Why Women are Inferior: A Woman's Perspective

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Letter from the Editor
My designer psychomachia
By: Michelle Maher
Issue date: 9/29/05 Section: Opinion
Article Tools: Page 1 of 1

Guilty pleasures.

Everyone has them. Whether they be new shoes, Chicken Marsala, or kung-fu movies, they are something that will most likely brighten up your day no matter how blue you are.

So, then, what's there to feel guilty about? The price? As long as your guilty pleasure isn't buying mansions or Bentleys, don't be ashamed to go out and blow some money on the latest Harry Potter book or the second season DVD of Full House. If it makes you happy, it shouldn't be considered guilty. There's nothing wrong with wanting material possessions; everyone does. Hey, maybe money can buy happiness after all.

I have to keep reminding myself of this as I look down at my new, two-hundred dollar Coach bag.

Anything with my designer label is my newest guilty pleasure. Coach, Prada, Fendi, Robert Cavelli, Dolce & Gabbana, Versace--- just thinking about those words make the corners of my lips turn up. My bag makes me feel good about myself, and I feel confident walking around with it on my shoulder. Plus, it's so cute!

I know what you guys out there are probably thinking, "Is 'cute' a good enough excuse to spend 500 bucks on a bag because it's Kate Spade or $800 on a coat because it has Burberry on the label?"

Maybe not to you but it is to me and every girl who knows what I'm talking about.

Designer labels are powerful. Unfortunately, a big part of a woman's life is how she looks and what she wears. Whether a girl lets this fact affect her or not, it's true. People look at you in a different way when you are wearing a label. They might see you in a different, brighter light than they had before. Whenever I see a girl with a designer purse or shoes or whatever it is, I get jealous, and I don't get jealous easily. I see it, and I want it.

Men just don't understand this. My boyfriend laughs at me whenever we go to the mall because my eyes light up when I see a new Dooney & Bourke bag or I walk past (okay, in) Coach. It's not my fault! It's like I'm sucked into a force-field. How can I just walk by? Just thinking about that gorgeous, tweed Burberry coat I saw last week makes my eyes well up.

The only bad thing about my guilty pleasure is that I have to limit myself; I can't even afford gas. I don't have millions of dollars. And thus, as I let the designer fabric run over my fingers and feel my eyes water in desire, my good, rational side is telling me, "Getting back and forth to school is more important than having that coat," while my evil, Prada wearing, fabulously dressed other side is saying, "Go for it! You can rule the world in those shoes. What's 200 bucks?"

The good, rational, sweatshirt-wearing side usually wins. I'm not Paris Hilton. 200 dollars is not something I can throw around. But when I have the opportunity, maybe twice a year if I'm lucky, I let myself give into my guilty pleasure. It's better than Christmas.

So, to all you guys out there who roll your eyes when your girlfriend spends a year's pay on a designer purse, know that it makes her feel good. Take my advice and buy one for your girl. She'll most likely become your slave if she's anything like my friends and I.

Imagine you could buy a World Series ring. Get the picture?

No other comments?

*bump*

I avoid women like the author here like the plague. A woman needs a good head on her shoulders, dangit!

I never buy anything because it has a label on it, that is stupid. I buy things I like or things I need and I am one of the cheapest people I know, but it isn't a bad thing. I just like to wait for something to come on sale before I buy it, or if I really like something I will try to find an affordable version of it. My favorite sunglasses were 9 dollars, but they happen to look very similar to a pair that was made by dolci and gabana, it is funny how many women like the one who wrote this article are always coming up to me saying "wow, I LOVE those, I wanted to get them but they were SOOOOOO expensive." I end up laughing (which I am sure seems off to them) because I think it is hilarious they would pay 400 dollars for something when they could get it for 9 dollars. I am take a weird pleasure knowing I got something for the least amount of money I could spend, that includes groceries and everything.

Whoa. I know I'm in Aspie land....

Let's just say this topic could never come up in my neighborhood (near Beverly Hills, CA) without cries of disbelief.

I think Thagomizer should enjoy her purse, and not even feel guilty. There, I've said it. And the shoes, too.

When you look at a woman's attire, you can tell whether she likes pampering herself a little bit as opposed to morgaging her life to fit her spending habit. I like to see a woman take some care for these things, to want to ally herself with beautiful, tasteful, current fashions. It can be done well and reasonably.

But I will say that the extreme is nauseating: women scooting around in their chic Land Rovers with so many bags from designer stores at the Beverly Center that they have to have the maid come out to carry them all in. (Yes, I've actually seen this...) They won't wear something unless the average person can't get ahold of it, and the amount of money they spend at a swoop is staggering. They have closets full of designer bags, dresses, shoes they never wear...

Have fun Thagomizer, but beware the razor's edge thou walkest! I don't want to see you a slave. Dolce & Gabbana are tough taskmasters.