*snip*
A couple points.
-Appearances mostly communicate how you feel about appearances.
-They also communicate a lot about you, from how strong you are, to your genetics, to your levels of dedication and commitment to something, taste, preferences, blatant signaling......
-Some people want their outside to reflect how they feel inside. That's why even though I also prefer way fewer cosmetics to more, who the fuck am I to tell someone they shouldn't? The minute you tell a woman that they shouldn't bother with makeup or so much makeup, you miss the important point that 50% of it is about how it makes them feel. Not how it makes anyone else feel. I got a friend who is getting outrageously long fake lashes done and I hate em! I've even asked her why she's doing them and she just thinks that's what fabulous beauty looks like, and they make her feel pretty. Not my taste but if it makes her feel better about herself....there's worse ways to accomplish that.
-And that goes right along with physical fitness. I *like* feeling strong. I *like* being stronger than I was. I *like* feeling my muscles be taut. I *like* the wisdom I've acquired about life and the body in the process. I *like* the struggle. I *like* the attention it's gotten me. I *like* what it did for my self confidence. I *like* what it did for my "get shit done" capabilities across my life. And I *like* all the health benefits that came with it. None of that has to do with impressing or satisfying or improving anyone else except myself.
-You take a pretty big dump on many things tied to someone's identity when you boil down their efforts to "just being about appearances", to not put too fine a point on it. It takes very little to criticize but a hell of a lot to accomplish what people who actually try have done....so which take is the more shallow one?
editI'm watching a video on a divorce attorney's take on love and marriage. Regarding physical attractiveness, getting older, all that: "Any stock you hold too long goes down in value. So play the stock right."