August 13, 2004

• Quite intriguing, in that I wish the site had some more "background info..." It would be interesting to know how these women met and/or were selected to appear on the site and so forth. Even some cryptic statement in that direction would be good. Some of the poetry made me cringe, but all in all this is a fine site.
• The shot of someone who had just taken a chunk out of her tongue made mine cringe, but you did kind of give warning and um, no one forced me to click on that thumbnail...
• interesting, but the girls aren't so pretty :)
• Obviously our mileages vary... I found many of the women profiled to be gorgeous.
• I have yet to meet a woman that didn't have *something* that made her beautiful. That said: does anyone have a hack user/pass for Suicide Girls? I'd make it worth your while. Emailer is in my profile. *taps foot, checks hotmail every 2.7 seconds for rest of day*
• I have yet to meet a woman that didn't have *something* that made her beautiful. Fes, that is the very *definition* of a sensualist. *motions to guard to keep Fes away from food, drink, chicks*
• *recants, emails Fes ugly woman*
• Seriously. Most of the pictures of me involve dorky goings-on at fan conventions, or I'd post one. (OK, this is an old one with the ex, but it doesn't communicate the full horror.) The whole "all women are beautiful" trope sounds really nice and all, but with all due respect, you must be living in a bubble or are very, very lucky about what surrounds you. Many of us out there on the streets of Middle America are quite homely. If you want to say we're not actually women, or something, that's another matter, but let's be fair. Female != beautiful. Errrrrr...original link? At work. Sorry.
• All women have something that make them beautiful...does not compute: Beautiful = superior to average. Not everyone can be above average. The math breaks.
• why be a pains to disabuse Fez of his lovely, romantic notion? If an illusion, it is a beautiful one so what's the problem. Especially since beauty is in the eye of the beholder (I was gonna quote Keats too, but couldn't think of something suitable). /also thinks some of these women are fetching.
• Many of us out there on the streets of Middle America are quite homely. Only if you refuse to look beneath the surface. Some of the most beautiful people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing were not 'beautiful' by the TV/Model/Playboy standards imposed by some.
• Some of the most beautiful people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing were not 'beautiful' by the TV/Model/Playboy standards imposed by some. I'm seeing that, but there's a difference between "Every person I'm attracted to is not a supermodel" and "Every woman (every single one, everywhere, no exceptions) is beautiful (extremely attractive and without deal-breaking flaws)." bugbread put it very nicely; I'll just nod along with that and leave it up to others to keep or discard their romantic notions. Just realize what you're actually saying, all right?
• To clarify: you all are thinking physical beauty. But zed's right, when I say every woman has something that makes them beautiful, sometimes it's as simple as returning my smile on the train, or they way they laugh, or the way they walk, or the way they speak, the obvious pride with which they tell stories of their children as same cling to their skirts, the twinkly delicacy with which they order a half-dozen jumbo tacos and "...a diet Coke, please!" to wash 'em down. Not every woman has an unlined face, or eyes the blue of Everest skies, or a perfect perky C cup, or the gynamorphic 3-2-3 measurement ratio. But there is always something that makes them special, even to the 100 year old woman, lapsing in and out of dementia as I interviewed her, who whispered to me in half-German/half-English that I should tell her father the dogs had slipped past the fence again. She was ancient, wizened, shrunken and dessicated with Alzheimer's, she had open sores on her arms and legs - but when she told me about the dogs, I could see the laughter in her eyes, fomented by the dim remembrance of nearly century-old inside joke, and for a moment she was beautiful. Men are machines, built for work. We are simple and direct and lumpen creatures, but women? Women are *transcendent*. We are Morlocks to your Elohim.
• Forgive my waxing rhapsodic there. Maybe I'm just lucky about my surroundings, as you say. But if so, I'm awful glad for it :)
• *tips hat to Fes, pauses, salutes* I couldn't agree more. And I couldn't have put it as beautifully, either.
• Ah - I wouldn't call that beautiful. Intriguing, fascinating, human in the greatest sense - not so much beautiful. But that's semantics, and I see what you're getting at. But that was a lovely story. Men are machines, built for work. We are simple and direct and lumpen creatures, but women? Women are *transcendent*. We are Morlocks to your Elohim. Men can be intriguing and all that; you just don't know it. I'm not keen on the whole mystique/Women Aren't Really Human bit, because I'm keen on communication and not keen on pedestals. But it makes for pretty writing, so I'll be quiet. Just speaking up on behalf of the lumpen non-sylphs, because nobody seems to realize we exist.
• I'm with you on this one, Wurwilf. There is a difference, but I guess it doesn't matter to me. Being attractive != being beautiful. Judging by the fuzzy little pic you posted, you're cute! Cute beats beautiful any day, don't you think? There's no pesky pedestal and much less pressure on physical appearance. So, enough already with the self-deprecation, ok?
• No... actually I'm 5'7" and 230. But I can dream. Anyway, sorry about the derailing - I've been ranting about guys who think only beautiful women are women, or whatever, for years, and it's getting old even to me. Back to the porn erotica!
• Wurwilf, I couldn't help but click on your link. I've made that face many times myself, and I definitely appreciate the full horror of the situation ;o) Fes, that was stunning. You've made my day. ((((( for you!

• why be a pains to disabuse Fez of his lovely, romantic notion?

  Because it sounds suspiciously like sexist twaddle... ...and lo, it is:

  Men are machines, built for work. We are simple and direct and lumpen creatures, but women? Women are *transcendent*. We are Morlocks to your Elohim.

  The whole "men are awful, women are transcendant" sexism bugs the shit out of me, moreso because it has become so trendy and acceptable.
• "Elohim" means "God"; was that intentional, or did you mean the Morlocks' counterparts, the Eloi?
• Beautiful = superior to average No, beautiful = sets off beauty detector. There is no way to define "beautiful" that will work for everyone, but it's definitely not about statistical measurements. If Fes says he finds all women beautiful, I applaud him. And rodgerd, are you trying singlehandedly to bring back the good old "feminists are humorless and want to pretend everyone is exactly the same" meme? Geez. The man likes women. So do I. Sue us.
• Beautiful = superior to average No, beautiful = sets off beauty detector. There is no way to define "beautiful" that will work for everyone, but it's definitely not about statistical measurements. If Fes says he finds all women beautiful, I applaud him. And rodgerd, are you trying singlehandedly to bring back the good old "feminists are humorless and want to pretend everyone is exactly the same" meme? Geez. The man likes women. So do I. Sue us. On preview: Good question, flagdecal! I assumed it was a typo, but maybe it's a pun.
• Aargh! How'd that happen?
• It was so important, it had to be said twice.
• Fes can i have your babies? :-)
• The whole "men are awful, women are transcendant" sexism bugs the shit out of me, moreso because it has become so trendy and acceptable. Well said. It's a poetic throwback - women are fragile creatures, defenders of morality, etc. and men are brutish slaves to their "base urges" - but it's still a throwback. I'm of the mind that some women are awesome and some are not, just as some men are awesome and some are not. But I define people by their actions, not their genders, so YMMV.
• That's nice and all, honey, but y'need to get back in the trailer. I needs my burrito defrosted.
• I've only met one or two women who didn't have something I found absolutely beautiful in them. And I'm an asshole. Beauty is more than size, shape, color or anything else. Beauty is never definable. It's just something that shines through. Be it a quirky, half-turned smile, the way she sees the world or any of a million other qualities. Every one has the capacity for beauty. That said, I'm a sucker for a hot girl too, but beyond the initial thrill, there's gotta be something else to keep me there. That's where the true beauty lies.
• May this world be filled with more men like Fes, languagehat and surlyboi. I will take this opportunity to thank the gods for putting in my path a man like that; loves and cherishes me, can acknowledge a physical beauty in front of him (not me) and still never make me feel less for it. I am a happy woman.
• What Darshon said. I am also a happy woman. Three cheers and a tiger for our Gentlemen Monkeys.
• Would this be a good time to start telling sexist jokes?
• I, for one, am more than happy to hear what else Fes, languagehat and surlyboi have to say. *flutters eyelashes* 'Tell me more about my eyes!!' /bugs bunny in drag (bananas to the first monkey who gets the reference)
• (bananas to the person who plugs Metafilter back in again.)
• Boy, if Alnedra thought she had a crush on surlyboi, wait till she reads his last comment in this thread! She'll just be over the top.;)
• When I dislike someone, it's ususally simple to explain-- X kicks dogs, for example. But when I like a person, it's much more difficult to say why, I suspect because it is an ensemble effect, often, that attracts me. Not any one or two or even three things.
• "Every woman (every single one, everywhere, no exceptions) is beautiful (extremely attractive and without deal-breaking flaws)." Deal-breaking flaws? Sorry, but (for me, at least) those flaws are necessary to make someone beautiful. Being beautiful without "flaws" makes someone blend in and they aren't interesting to look at. Also, he never said every single woman lacks every possible flaw. He said each woman has something that makes them beautiful, a totally different statement. They just need to possess beauty in one aspect of themselves. It's doesn't even need to be a physical quality that makes them beautiful. Actually, it's often the case that what makes a woman beautiful has nothing to do with any physical attribute of hers.
• You can be young, strong, well-proportioned, with smooth skin and a symmetrical face, but you won't always be that way. The truth is that it's love that makes you beautiful. It's love that transcends the the body, and time. It's love that reaches out to make the lives of others better. If you love, love well, love deeply, faithfully and truly, and you will be beautiful.
• Beauty - as even a drooling half-wit would tell you - is identical twins. Mary Kate and Ashley are an unarguable example of this simple principle. Male or Female, how many of YOU are identical twins? Not, I hazard to guess, very many at all. Ergo, it follows that you are all disgustingly repulsive, with many deal-breaking flaws.
• pete_best is identical twins. Triplets, even.
• Mary Kate and Ashley???? ACK!!!!!
• Who's got the crack?
• Who's got the crack? You're talking about that damned photo I'm not (in a hundred years) linking to, yes?
• Knickerbocker - That clarifies things, really. "One good thing makes you good" isn't something I usually ascribe to, but it really makes the rest make sense. Deal-breaking flaws? Sorry, but (for me, at least) those flaws are necessary to make someone beautiful. Errr.... "deal-breaking" is the key term there. Deal-breaking would mean "so unacceptable as to make the rest irrelevant." Personally, I find it more romantic if someone believes you are an individual - lovable for who you are, not because you're female and all females are equally pedestalled. But that's a matter of opinion. I envy the All Women Are Ethereal Sirens of Love and Morality crowd their bubbles, and I'm done trying to preach the more scruffy reality.
• Sounds to me like your deeply damaged or at least have been, Wurwilf. I think you are quite misunderstanding the 'bubble' crowd. And I believe it is your loss. If you open your mind up, you may see there is someone out there who might see you (...Ethereal Sirens of Love and Morality) just that way. Lighten up, it's not all bad.
• Well I think that you're an ethereal siren of love and morality, Wurwilf. And - damn, boy! - you lookin' mighty fine in them tight-as-sprayed-on-jeans, oooh yeah, come to daddy.
• who might see you just that way. Is that a threat? ;) I wouldn't want to be put on a pedestal, that was kind of my point... well, I'll take that as a compliment. ANYWAY! PORN, people. Why are we talking about inner beauty when the kick-off comment was about porn? Sheesh. (Damaged? No, because to be damaged you have to actually interact with other human beings. ;) )
• Crap, I thought I took out that first smiley. Four months in smiley jail.
• An interesting thing about loving another person is that although you are aware of the flaw (or at least after after the first wild rush of insane rapture dies down, you are) but you don't care. You reach the stage where if it weren't there, you realize you'd miss it. Love is not blind, but it induces a sort of myopia in the lover.
• a smiley jail sounds terrifying, surrounded by emoticons, hemmed in on all sides by flashing animated happy faces doing unspeakable things. You couldn't possibly deserve that Wurwilf. [besides, I suspect you were just closing your brackets, so you're all good] back to the topic at hand: porn. well, actually, the post is about beautiful yet damaged women, so it does appear that we've gone full circle here.
• Beautiful yet damaged? I don't recall this becoming a study of my dating habits... Did I say that out loud?