Anyway, I'll just wait a while while you go off and read Jamie's blog.
*taps fingers, humming to self*
Ok? You've read it?
I was more than a little surprised, then, to read a piece in the Guardian (maybe I'm wrong, but I thought all us Guardian readers were feminist lefties!) on Saturday which seems to show those days are actually alive and well!
I quote: (full text here)
As I stand waiting for my children, chatting to the other mums, I'm often secretly studying them and thinking, "When did you all stop looking in a mirror?" Ten-year-old tapered M&S jeans, baggy T-shirts, navy anoraks, Crocs – or, worse, flipflops – and not a pedicure in sight [...]
(by the way, be grateful I didn't use the first google image I found - search pedicure *shriek*)
It's not just about the lack of stylish clothes or make-up (although, really, how hard is it to apply some tinted moisturiser?), but the complete lack of respect for themselves. When did these women stop caring? Why? And what do their husbands think? It's hard to believe they walk in and think, "Phwoarr, unwashed hair, tracksuit bottoms and eyebrows that meet in the middle… I've got to have her now!"
[...]I can't help feeling that the somewhat downtrodden attitude that seems common among the mums I meet isn't helped by the fact they often don't even bother to do their hair each day.
Or...just maybe...could it be some other reason? Like the recession, or 24/7 childcare, or friends like you? Or maybe *just maybe* they've got interesting lives and don't wish to waste their time tarting themselves up for the playground witches when they've got a great afternoon of fun planned with their children.
When I was a young mum I found it a very messy job (paint, playdoh, sandpits, baking etc) and certainly didn't waste my time dressing up to impress people like this writer. Neither did my self-esteem depend on her opinion.
*Jamie assures me he doesn't wear lippy. Well, not on a weekday.
