An "Attractive Famous People" Series Coming Soon, So Let's Analyze That!

 Hello!

This is my EIGHTH blog post of the day and I'm feeling fine.

One idea that I've been kicking around in my head for ages, for this I Adore blog, is to do a series about famous people that I have "audience member" crushes on. I mean, this is supposed to be a blog that features girlish gushing about whatever stuff I happen to like, and I really like watching movies and certain television shows.

Besides, fashion magazines TRADITIONALLY write about how hot actors and actresses are, so I thought it would be refreshing and highly appropriate of me to return to this more classically respected subject matter. I should actually earn double points for doing this, considering that the most successful blogs tend to be embarrassingly self-confessional in exactly this sort of way. (Who is attracted to whom, blah blah blah.)

But more than that, I have to confess that I also want an excuse to explore some ideas about how sexual attractiveness relates to feminism. So I'm going to do that right here, right now. Yeah. Let's get stuffy and academic!!! 'Cause you know I'm cool like that.

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There are almost as many approaches to feminism as there are feminists, but I happen to be extremely fond of my own philosophical approach and want to share it with the world.

I passionately want to obliterate all gender-based imbalances of power. In fact, I loathe gender-based imbalances of power like Ahab loathed his whale, like Hunter Thompson loathed his Nixon.

But I’m not one to throw out the baby with the bathwater.

I like men. When I imagine a world without sexism, I see a world with stronger camaraderie between people of different sexes and genders. To remove abusive sources of resentment and friction is an excellent way to foster friendship and sociability.

I disagree with the old-school feminists who argue that sexuality itself is intrinsically sexist and degrading. Sexuality still exists in the absence of sexism! In fact, it seems to flourish.

Sexuality itself is only toxic when the people involved have an unhealthy lack of compassion for one-another as people, or when the circumstances are otherwise going to negatively impact one or all of the lives involved. In a healthy context, sexuality can be just as personally enriching as music or laughter. It can be lighthearted and fun! Courtship, infatuation, attraction, partnership, while not the only experiences that give adult life meaning, they certainly do count for something.

Attractiveness, in the absence of sexism and other toxic cultural baggage, simply means that the individual in question looks like a certain kind of social fun. Personality, medical health, personal history, a balanced visual aesthetic... Many variables factor the way that one individual will perceive the attractiveness of another individual.

Given that I do not consider sexuality to be intrinsically degrading and I understand that attractiveness is simply part of sexuality’s social element, I consider it perfectly healthy for most adults to do what they can, within reason, to maximize their own attractiveness. Why not?

This can mean taking one’s facial shape into account when selecting a haircut. This can mean doing what one can to optimize one’s medical health. (Never a bad idea, even outside of social concerns.) This can mean taking current fashion, one's cultural identity and one’s body type into account when selecting what clothing to buy and wear. This can even mean selecting what objects to position oneself next to or adjusting the colors of one's face by using things like makeup, lighting tricks or Photoshop.

These modest little vanities are not intrinsically degrading or intrinsically sexist, because they can and often should take place in the absence of sexism.

And this brings me back to the subject of wanting to blog about attractive people on the television.

That female attractiveness has traditionally been more freely discussed than male attractiveness is sexist. That men have traditionally been discouraged from thinking critically about what increases and decreases their own personal attractiveness is sexist, too.

It’s true that I tend to value eccentricity, thoughtfulness, compassion, creativity, vision and bravery in a man over prettiness, so my personal list of attractive famous people is going to be full of dudes I think I might actually get along with, rather than dudes who just seem to project the greatest medical health. But what-evs. That's just what's going to happen. If I'm to write about what I like, I'm going to write about what I like.

OK, with all of that said, I’m free to start working on this blog series. Perhaps tomorrow, perhaps another day. We’ll see where the weekend leads me.

I Belong to the PhotosOfCatsOnTheInternet Generation

After writing six articles for I Adore Presents... The Food Section! and one long essay for The Beatific Gonzette today, I thought I was done blogging.

But not QUITE!

I have to be true to my generation and post some stuff about cats on the internet, dag-nabbit!

CAT PHOTO OVERLOAAAAAAD!!!!!!!!

**Both of these cats are alive and well, and most of these photos were taken this year.**

Greg:
The sweeter and more feminine of my two cats. Greg is an excellent singer who communicates primarily in sweet, infrequent little humanlike grunts, but who sings the word "hello!" as a greeting when he jumps up onto the bed to hang out with me. He does not meow, in the traditional sense, very much. Greg tends to wake me up in the middle of the night by purring and snuggling and licking my face, like he can't even believe that I'm holding still long enough to mess with. I think that Greg has a special regard for me because I frequently save him from his brother. Greg is often clumsier than Leonard, and manages to weigh about two tons when walking across us at night. (Leonard, his brother, walks across us like an acrobat and we scarcely feel him. I wish Greg would adopt Leonard's technique for this.)

 

Greg loves the towel rack! Always has, always will.

 

Greg and I get along especially well.

Leonard:
Of my two cats (twin brothers), Leonard is the worrier. He has a nagging meow that he lets out in sessions at least once a day. He's the cat who makes sure important things get done, like making sure there's food in his dish and fresh litter in the cat box. Leonard is the only one of the two who was born with a tail, a fact that he lets no one forget. (He is very expressive with this tail and waves it about in amusing shapes.) Leonard is also more of a bully than Greg is, and tends to torment his brother about 80% more frequently than his brother torments him. But in spite of this, Leonard is also very nurturing toward his brother. Leonard is also more cautious than his brother, and usually hides in our box spring when company comes to visit. (Greg looks more confident and relaxed than usual when his brother is hiding, and walks right up to guests to introduce himself.)

This is one of my best portraits of Leonard ever!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cat ballet stretches

 

Leonard, as a kitten, hiding in the laundry.

 

Food Blog is Now Open!!!

I Adore Presents... The Food Section!

That's right, this blog (despite having been slightly neglected over the summer) has been given a spin-off publication dedicated entirely to food.

I will post a good handful of peculiar things about food on this new blog ASAP. As a synesthete and oddball, I'm guaranteed to pay lavish attention to curios and my own bad ideas.

But as the keen daughter of a former chef, I'm likely to know a thing or two about food BEYOND the "Guess what I put ketchup on?" game.

See you there!