Saturday, October 06, 2012

Why do women strive to look good?

I have just returned from an evening at an old fashioned club that has retained some of its charm, despite the best efforts of various venal elements who at various times in the past have attempted to 'commercialise' the place.

I was with a friend, his wife and his over-energetic two year old son, who incidentally,  has the makings of a fine sportsman. He is a bundle of energy who loves running around in the open spaces of the club grounds.

My friend's wife, clearly exhausted by the antics of her son, mentioned that she liked coming to the club because it was peaceful and there was a lack of female competition. She said she felt she could come as she was, implying she did not feel the need to dress up a bit, because there was no competition around.

I have heard before that women feel the need to dress up not to impress men but to impress, or at least look better than, other women. Perhaps this is why Sri Lankan law firms, with a female to male ratio of 10:1 (or worse, I know of one place were a lone man works with 20 women), tend to have the most fashionably dressed women around? I used to think it came from an overdose of American television serials like Street Legal but perhaps there is something more subtle and evolutionary at work here.

In the case of men , when they do bother, I think dressing up is more about impressing women than anything else.

Any thoughts?



16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Obviously they need more attention on themselves and it is pleasing to feel superior from within...

Knowing this quality of women we still fall for this shit all the time..

In a good way I suppose ;)

Jack Point said...

Oh yes, in a good way of course ;)

Dili J said...

It’s a rather strange phenomenon ; How we women feel better been in a pair of heels to flats ; how good we feel when we wear sexy lingerie though no one even sees it.. We feel good, we feel confident, we feel more powerful & graceful ; I think it’s a girly thing..

Anonymous said...

The reverse of law is true for IT or engineering. There is like 1 woman to every 10 men. Despite looking all geeky she still gets a lot of attention. If you are in the right place, then you dont have to worry about dressing up. It's all about how much attention can you generate with as lesser effort as possible.

Jack Point said...

Thanks Dili :)

Anon ;)

Delilah said...

Well mostly not so much to impress other women but i suppose there is an element of wanting to hold one's own and comparatively measure up well against other women in a social context.
Probably more about competing with than actually impressing other women.
Jack, if you must know the answer to your question, try wearing sexy high heels to an event where your friends would come in loafers and see how superior you feel ;)
(Btw, Hi.)

cadence said...

I do it for myself, and the appreciative looks i get from my hub don't hurt either. :-)

Jack Point said...

Hi Delilah :D

I guess a good enough reason as any, Cadence.

shammi said...

Who cares about impressing other women? One likes not to be outdone of course, but it's more to feel good about oneself, feel confident, or maybe to stand out by looking different and original. Depends on the occasion and the company. Sometimes dressing down can make one feel superior too.

Anonymous said...

I think as you get older you get more comfortable in yuor own so you dress up to feel good. I do think that initially, it's more about impressing your fellow women - women bond through things like fashion and stuff so in a bid to be accepted you dress nice.

Jack Point said...

Good point, musingsfromtheashes.

Offthebeatentrack said...

i think it's an individual thing. i hate dressing up, and have no problem being the one in jeans next to my friends who like to get dolled up, and 99% of the time, that is the case. i find myself dressing up a bit more for work now because where i work, it is required that you dress well. if that requirement wasnt there, you'd still find me in the most comfortable clothes i can find. so i dunno if you can reduce why half the population do a certain thing to one or two reasons :)

Jack Point said...

Offthebeaten track, sounds like you like to carve your own path, as evidenced by your blog:)

Have visited your blog before, never suspected you were a girl, though.

Offthebeatentrack said...

To clarify, I'm not a girl. The person who was commenting on my computer who didn't realize I was signed in, is a girl :)

Jack Point said...

Ah, thanks Offthebeatentrack

;)

lady grouch-a-lot said...

Ah well, I'm a girl and I dress according to my mood. If I'm feeling sexy, then God bless my Mother's sanity as she sees me stepping out of the house. If I'm in one of those don't give a crap moods, I'd step out in my bata's and PJ's. Doesn't really matter who I impress or depress on the way. I guess its a personal thing........