for men?Heck, I don't see hordes of women clamouring over each other to get the short, overweight, balding, lazy, unemployed couch-potato with bad teeth who watches sports on TV all day. When that happens, men will prefer non-Barbies as well.

Even with the same woman, which would you prefer?

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e346/DannoXYZ/Photography/beforeAfter_2.jpghttp://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e346/DannoXYZ/Photography/beforeAfter_4.jpghttp://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e346/DannoXYZ/Photography/beforeAfter_5.jpghttp://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e346/DannoXYZ/Photography/beforeAfter_6.jpghttp://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e346/DannoXYZ/Photography/beforeAfter_7.jpg


Thats instinctual, the other is not true, men and woman do not have to live up to certain ideals, they choose too, and thats what makes them fake. Its like marrying a blonde 'cause you always loved bonde woman just to find out on your honeymoon that she is not really a blonde.

ooOoooOoo scary show!

Thats instinctual, the other is not true, men and woman do not have to live up to certain ideals, they choose too, and thats what makes them fake. Its like marrying a blonde 'cause you always loved bonde woman just to find out on your honeymoon that she is not really a blonde.

BINGO! It's a choice.

And to think that I get really depressed the two days a year my wife decides to wear make-up.

Come to think of it, before I got married, I didn't date a single woman who ever wore make-up. I know my wife has a make-up bag that she uses twice a year, tops, but other than that, I don't even have any female friends who own make-up!

Thats instinctual, the other is not true, men and woman do not have to live up to certain ideals, they choose too, and thats what makes them fake. Its like marrying a blonde 'cause you always loved bonde woman just to find out on your honeymoon that she is not really a blonde.

Or really a woman! yikes.

Now thats just wrong.......LOL! but funny! LOL!

BINGO! It's a choice.

A very bad choice if you ask me. I can't understand why men love fake women?! and vice versa?! You meet and end up marrying what you think is a beautiful woman with long blonde hair, well kept nails, beautiful skin, and the boobs that most men love. Then you wake up one day and realize shes really a brunette, has nail fungus, when shes not wearing layers of make up her skin looks like an everything pizza, and her body is now sagging in places that shouldn't be sagging 'cause her implants sprang a leak.

Even with the same woman, which would you prefer?
Speaking totally honesty, I'd pick the normal looking one every time.

It's purely practical. The Barbie images scream high maintenance to me. There are some very attractive people that are great to be around, but it seems like Barbie types are far more likely to be stuck on themselves. It's a ton of work to have clothes, hair, makeup, etc all perfect and I know if I spend much time with them, I'll get drawn into that. I'll avoid that if I can.


... taking care of oneself is different than covering up....
This. People look best when they are themselves.

A very bad choice if you ask me. I can't understand why men love fake women?! and vice versa?! You meet and end up marrying what you think is a beautiful woman with long blonde hair, well kept nails, beautiful skin, and the boobs that most men love. Then you wake up one day and realize shes really a brunette, has nail fungus, when shes not wearing layers of make up her skin looks like an everything pizza, and her body is now sagging in places that shouldn't be sagging 'cause her implants sprang a leak.


Oh this is so sad because you JUST described a woman I know. To the T. She dyes her hair, she wears the fake nails and has so much fungus that she HAS no nails, she just glues them to the remnants of her nail bed. She wears so much make up too, that on a day over 90 degrees you can see how the heat affects it.

:(

And as for the guys, perhaps they want a trophy wife. Someone they can show off to the guys and give them ideas of how good he has it to have such a ....Barbie to cater to them.

I absolutely hate going to things where there are tons of people indoors. Always feel really cooped up and rather uncomfortable. Outdoors I'm perfectly fine. Cooped up I can deal with, the noise though gets to me.

Sorry that you got a headache due to that place.

A very bad choice if you ask me. I can't understand why men love fake women?! and vice versa?! You meet and end up marrying what you think is a beautiful woman with long blonde hair, well kept nails, beautiful skin, and the boobs that most men love. Then you wake up one day and realize shes really a brunette, has nail fungus, when shes not wearing layers of make up her skin looks like an everything pizza, and her body is now sagging in places that shouldn't be sagging 'cause her implants sprang a leak.I pretty much agree with everything you've mentioned, especially the part about making choices in life. While we are motivated by drives originating in the reptilian brain, we have a choice in how hard we want to work at it. The complications come in when trying to find a mate on the dating-ladder. Many people's natural instinct in life is to do the least amount of work in life and you end up with a fat, out-of-shape, lazy couch-potato with bad teeth and hair. How likely is this person to attract and mate with a David or Victoria Beckham? There's a mismatch on the ladder where you're trying to attract someone way too high above you.

So you stop being lazy and start exercising and taking care of yourself physically, emotionally and professionally. You go to the gym and exercise regularly. You work on dealing with and letting go of past trauma. You study or go to night-classes and advance your careere. Now you're bridging the gap between what you are and what you desire. But being humans, we still aim for the stars and that goal always seems to be a little beyond us. This is where the cover-up comes in. There's a lot of deception in the mating-game and the human female's hidden-estrus is just the start of it.

My main point is the cover-up adds a bonus onto the intrinsic character underneath. But it does not substitute for it. The blonde in your example may be fake, but there really are real samples like that. I've worked in several Playboy photoshoots and I can tell you that there really are chics like that where minimal prep is needed before and little touch-up is needed after the shoot (really only exposure settings, cropping, etc, but no airbrushing). These may be the real prizes and in the real world, they mostly only match up to their countreparts on the ladder. The fakers? Well, they get their countreparts as well with someone just as equally vain. This is where the deception comes in the dating-game with cover-ups of all sorts, not just in physical appearances. People lie about their jobs, their income, their dating-history, their real values, kids, future, travel, life & death, etc..

The thing is that what younger men and women desire in a mate will change as they age. Their future goals and priorities will change. Funny thing is those attributes seems to be opposites when you're young and as you age, they may crisscross at some point and you will find a match. If you ever study the want-ads in papers across the World, it's fascinating what trends you discover. People really are all alike and think the same. Well, it's all in the genes really.

The real choice in life comes in recognizing where you are on the ladder and accepting yourself as whole and complete and wonderful as who are. And accepting a mate that's of equal value. Rather than trying to make yourself out to be someone you're not and/or trying to turn them into something they're not as well.

Seems like that's always been the world we live in; just with better technologies nowadays. Men & women both go for the best they can get (better for the gene-pool). Guys have to live up to certain ideals for women, why not women for men? Heck, I don't see hordes of women clamouring over each other to get the short, overweight, balding, lazy, unemployed couch-potato with bad teeth who watches sports on TV all day. When that happens, men will prefer non-Barbies as well.

Even with the same woman, which would you prefer?





Can I vote "none of the above"?

Sure, the choices in life are practically infinite. Interesting thing I noticed, is the difference between these views between those who are single versus those who have mates. It appears that when you're young and single, you're very idealistic about the mate you want. When you're older and married, you tend to be more realistic about life; your priorities and views of the world change. What's really fascinating is that the world has been exactly the same through this whole process...

5 hours? some people can do a century in that time. that's good riding time wasted.

5 hours? some people can do a century in that time. that's good riding time wasted.Siu's a great friend for sticking it out for that long. Especially if she knew what she was getting into beforehand.

The booze sampling booths sounded promising.