Oh hello, and thanks for stopping by. Now, continuing yesterday’s theme of borrowing shamelessly from bloggers doing better work than me this week (because it’s still too hot for coherent thought and I’m on a Beauty U break), why don’t you head over to the always fabulous Eat the Damn Cake, where Kate has a great piece up called “All Men Are Pigs, and Other Popular Myths.” My favorite part:

And for all the emphasis placed on being attractive for men, the guys I know seem to find women beautiful. Not a particular type of women with exact measurements and a certain hair length and perfectly straight teeth. But most women. It’s still kind of a secret. Men are supposed to like women who look a certain way, and women are supposed to try really, really hard to look that way. And of course, there are plenty of guys who valiantly strive to live up to the expectations of bad movies and pop psychology and who seek those women out in bars and on dating sites and at parties, ignoring the girls standing next to them who are a little heavier, or who have slightly crooked teeth. But for the most part, it seems to me that people like other people. And they don’t mind being surprised by someone they didn’t expect to be attracted to, or someone who doesn’t fit whatever standard people are trying to fit, but who has their own, fantastic charm.

I’ve heard from a friend that when he’d mention a girl he thought no one else would be attracted to to his friends, the other guys would always say, “Oh, she’s really hot.”

I love any opportunity to point out that the whole “you have to look a certain way to be beautiful” standard is just bullsh*t.

And while we’re on the subject of boys and girls and attraction, why don’t you also go read Sexualizing Boys on Sociological Images (agreed, the whole Justin Bieber/Kim Kardashian Play Romance is ummm inappropriate) and also Media Gone Wild: The Continuing Sexualization of Girls and Multiple Strategies to Stop It on Our Bodies on Our Bodies Our Blog. They make a really nice pairing (like if blog posts were wine and cheese), especially with Kate’s take on men as your (also cheese-filled, why not, I love cheese) starter.