1250 Hair Raison

I’m not inclined to reinforce sexual stereotypes. Men are perfectly capable of cooking or diaper changing. And women just as capable of oil changing or lawn-mowing. There is no genetic predisposition interfering with said behaviors.
But when it comes to social dynamics, there are definitely differences. Take the average appearance change. At a recent meeting, a female walked in. She had obviously had a makeover. New hairdo, makeup, a vigorous eyebrow pluck.
Various women approached her and excitedly commented on her new appearance. The humidity in the room went up about 50% as the residual moisture from the gushing infused the air.
One of the gushers admonished me, saying, “Why aren’t you telling her how great she looks? You should be saying she looks stunning.”
And I thought, um, no. In these days of avoiding even the suggestion of hitting on someone of the opposite sex in a business setting, no way.
And also because I didn’t want to suggest she looked bad before. When you say how much better someone looks, you’re implying they once looked worse. Not the swamp to jump into.
And also because that’s not how men treat other men who change their looks. A guy at my health club came in the other day and he had just got a radical buzz cut. His hair was shorn to the nubs.
Us guys responded naturally. One said, “Dude, I hope you didn’t pay good money for that.” Another said, “How long have you been out of Auschwitz? You need to put on some weight.” I said, “You look like a picture I saw at the post office. What’d you do with your chest numbers?”
Ah, male bonding.
Sometimes it’s fun living the stereotype.
America, ya gotta love it.