talkmagic.co.uk

This morning I saw an action performed by a fellow early morning public transportee that made me ponder and so I thought I would pose the question to the TM brains.

Before the question itself I need to give a few ideas on evolutionary human biology first (as a footnote I read these in Desmond Morris's Naked Ape book)as it helps explain where the question is coming from. I will be paraphrasing from memory as I read it years ago so here's the jist:

The vast majority of mammals including our own group, the primates, are quadrapeds until recently(on a evolutionary scale) when mankind came along. When it comes to the mating game a female quadrapeds genitalier is on display at all times and thus is used as a sexual signal for the males.
Humans have evolved to be bipedal means this display can no longer work as the bits and bobs in question are no longer at eye level. Therefore it is thought that the breasts of a female human have become more rounded and prominent than any other ape in order to be a display (mimicing the buttocks) and that the thickening of our lips is there to represent other such parts which also goes partly to exlplain why our lips get redder during intimate moments and why red lipstick is so popular

So here is the question

The woman on my train this morning in her late 50's had a very pronounced moustache which was very distracting. Anyway, she then strated to apply lipstick.

An excercise in futility?

See I get there in the end

Maybe she was on hormone treatment for something and still wanted to look nice?

I agree she could have been but to me it seemed strange to be so thorough with the lipstick but not so bothed about the tasche.

Obviously she is well within her rights to wear or not wear whatever she wants but it did seem to me to be odd.

You have to remember that in our society, women are placed under enormous pressure from a very early age to conform to a set of ridiculous visual ideals, whether they are physically capable of fitting those ideals or not.

Now that I think about it, are you sure that it was a woman?

I am as certain as I can be without a full examination.

It was one hell of a tasche though. It was very reminiscant of when a teenage ruffian tries to grow his first moustache....kind of bum fluffy.

Sort of like mine then. Maybe she was just going for a bit of extra authenticity in that area, if you get me?

I'm not sure

Am I right in thinking that you are suggesting that a woman in her late 50's is going for a look that is named after a resident of the largest country in South America, but on her face?

More like NOT going for that look...

bit like putting suspenders on a dog to make it more attractive then...

should i of said that outloud?

greedoniz wrote:Therefore it is thought that the breasts of a female human have become more rounded and prominent than any other ape in order to be a display (mimicing the buttocks) and that the thickening of our lips is there to represent other such parts which also goes partly to exlplain why our lips get redder during intimate moments and why red lipstick is so popular

I'd just like to point out that "it is thought" means "some biologists think". These are the sort of theories that evolutionary biologists argue about, not the sort that they generally agree on.

Adrian Morgan wrote:

greedoniz wrote:Therefore it is thought that the breasts of a female human have become more rounded and prominent than any other ape in order to be a display (mimicing the buttocks) and that the thickening of our lips is there to represent other such parts which also goes partly to exlplain why our lips get redder during intimate moments and why red lipstick is so popular

I'd just like to point out that "it is thought" means "some biologists think". These are the sort of theories that evolutionary biologists argue about, not the sort that they generally agree on.

On a completely different note I was wondering how that sense of humour bypass operation went? come on Adrian give us a smile

Possibly the funniest thread I've seen in months. A semi-serious discussion about a lady's facial hair!

Did she get any lipstick stuck in her 'tache?

Leave the poor woman alone, perhaps she just wanted to look nice. So she had a moustache, she can't help that. Ok maybe a little bleach or wax might not go amiss but it's not her fault.

We all do things the other people find odd but perhaps she just felt a little more comfortable wearing lipstick

Zack wrote:Possibly the funniest thread I've seen in months. A semi-serious discussion about a lady's facial hair!

Did she get any lipstick stuck in her 'tache?

Quite frankly Zack I dont think you have quite got the point of this serious look into makeups role in sociology and how it sometime negates human evolution.

Lady of Mystery said:

Leave the poor woman alone, perhaps she just wanted to look nice. So she had a moustache, she can't help that. Ok maybe a little bleach or wax might not go amiss but it's not her fault.

We all do things the other people find odd but perhaps she just felt a little more comfortable wearing lipstick

I do have a point though dont you think? It was a bit like wathching a cross dressing episode of Magnum P.I.
Which would have made me Higgins