Coincidance - Principia Discordia

COINCIDANCE 61
Against this is the primordial desire to appear beautiful and fashionable.
Worse yet, the picture grows still more complex if the lady is married, for
now she will consider her husband's wishes in the matter, as Flugel goes on
to point out. The husband may wish her to dress daringly if he is relatively
free of neurotic jealously and/or enjoys Veblen's "conspicuous consumption."
Flaunting her breasts, then, is his way of showing other men what a prize he
has captured. On the other hand, he may fear this as leading to dangerous
competition. Judging by the way Arab women have traditionally been
forced to dress, Arab men are particularly paranoid about such possibilities.
In addition to these possible reactions, there is the complexity of "moral"
squeamishness or its absence, this time in his head. Finally, there is the
question of whether the lady is in a mood this particular night to please her
husband or to annoy him. .. .
And to cap off this pyramid of absurdities, the lady also has to stop and
read the latest Supreme Court ruling before finally deciding. Nine old men
she's never met personally will sit in solemn conclave and announce how
many inches of her are decent this year and how many inches are diabolic
and obscene. We can only conclude, as Flugel did, that attitudes toward
clothing and the body are entirely dominated by irrationality.
Or as Mark Twain said: "Man is a fool, and woman, for tolerating him, is a
damned fool."
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