That's a blinkered perspective on the source of the standard.  Women don't hold themselves to a certain standard of beauty because they want to look a certain way, independent of the value that looking a certain way brings them by appealing to the tastes of men.

It seems to me that most of what is criticized about Lindsay Lohan and Courtney Love is the effect their prodigious drug use and wildly self-destructive behavior has had on their bodies.  They don't just look unattractive; on their worst days, they appear positively unhealthy.  O'Neal rarely (if ever) makes gratuitous…

It seems to me that most of what is criticized about Lindsay Lohan and Courtney Love is the effect their prodigious drug use and wildly self-destructive behavior has had on their bodies.  They don't just look unattractive; on their worst days, they appear positively unhealthy.  O'Neal rarely (if ever) makes gratuitous…

Stereotype number one: people who care about women's issues are uncontrollably emotional.

Stereotype number one: people who care about women's issues are uncontrollably emotional.

I didn't really perceive it as rant-like.  Probably because I agreed with the premise.  I try to take seriously the grievances of people who are treated unfairly by society.  I find it to be less douchey than assuming that anyone with a grievance just doesn't understand how wrong they are.

I didn't really perceive it as rant-like.  Probably because I agreed with the premise.  I try to take seriously the grievances of people who are treated unfairly by society.  I find it to be less douchey than assuming that anyone with a grievance just doesn't understand how wrong they are.

I hate being the slow nerd.

I hate being the slow nerd.

Liked for the liberal politics.  Disliked for the ass-to-mouth action.  But liked again for the voluminous variety of dirty words.

Liked for the liberal politics.  Disliked for the ass-to-mouth action.  But liked again for the voluminous variety of dirty words.

Thank you, Google.  Thank you for providing an off switch for the worst thing you have created.

Thank you, Google.  Thank you for providing an off switch for the worst thing you have created.

The porn industry has historically been very stingy in appealing to women at all.  Clearly they're willing to settle.

The porn industry has historically been very stingy in appealing to women at all.  Clearly they're willing to settle.

I need to stop reading these.  I'm compulsively editing out the worst cliches, and that's not healthy.

I need to stop reading these.  I'm compulsively editing out the worst cliches, and that's not healthy.

There are lessons to be learned here, surely, about our inability to choose the world we live in and the necessity of making peace with the world and the culture that exists beyond our control.

There are lessons to be learned here, surely, about our inability to choose the world we live in and the necessity of making peace with the world and the culture that exists beyond our control.

As someone with a tragic inability to come up with good titles, I must say that I'd kill to be able to claim one as good as that.