Is Physical Appearance Completely Irrelavant?

All I have say is to those contemplating a Texas meeting: there will be one among you, who shall remain nameless, who cares ONLY for the physical appearance + he is a real player. Women, guard your hearts because you'll never know what's in store for you until his sweet talk suddenly disintegrates into vituperative attacks on what he will perceive as a lack of beauty except his own.

I've met players and I've met thieves.
I've met spirits, open hearts, scientists, artists, and athletes.

What I love best is to explore, meet, understand and appreciate,
no matter what someone's path, belief, and disposition.

Be prepared for anything, just a warning to the innocent and naive,
because everyone is different from you.

sweetcomplication

Wow...New York Zinger is coming!!!

Here is an absolutely relevant piece I bumped into this morning by chance... http://www.prospect.org/print/V14/6/elliott-c.html

Very interesting article, Blatham.

That's a fascinating article, blatham. Thanks!

It is.

In many ways, I find this to be the most telling bit, simply because "infertility" is now so nearly universally recognized as a problem to be solved (though there is certainly no shortage of people in the world).

This article looks interesting. Will read and return eventually

While the article by Carl Elliott is interesting, it has some huge flaws, in my opinion.

Cosmetic surgery, voluntary amputation (no kidding?) and sex rearrangement surgery are all personal choices. However, depression and anxiety are legitimate medical conditions.

From the article:


Although I don't have a whole lot of admiration for the pharmaceutical companies in general, mainly because of their price gouging, Merck may have done many people a favor in their marketing of anti-depressants.

I know - this is a little off-subject, but some demon inside me said I should point this out (I wonder if they have demon-removing surgery these days!)

I'm inclined to disagree, to a certain extent -- which is not to deny the suffering of the clinically anxious or depressed, but simply... Without a means of treatment, any non-life-threatening disorder is simply viewed as an unpleasant natural fact. I do think that the presence of an alternative, less unpleasant state makes the more unpleasant state less bearable. I'm not opposed to chemical enhancement of personality, by any means. I just think that certain states can only be viewed as unhealthy in light of another attainable condition that is healthy.

What I find especially odious in the direct-to-consumer advertising of these drugs is the way they are presented by the advertisers -- in very broad and dramatic brushstrokes of "this drug will make everything better!" I think it's extremely irresponsible to appeal to potential patients in such a patently emotional and impulsive matter, as though putting yourself on a drug regimen was comparable to selecting a brand of soft drink. They even help to tell people what symptoms to present to their physician so they can get the drug!



And I can't go to the store and buy a little pot. It's absurd.

Blatham, darling, I found the article to be fascinating. However, it has nothing to do with the warning I posted. Please elaborate on how the 2 connect because I get the feeling we aren't speaking the same language.

I agree, chat, depression is a medical problem. Many people are depressed but that depression was undiagnosed before the new anti-depressants (the SSRIs). Before these were created, the only anti-depressants we had for years caused major side effects so only those with morbid depression were willing to put up with the side effects. Now these new anti-depressants have made it possible for a large number of depressed people to discover what it feels like to function without depression. It is truly a miracle of modern medicine.

I think this is on the subject here, although, I agree tangentially. Is appearance or mood, anxiety level important as it relates to interacting with others?

Is a depressed person less likely to be sought out for intimate relationships, friendships or conversation?

Um...sweet...was that a real warning? I thought you were kidding!

Ok - sorry but you guys just remined me of this song:

BEND ME, SHAPE ME
THE AMERICAN BREED

You are all the woman I need, and baby you know it,
You can make this beggar a king, a clown or a poet.
I'll give you all that I own.
You got me standing in line
Out in the cold,
pay me some mind.
Bend me, shape me
Anyway you want me,
Long as you love me, it's all right
Bend me, shape me
Anyway you wnat me,
You got the power to turn on the light.
Everybody tells me I'm wrong to want you so badly,
But there's a force driving me on, I follow it gladly.
So let them laugh I don't care,
Cause I got nothing to hide,
All that I want is you by my side.
Bend me, shape me
Anyway you want me,
Long as you love me, it's all right
Bend me, shape me
Anyway you wnat me,
You got the power to turn on the light.
Bend me shape me anyway you want me

I was just thinking about this, actually. I was out and about among the undergrads between their classes. It's a beautiful sunny day -- about as good as they get around here -- and I was looking at people's faces as I passed, and thinking about my own reactions to levels of sartorial splendor, since I am paarticularly grubby today after having been pretty dressed up (for me -- buttons, you know) yesterday. And I realized that as I passed people, the one's whose elaborate dress, hair, makeup at all bothered me were the ones with pinched, closed, miserable looking faces. I'm not talking about bones structure or skin or whatever, just the attitude these faces seemed to present. So what I think I'm reacting too, in my lookism, is the apparent lack of success. A number of people around here have clearly invested a great deal of time, money, and thought into their appearance. Some simply look pleasant to me, and I don't really give it much thought one way or another. But the ones who look miserably unhappy -- I think it just seems to me that they are performing ultimately frivolous acts purely out of a misdirected sense of duty, and it puts me off. All that effort going into appearances when it seems like it really needs to go into working on the spirit...

Rambling again, and away from the line of discussion. Sorry.

I haven't looked up Blatham's link yet, and don't know to whom Sweet Complication is referring among us, if that is specific, but will post to say I thought Code Borg's post very sharp, I agree with him on that. Back after work...

Not necessarily off track, Boss . . . there is that trite ol' sayin' . . . let a smile be your umbrella . . . i think what you've presented is à propos . . .

Living with depression can be challenging, with or without clinical mood enhancers. My dear mom, a wonderfully outgoing beautiful woman, dealt with depression during her lifetime, the symptoms worsening after the passing of my dad and sister.

Here are two quotes that sum up my mom's advise to her daughters ~

"Be yourself; no base imitator of another, but your best self. There is something which you can do better than another. Listen to the inward voice and bravely obey that. Do the things at which you are great, not what you were never made for." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"There is only one you for all time. Fearlessly be yourself." -- Anthony Rapp

okay, people, I cop to being naive w/o enough protective covering; I also liked CodeBorg's post very much; "players only love you when they're playing" is a lesson I learned from one member here, I'm embarrassed to have to admit . . .

Yes, I like Codebug's post as well. Very well and succinctly stated.

Depression and anxiety disorders can also be treated quite well without drugs through psychology like cognitive behavioural therapy. http://www.cognitive-behavior-therapy.org/