Reasonable Clothes For Women

 Though much of what I'm going to say applies to men as well:)

I get a lot of topics to write about from YouTube videos and discussions. Recently YouTube by some reason pushed some episodes of a Nigerien (that is made in Niger) soap opera about life in a village. It is in some French dialect so I couldn't understand much at all, but I was impressed by the clothes the ladies wore. Now you should keep in mind that in Niger the majority of population are Moslem. However, women don't wear the traditional black stile garment we often associate with that faith, but rather something which I would describe as very reasonable, especially considering the climate.

They wore long colourful skirts with long leggins underneath and long sleeved denim/dark coloured blouses, turbans on their heads and lots of gold/jewellery. They looked feminine and dignified, and their clothes while cool offered protection against the sun.  

When we visit an archeological museum we see women wearing European medieval costumes. They consist of long colourful robes, head-coverings and sometimes hats worn on top of it (depending on the period they are portraying). And while Roman soldiers were known for their short tunics, female clothes were still long and covered the entire body + hair unless she was a slave. Slave girls were more undressed because their modesty and chastity were not protected by the law. 

Traditional clothes women wore in the West until recently were of the same type, though obviously of different styles. Hats and headcoverings by women were still worn till 1960s at the least, though dresses became much shorter. Men still wore long trousers and often hats. Then everything changed. Hats and wearing clothes in general was declared the tool of oppression/patriarchy and to emancipate oneself you have to prance around as undressed as the weather allows.

The funny thing is that while "they" definitely promote it, "they" in this case aren't the government officials but rather the MSM, the fashion world and (female) popstars whose skimpy clothes are eagerly copied by the young girls hoping to become just as popular by being "cool and s8xy".

Various Western governments, on the other hand, keep warning people about the dangers of the sun exposure and urge them to put on what could only be described as "modest clothing", like in this article.

 While they don't mention skirts/dresses (that would be too patriarchal, I guess) their educational video shows a girl wearing a dark knee-length dress. The stores are full of long summer skirts, btw, which offer even better protection since they cover more of your legs. And don't forget your feet. Open sandals are more risky than more traditional foot wear, or sport shoes which one usually wears with socks. 

Isn't it rather funny that all traditional cultures and religions expected folks to cover their nakedness, especially women and that it perfectly coincides with modern medical/scientific advice??? By the way, keep in mind that even when the UV index is low there are still UVA type rays present which normally don't cause sunburn, but they contribute to premature skin aging and are thought to suppress immunity. In fact, this article claims that just using a sunscreen regularly is comparable to botox in making you look younger. 

Well, I guess sticking it to the oppressive patriarchy is worth getting skin cancer and may be even dying. Or is it???

Attention Women: Is Your Hairdresser Sabotaging You?

 Mine doesn't because I actually don't have one and never cut my hair:)

Intrasexual competition between women is often covert, and targets rivals' appearance. Here we investigate appearance advice as a vector for female intrasexual competition. Across two studies (N = 192, N = 258) women indicated how much hair they would recommend hypothetical clients have cut off in their hypothetical salon. Clients varied in their facial attractiveness (depicted pictorially), the condition of their hair, and how much hair they wished to have cut off. Participants also provided self-report measures of their own mate value and intrasexual competitiveness. In both studies, participants' intrasexual competitiveness positively predicted how much hair they recommended clients have cut off, especially when the hair was in good condition and the clients reported wanting as little as possible cut off – circumstances wherein cutting off too much hair is most likely to indicate sabotage. Considering data across both collectively, women tended to recommend cutting the most hair off clients they perceived to be as attractive as themselves. These data suggest that just like mating, intrasexual competition may be assortative with respect to mate value. They also demonstrate that competitive motives can impact female-female interactions even in scenarios which feature no prospective mates, and are nominally unrelated to mate guarding or mating competition.

Great discussion on VD's new substack, btw. 

Men Are Intelligent

I know that's not what they taught you, but nevertheless, it's true:)

I want to tell you 2 stories. The first one, I read online. The 2nd happened in real life.

So the story N1 goes as follows. There was a family once, a husband and a wife. The wife was a successful business woman. She had a great career and earned quite a bit of money. The husband, not so much. In fact, he had difficulty holding a job and when he tried various business projects, they all failed somehow. Yet, the family needed money, so the wife started working more and more and became even more successful. The guy, on the other hand, dropped out of the workforce altogether.

The wife was very upset and they began fighting constantly. Then, one day...he ran away with another woman. The wife was shocked, she couldn't figure out why any woman at all would want that loser. To her dismay, her ex soon succeeded at his new project, made lots of money and became quite wealthy, while his new wife stayed home and didn't work at all. Why couldn't he be like this with me??? his 1st wife kept asking.

Story N2 is about a couple where both spouses worked. Yet the husband somehow never managed to find full employment and worked shorter hours than he liked. His wife worked 3 days a week and supplemented the family income. She then became very sick and couldn't work for a long time. Finally, her sick leave drew to an end, and then she decided to quit altogether because her health still wasn't much better and she was easily tired. They had young children and missed that money. Then, as if by a miracle, the husband found a full time job so their money problems were solved.

Modern women are taught that in order "to help their husband", they must go out and find a job, however, sometimes, the best course of action is just to stay where you are and inspire your husband to be masculine by your femininity. Men are strong and intelligent, they can figure it all out on their own, if the women let them:)

Just To Cheer You All Up

 I don't know why, but when I'm looking at these dresses I feel happy (no affiliate, don't get paid anything for promotion, just found their site yesterday by chance).

May be we should return to dressing like this, at least on Sundays?

Speaking Of Modesty

Please take a look at this video made in Ireland in the 1920s:



When I first watched it on my phone I didn't check the title and thought it was filmed in winter considering that many women are wearing what could be only described as blankets over their heads (yes, I know it's just really big shawls). But no, it appears to be May!

Now compare the way women looked then with what they are wearing in summer now. Enough said...

P.S. For the Red Pills watching: please pay attention to the old lady featured in the beginning and in the 2nd part of the video. That's the way your wife would have looked after birthing 6+ babies which you all had to support and raising them without modern conveniences. Not exactly a MILF, is she? But yeah, there aren't any overweight/obese persons in sight (that includes men).

A Modern Woman's Temptation

I decided to re-read Lord Of The Rings. Today I was by the Mirror of Galadriel chapter. Galadriel is supposedly a super-positive character. Aragorn stresses several times that "there is no evil in Lorien".  Yet,besides Boromir, she's the only one on the side of Good who, by her own words, comes close to taking the Ring by force or at least, pondering on the possibility.

She's overall insanely ambitious, and if I remember her story from Silmarillion  correctly, she was the only one female present among the Elvish princes when they were discussing their war preparations against Morgoth after the Silmarils were stolen. She's a woman constantly interfering into the business of men with an ambition to project power and rule like a man.

But she also suffers from the typical female vanity. She wishes more than just to be obeyed and/or feared. All shall love me and despair! is a prudish way to say I wish all men desire me! In that aspect she's little different from a teenage girl posting bikini pictures on Facebook. Both are attention whores seekers.

I guess what makes Galadriel a positive character is the fact that in the end she wins over her (double) temptation. She accepts her fate as a woman (though an Elf with magical powers). She will diminish and go into exile, she says but her present life in Lorien is also not one of great heroic deeds. She already has one of the rings of power in her possession and she uses it to keep the weather mild and provide peaceful environment for her people. And she spends her days weaving clothes for the men.

Now I won't declare that I can fully guess Tolkien's intentions (though he was probably no friend to feminism which was already quite prominent in his time). I don't know whom Galadriel was based upon. May be, it was a great lady of his acquaintance. Yet, she appears to me to point to the typical modern woman with her double temptation: the wish to live and project power in a male way (through her career, paycheck, social position) while also having additional (sexual) power over men.

Her weapons were her crystal eyes
Making every man mad
Black as the dark night she was
Got what noone else had

(Read more: Shocking Blue - Venus Lyrics | MetroLyrics)

Somehow it doesn't make modern women happier than their unenlightened mothers and grannies used to be. May be, it's time to diminish and return to the traditional female occupation to provide peaceful environment for her menfolk and family in general?

Women Aren't That Great

One of the biggest problems of a modern woman, especially (I'm sorry to say) an American one, is an absolutely unearned sense of entitlement. When I was growing up, I wasn't taught by everybody around me that I was God's greatest gift to men, a goddess or even a Daddy's Little Princess for which I'm entirely grateful to my parents and caregivers.

Lest you think it comes chiefly from "libruls" "progs" and "feminazi" think twice. It will more often than not come from "conservatives" (some call them "Churchians" nowadays). Take this article, for example. The author apparently means well, yet what is the end result? Let's find out!

The article deals with the inability of modern career girls to find a husband and build a family yet it's called The Problem With Men... To quote: The problem with the guys they come across is the exact opposite. They don’t approach with any intentions.

Well, I have some news for you, maybe men don't approach you because they don't find you attractive? Could it be that you are a problem? Why is the onus always on men? In the times past girls from the young age were taught how to "catch" a husband, which included training in domestic skills, btw.  If a modern "cubicle" girl doesn't inspire any tender emotions in her male colleagues, whose fault it is? (And speaking about the office setting, with modern harassment laws, why should a guy risk his career? There are other places to meet the opposite sex, outside of the work setting, but I guess, "cubicle" girls have never heard of it?)

But no, says the esteemed author, the problem doesn't lie with women, how could it be? It's...(suspence intensifies) internet porn! He then goes on to state that The social opportunities open to women today are making them better catches... Better catches, really? Who decides? Certainly not the men who refuse to approach these "better catches".

He then presents this demeaning caricature of a young man: They live underground in the dark, seldom experiencing fresh air and actual sunshine upon their faces, and scrounge for anything close by that they can eat. (And many young women get wasted at parties, engage in all sorts of risky behaviours, and spend time attention-whoring on social media but these facts never get mentioned by any "conservative columnist". And if you say Not All Women Are Like That - it's true, and neither all men are primitive cave-dwellers).

The following example is truly bizarre:

Ask any young woman how she vets all the nice young men who approach to decide who will advance to the bonus round of an actual date. She will ask if you rewind your VHS tapes before returning them to Blockbuster, or just pay the fee.

Is it even a modern article? I don't know anyone, much less a young person, using a VHS tape - they all stream Netflix through their smartphones. The author then makes a truly amazing statement (at least, amazing for a supposed conservative since that's what liberals have been claiming since forever), that masculinity isn't biological, but a social construct which "males" have to learn. No wonder "conservatives" weren't even able to conserve girl bathrooms.He also gives us some examples of manliness: Margaret Thatcher.

Here I pause to wonder. If males should learn manliness (from women apparently) shouldn't women learn femininity (from men? Mind-boggling). Not according to the author. A woman can be a "warrior" and still perfectly feminine. Unlike masculinity, femininity does not require demonstration. It exists most strongly in a woman’s essence. He essentially says that women are created perfect and never need to learn anything (just not being "butch'" whatever it means - obviously being a general in the army is OK). Why trying to make yourself attractive to men? It's them who have a problem!

Next the author spends several paragraphs waxing poetic about masculinity, and teaching boys masculinity while not forgetting to remind us about the matchless power of the feminine. And in case you still had some doubt, it's up to men AND women to teach masculinity to boys: Men teach and call younger boys up into it, and women set before the young male what he must do if he wants a shot at them. 

It all boils down to this: men are supposed to learn virtue but women ARE already inherently virtuous. Women should have high standards for men, but men should be just happy with any goddess woman giving them attention. No wonder that a certain article on male preferences in dating caused so much shrieking by supposedly Christian women some time ago. Lots of them actually believe that they are the greatest thing existing since the Virgin Birth.

He ends up with this statement: We need to be men, all of us, to hitch up our collective trousers and teach our boys what manliness is and what it is not and demand they act on it. If nothing else, there’s a whole generation of young women hoping someone will step up and do so.

It's some serious reversal of help meet doctrine: men exist to cater to women. My conclusion after reading this: I don't know about "toxic" masculinity (it isn't something they are talking much about in my country, thank goodness) but I do know what is toxic - constantly bashing men while not enforcing any standards on women. It's about as much conservative as supporting big corporations and cheap labour at the expense of the existing communities. Also, if a woman desires to marry, she should be proactive about it, which includes learning about what men actually value in women and excludes *itching complaining about where have all the good men gone.

Trying To Do Everything At Once

does not work.

Modernity hasn't been really kind to women. In the ages past, they have been considered a "weaker vessel" and treated accordingly, as long as the family could afford it. (There is a reason women from impoverished backgrounds, like Charlotte Bronte, died young, while solid middle class ones like Mrs Charles Darwin, lived long and happily and produced numerous children well into their late forties).

Convinced by the #lying media of the mid-20th century that any sign of weakness was due to the patriarchal oppression by their own immediate kin which apparently hated them, unlike kindly strangers working for MSM, women started proving that they can have it all. And they kinda do  nowadays, but along the way, some things of value have been surely lost.

One of them is inner peace, or tranquility. Nearly 1 in 4 of American women is on antidepressants, while 60% of all women of reproductive age use anticonception, of which only 2% use fertility awareness (and 8% withdrawal). About 43% combined use the pill, iud or other hormonal methods, known for their side effects. (Here is a site which has a long discussion of the risks of an IUD and the pill). In my opinion, here is something seriously wrong with the society, where so many young adults are on some type of medication.

Women are constantly praised for multitasking, but the reality is that multitasking sucks doesn't work as intended. It basically means divided attention and no task done as it really should be. When you are at work, you aren't mothering your children. When you work part-time, especially with really short hours, you don't concentrate on your work and can't build any serious career. Having it all means that a woman comes from her work tired and then has to do at least some housekeeping. Feminists will say that the husband needs to pitch in, but he works, too, and is also tired.

This lifestyle leaves little time for rest, maintaining friendships, keeping in touch with extended family and pursuing creative hobbies.

Girls are pushed into spending hours studying and doing sports, which leaves half of them incontinent by the age of 23. In case you think it's limited only to top performers, here is an article which states that the same happens to women yoga instructors and Pilates teachers. It's almost like women were built for something else than constant stress and strenuous work/exercise, but we aren't allowed to entertain such thoughts nowadays. The author's solution is more "awareness" and physiotherapy.

It's no wonder that (some) women are choosing to run away  from the work world and seek refuge at home, but sometimes they fall into the same trap and try to juggle too many things at once, with the result that they are constantly exhausted. Unfortunately, there are few homemaking blogs which encourage women to take it easy and to have some leisure time, as opposed to trying to be a super housewife/mother/Proverbs 31 woman/whatever.  It may work for younger women for some time, but when you are older, you'll probably sacrifice your health trying to achieve the impossible ideal.

Someone once linked to a 19th century woman's diary, trying to prove that modern women have it so much easier. I went and read it. The entries went along the lines of: "It was so cold and dark today that I did little else but cuddle by the fire with the baby. Yesterday Mother came to visit. Today I spent most of my time sewing (not really a physically active job)" etc etc. I didn't notice any particular exertions, outside of visiting Mother and Auntie sometimes and cooking dinner. She also had other children who went to school btw, and all by themselves. Yes, sometimes they had to wash in a washtub, and that was it (keeping in mind that in most families children were allowed 1 outfit per week).

Somewhere until the 1960s and even later in some countries, anyone who could afford it, had domestic help. Those who couldn't, trained their kids to do the majority of housework. That included doing the family laundry before school as my mother-in-law at the age of 12 and cooking family breakfast as her sister at about the same age. The idea of a superwoman with one hand plowing the fields while rocking the cradle with the other is just as much a myth as women warriors.

Of course, there are exceptions. There always are. Yet I'm convinced that modern lifestyle is unnatural and detrimental to many women's health in the long run. Those women have as much right to voice their concerns as their more robust sisters. And their voices shouldn't be silenced. We should stop being ashamed of femininity and being different from men. 

The Pill And Cleaning

Hormonal contraception remains rather controversial, because of its documented side effects, for instance, hypertension, heart attack and blood clots; tripling the risk of suicide; and bumping breast cancer risk by 20%. (Here I just wonder why isn't WHO worried, like they were in the cause of bacon?). It's apparently bad for the environment as well.

These risks are well-documented and can be more or less objectively measured, but could there be  other, less obvious side effects of being on the pill?

As we all know, the pill prevents ovulation, which is probably the most important part of a typical female cycle. I found a very interesting article which explains how your cycle influences your mind and body. It's a bit New Agey, but still well worth reading.

By suppressing ovulation, hormonal contraceptives interfere with female sexuality, which is acknowledged by Wikipedia. Typically some women on the pill report a lower libido, and don't we all know how men often complain that women aren't into it? (Another reason for lack of female desire is stress, as in work stress, but that's a topic for another discussion).

Yet somehow somewhere I heard of a theory which attributes modern bad housekeeping to using hormonal contraception. Apparently, the urge to clean house is connected to the natural female cycle as well. I agree that it may seem rather far-fetched, however, I found another article which at least partly validates this claim:

Before your period, your progesterone levels also drop, which combines the impulse to clean with an instinct to "nest." We see this tendency manifest itself more dramatically in pregnant women, who in their later months of pregnancy have low progesterone levels — which often lead them to go into a frenzy of cleaning house and nesting in order to prepare for the baby.

The PMS-related drop in progesterone is a less-intense version of the same phenomenon. In her fascinating book, Moody Bitches , Dr. Julie Holland explains why this happens: "Every month, when your body prepares for a possible embryo implantation, progesterone levels are building and causing a smaller form of nesting," she writes. "Toward the end of the cycle, a woman might become dissatisfied with her environment and obsessive about making changes in order to make sure the setting is appropriate next month for the burrowing of the embryo into the uterine lining."

"When estrogen levels drop before our periods, that veil is lifted ... It's time to clean house."

Of course, these changes are much more pronounced (and potentially only noticeable) when you're not on hormonal birth control, so don't expect to see these shifts in mood and behavior if you're taking it.
(emphasis mine). 

Well, what do you think? All in all, it looks like the pill makes women generally less feminine which is probably one of the reasons it's so popular in modern society.

Men vs Women

While doing research on housework for one of my previous posts, I found a discussion on a Dutch forum about modern women. Most men complained about their appearance and attitudes and stated that women nowadays are ungracious, unsubmissive, unfeminine and lazy. Then a lady came and said something along the lines that it was all true, but modern men were totally not masculine, either.

"If the men start acting masculine again," she claimed, "the women will fall back in line."

Well, what do you think? True or not true?

Truer Words Were Never Spoken

From the comments to the previous post (the one on authority that is):

I think about this every time a read something written by a member of MRM. They want to be so very "masculine" and they want their women feminine -but please, woman, remember to make your own money. They do not seem to understand, that a woman who makes her own money DOES NOT NEED MAN AT ALL. So she has very little interest in playing sexy homemaker, or letting the man "lead". 

Things Men Don't Like

in women.

DISCLAIMER:

1. trigger warning
2. Don't shoot the messenger:)

Reading newspapers in the current year isn't particularly good for one's blood pressure but sometimes I get this burning desire to know what's going on in our small kingdom. So last week I stumbled upon an internet discussion where our guys were enumerating all the things wrong with our gals. Some were bordering on indecent so being a person of breeding I'll omit them, but it can be summed up thusly:

Dressed like men. Never wear dresses. No sense of style.
Short hair.
"Sensible" ugly shoes
Curses like a sailor
"I don't need no man" attitude
Drinks beer from the bottle
Tattoos, promiscuity
More interested in career than in family until 35. Then starts searching for a husband but has a long list of unreasonable demands with nothing of value to offer
Won't cook, clean or do any housekeeping

"Mannish clothes" was absolutely complaint number one and "short hair" came close second.

In the interests of justice I'll add that as some lady pointed out, while women aren't particularly feminine nowadays, men aren't very masculine, either. And they dress horribly, too.

What do you think?