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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Feminism: chat

Original poster

Can we talk about this lip filler fashion

157 replies

squirreltrap · 11/08/2017 11:46

I'm just wondering if there is some feminist analysis for the current fashion for lip fillers. I don't want to slate the women who are doing it, just understand what the hell its all about!

My thoughts on it are:

  • it must be porn related?
  • are they designed to look like labia on your face?
  • it seems to be some obvious expression of sexual availability?
  • I've never spoken to a man who finds it attractive so that's confusing
  • it seems to make women look 'vulnerable' and low in self-esteem somehow, is that what is attractive? (Reminds me of the old feminist arguement about high heels being attractive because they render women unable to defend themselves I.e. Run away)

What's everyone else's view on this?

(And it is a feminist issue because it's women doing it to themselves)

OP posts:
Agoddessonamountaintop · 11/08/2017 17:00

I'm puzzled by the assumption that associating the origins and encroaching presence of this with porn equates to accusing people of wanting to be porn stars:
'I think there is more chance of this being possible than to look like porn stars.'
'I don't however want a job in the porn industry, nor the look of a fanny on my face, nor and I wanting to give out the impression that I'm sexual available (hmm)'
'Just because someone has filler lips does not mean they are in the porn industry Hmm'
I'm sure there were more comments in a similar vein. But no one's saying having lip fillers means someone wants to be a porn star; pp are just pointing out the origins of trends like these. The same thing applies to the removal of all pubic hair, or having a Brazilian or whatever. You might not like learning where the fashion came from but that doesn't mean it's not true. Nor does it mean you are being called a porn star or anything else when the facts are pointed out to you.

Agoddessonamountaintop · 11/08/2017 17:10

Sorry, things have moved on - I came back and posted before hitting refresh!

Badhairday1001 · 11/08/2017 22:14

I haven't read the whole thread but I naturally have very full lips. I have had comments from both men and woman in the past about them, a few innapropriate e.g blow job lips but mostly complementary. I certainly don't think they look like labia on my face! I love my lips, they are my favourite part of me and always have been even before the fashion for big lips.

MrsJayy · 11/08/2017 22:36

My 20yr old has full lips and people have been quite mean to her about them usually saying she has gone to far on the filler trout pout etc etc Hmm why are girls so nasty to other girls especially about looks It truly baffles me

ButtHoleinOne · 11/08/2017 22:41

Does it really require an in depth analysis

As opposed to a shallow one? Do people ever get bored of underthinking?

OlennasWimple · 11/08/2017 22:53

quencher - interesting link, thanks

I was thinking, as I read the thread, that I suspect that at least in part the current fashion is driven by the rise of black superstars like Rhianna who have naturally full lips and a proper curvy bum. There's no way that the average causcasian woman can emulate her mouth without cosmetic assistance

LassWiTheDelicateAir · 11/08/2017 23:00

As opposed to a shallow one? Do people ever get bored of underthinking?

The lipstick makes lips look like labia stuff seems to me a pretty tired bit of underthinking - especially if citing Desmond Morris. As does the automatic assumption that everything done to enhance appearance is for the benefit of men. Much of it seems to me to be with a view of getting one over other women.

LassWiTheDelicateAir · 11/08/2017 23:03

like Rhianna who have naturally full lips and a proper curvy bum

What is a "proper" curvy bum? That sounds very like laying down what is an acceptable body shape. At her age I most certainly did not have a "proper curvy bum"

OlennasWimple · 11/08/2017 23:11

proper curvy bum = genuine curvy bum. Ie not one created by surgeons

QuentinSummers · 11/08/2017 23:18

As does the automatic assumption that everything done to enhance appearance is for the benefit of men.
I'm not sure the thing about lipstick is quite that. I think it's more humans are hardwired to see certain things as attractive and red lips are one of those things.
Baby herring gulls peck red dots on their mums beak to get food, the bigger the dot the more they peck. They will peck red dots on paper (I think) They are hardwired to peck at a dot.

It makes sense to me because the attractive colours are blood enforced flash colours, if there wasn't something primal there I'd expect to see widespread fashions for other bright colours such as blue or green (like happens with nail colours). But that's not the case.

QuentinSummers · 11/08/2017 23:19

Fucking phone. Blood engorged flesh colours

LassWiTheDelicateAir · 11/08/2017 23:32

I'm not sure the thing about lipstick is quite that. I think it's more humans are hardwired to see certain things as attractive and red lips are one of those things

That makes sense but that is not comparing them to engorged labia. Very pale lips would indicate anaemia or poor health.

My labia do not look like my lips. I have never seen sexually engorged labia and I've never had sex with a woman and I don't watch porn. If lipstick is meant to represent engorged labia then why on earth would I think lipstick makes me look better? I have no frame of reference for that.

HolyShmoly · 11/08/2017 23:35

I think the combination of full lips = youth and the cheapness and ready availability of lip and facial fillers is behind a lot of it. Although I do feel like the 'bar' for acceptable beauty standards is getting higher and higher and this is playing a role too.

I do find it worrying that so many people are willing to get unknown substances injected into themselves by unqualified people.

Dustbunny1900 · 12/08/2017 02:03

I don't think the lip filler trend looks youthful. Kylie is what, 18? And looks to be in her 30s. The styles are sexualized but if you wanna talk youthful infantalized and creepily childish look at the Korean styles.

Holowiwi · 12/08/2017 02:35

You know not everything is related to porn surprisingly body alterations have existed before porn. I know porn is the great go to whenever people do things that the regulars here don't like but throughout human history people have altered their bodies depending on what is popular at the time.

misskelly · 12/08/2017 02:58

There's no way that the average causcasian woman can emulate her mouth without cosmetic assistance

Well I've managed it, and I have naturally large breast too. You can't just assume that any white women with large lips has had fillers. I'm in my 40's now but from about the age of 12-30 everyday as I went about my business was like running a gauntlet. I've had men make comments, try to touch me actually touch me and generally scare the living daylights out of me. The wearing of baggy, unattractive clothes didn't deter them but I got used to the idea that most men in the public domain were creepy bastards.

The thing that hurt the most was how some women treated me, it was almost if I had large boobs and an attractive face on purpose just to spite them and I deserved to be treated like a porn star.

Coconutspongexo · 12/08/2017 07:49

There's no way that the average causcasian woman can emulate her mouth without cosmetic assistance

Well that's not true, my mother my sisters and I all have very full lips, we've never had lip fillers. Also all Caucasian

Datun · 12/08/2017 09:25

Much of it seems to me to be with a view of getting one over other women.

That's interesting Lass. Because that would still indicate to me that it was for men. To get the best mate, I mean. To look better than the next woman.

And why don't we wear green lipstick or blue lipstick? I know sometimes people do, but it's not common.

Full lips - I think it's obvious, they make you look younger.

Red ones? I suppose it's an enhancement of the natural pigmentation. But why does that feel/look attractive?

Nancy91 · 12/08/2017 09:28

I think it's just like lining your lips to make them look fuller, but on a bigger scale. I think it looks more youthful than thinner lips but it's easy to go too far with it and start looking like a fish. Each to their own.

reallyanotherone · 12/08/2017 10:15

I've also seen recently that the fashion for drawing outside your lipline and filling in is coming back.

NotTheDuchessOfCambridge · 12/08/2017 10:21

I thought feminism was about women sticking together, empowering each other, not making offensive posts on the life choices of other women. If a woman wants to use lip fillers, good for her, it's her choice.
Disgusting views on here from "so called" feminists.

LassWiTheDelicateAir · 12/08/2017 10:24

That's interesting Lass. Because that would still indicate to me that it was for men. To get the best mate, I mean. To look better than the next woman

There might be an element of that but I don't think it is the whole story. I think for some women the idea they look better than other women is enough in itself.

Datun · 12/08/2017 10:27

NotTheDuchessOfCambridge

Blind acceptance of other people's choices are certainly not what feminism is about. The choice any woman makes is not, purely by definition, just a feminist choice.

Looks-orientated analysis, is definitely a feminist issue. But it's kind of the arse end. Because it's just the result of a whole heap of other things.

Women being disadvantaged and things like lip fillers are definitely connected. So you can't really take lip fillers as a standalone issue.

reallyanotherone · 12/08/2017 10:34

If a woman wants to use lip fillers, good for her, it's her choice

Ever heard the saying "nothing happens in a vacuum"?

You may think it's free choice. It isn't. The discussion here isn't slagging off "other womens choices", it's wondering what the social and environmental circumastances are and why they lead to these choices, and whether they are positive or negative influence..

SomeDyke · 12/08/2017 11:10

Those sceptical about the simplistic mouth/vulva correspondence (Freud was to blame!) - go look at sexual swellings in female apes. Fillers and red lipstick are in effect making your face resemble a baboon's arse, and presumably tweaking the same very old that is a sign of sexual arousal or receptivity. Makes being compared to a trout seem almost a compliment..............

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