Aurel's laurels

On Friday I went with Cathy to her hairdresser's, who now works in the basement of his own home. His wife, a colourist, also works with him. As Cathy had her hair done, I looked at hairdressing magazines and came to realize very forcefully the lengths to which many women will go to have attractive hair. I just go to a barber as rarely as possible and, like, most balding men, have even abandoned combing what little hair I have left. But even when I had hair, I spent as little effort on it as possible. To a woman, however, her hair can be an alterable extension of her appeal. Now, I think that a lot of a woman's care over her appearance is actually for other women. Most women I know do not need to attract a mate. They already have one as well as quite a few male admirers that they don't really need anymore. My theory is that women want to look presentable in front of other women. Conversely, men are encouraged not to care what other men think about their appearance. It's like the old thing of putting all men into similar dinner jackets while encouraging women to wear the fanciest gowns and adornment. Where men and women are more similar is when we look in the mirror. We want to be content with what we see.
I have just reread what I have written and I am strongly tempted not to publish it. However I throw it down as a gauntlet before my women readers. I challenge you to haul me up by my bootstraps and say, "No Marc, what sexist nonsense"!