And These Were My Boots of Spanish Leather
The woman in front of me opened the door, glanced at the little boy standing there right in front of his mother, and walked into Starbucks. I caught the door from her and held it open for the toddler and his mother to leave.
"Cute boots!" The mother said.
I thanked her and walked inside.
So, ladies, y'know how if you're walking in the city and a guy gives you a look-over and then nods and smiles you shoot him a dirty look and huff away? What do you do when you're walking in the city and a guy glances at you and then smiles at you and he's...how should I say this...very attractive? Do you shoot him a dirty look and huff away or smile back because you can't help it? Exactly, you hypocrite. Anyway, I try figuring that out sometimes to see if I'm just terribly shallow or everyone does it and now I know that my reaction has little to do with the actual guy and his actual looks and everything to do with my own sense of appropriateness.
It's inappropriate for a random man in an elevator to voice his opinion about my boots. It's acceptable for a woman to comment upon another woman's article of clothing. I don't know why, so don't ask me, but it is. It's happened to me numerous times ("Wow, that's a gorgeous coat"), I've done it to others ("I'm really sorry to bother you, but your mascara is amazing--what kind is that?"), and no one's ever reacted shocked or violated because we'd all do it to each other.
You see, if I would compliment a random lady on her boots, it's not inappropriate for her to comment on mine. I would never comment on a random man's shoes, so he shouldn't ever comment on mine. Same with the good-looking men. I would never smile at a sleazy guy, so his smiling at me makes me feel violated. I might smile at an attractive guy, so his smiling at me is acceptable. Of course, deep down, I'm still shallow which I guess makes no sense because shallow people don't have a deep down but anyway I'm still shallow because I'm choosing who to smile at based on looks, but that's a whole different post and I have another final tomorrow.
"Cute boots!" The mother said.
I thanked her and walked inside.
So, ladies, y'know how if you're walking in the city and a guy gives you a look-over and then nods and smiles you shoot him a dirty look and huff away? What do you do when you're walking in the city and a guy glances at you and then smiles at you and he's...how should I say this...very attractive? Do you shoot him a dirty look and huff away or smile back because you can't help it? Exactly, you hypocrite. Anyway, I try figuring that out sometimes to see if I'm just terribly shallow or everyone does it and now I know that my reaction has little to do with the actual guy and his actual looks and everything to do with my own sense of appropriateness.
It's inappropriate for a random man in an elevator to voice his opinion about my boots. It's acceptable for a woman to comment upon another woman's article of clothing. I don't know why, so don't ask me, but it is. It's happened to me numerous times ("Wow, that's a gorgeous coat"), I've done it to others ("I'm really sorry to bother you, but your mascara is amazing--what kind is that?"), and no one's ever reacted shocked or violated because we'd all do it to each other.
You see, if I would compliment a random lady on her boots, it's not inappropriate for her to comment on mine. I would never comment on a random man's shoes, so he shouldn't ever comment on mine. Same with the good-looking men. I would never smile at a sleazy guy, so his smiling at me makes me feel violated. I might smile at an attractive guy, so his smiling at me is acceptable. Of course, deep down, I'm still shallow which I guess makes no sense because shallow people don't have a deep down but anyway I'm still shallow because I'm choosing who to smile at based on looks, but that's a whole different post and I have another final tomorrow.
posted by BrownsvilleGirl at 1:02 PM
