A trio of young women—a blonde, a redhead, and a brunette—walk
into a AA baseball stadium in a southern city an hour before first pitch (no,
this isn’t the opening of a joke). It’s a hot July night, and the girls are
dressed for the weather. The redhead is wearing a white sundress and blue wedge
heels. The blonde is in white shorts and a pink top with sandals; the brunette is
in a green and tan patterned sundress with tan thong sandals. The redhead wears
a messy side braid and light eye makeup; the brunette sports a windblown ponytail,
lipstick, and mascara. The blonde wears full powder and dramatic eye makeup
with red lipstick. Before they make their way to the second row of seats down
the right field line by the home bullpen, they stop at the beer stand and grab a
couple cans before the game starts.
What are your first thoughts about these women?
Great. Now keep reading.
It’s the same night, same game, alternate reality. The same
three women enter the park. This time, however, the redhead wears a
loose-fitting Under Armour tank, black compression fit bottoms that hit below
the knee, and running shoes. Her hair is pulled into a high ponytail; the
flyaways are held at bay by an elastic headband. The blonde wears pink Nike
running shorts and a fitted tee with colorful trainers, her hair pulled
haphazardly into low pigtails. The brunette is in black volleyball shorts, a
loose-fitting tank, and running shoes with a high ponytail. None of the girls
are wearing makeup. They are still an hour early and their seats are in the
same place; they still grab a beer before they sit.
What do you think about them now?
I know there are only 20 of you, but comment away. I'm going to tell you my thoughts and the rest of this experience tomorrow, but let's see what you've got first.
My first thought is that I wouldn't want to wear a full face of makeup in July in the South. I don't know if I'm the best for an initial-reaction straw poll because I'm something of a feminist and don't care for slut-shaming, but I remember a study I encountered about the perception of female politicians. If an article mentioned a female candidate's appearance, whether positive or negative, readers had a poor perception of her compared to articles that did not mention her appearance at all. I think society puts more importance/judges more harshly the appearance of females than males.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I agree about the heat and the makeup, but I don't know where your being a feminist has anything to do with how much makeup you wear. I would say that's due more to being a pragmatist. The perception thing is such a problem for women, no doubt. I think I ran into that study when I was looking at obesity and the Presidential race, and it fits well here. So your initial reaction is that the makeup wearing chick clearly must not sweat, right?
ReplyDeleteWhat about in relation to baseball? Any feelings there?
My thought is if three girls, on their own, decide to go to a AA baseball game in the Southern humidity, show up early, drink some beers, and watch the game then they are three pretty cool ladies. I could care less what they wear to the game.
ReplyDeleteI don't think of them at all. I'm there to watch the game. The only people I care about are on the field.
ReplyDeleteNow - if these three ladies happen to be Paris Hilton, Lindsey Lohan, and Britney Spears - then I definitely take note, because something epic is about to go down.
Well, you guys are more evolved human beings than some of the people I run into. I'll post the rest of the story tomorrow evening.
ReplyDeleteI would probably enjoy the view in passing and think nothing of it unless they were acting foolishly. Grabbing their seats and drinking a beer, I would just think it's great that they're catching a game and not give them a second thought after that.
ReplyDeleteI adore the lack of judgment you guys show. I wish everyone was this unconcerned.
ReplyDelete