Vanity Is Feminine: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

[[File:Vanity 9528.jpg|link=The Smurfs|frame|Don't hate him because he's beautiful.]]

 

The notion that vanity (in the specific sense of being preoccupied with one's physical attractiveness and desirability to others) and femininity are intrinsically linked: to be feminine is to be vain and to be vain is to be feminine. A woman who is not vain (and preoccupied with how beautiful others perceive her as) is not fully feminine, either a tomboy or immature (or both). A man who is vain is not fully ''masculine,'' quite possibly a weakling or homosexual. Handsome men are often described as "ruggedly good-looking," emphasizing their lack of attention to presentation.

* ''[[Xanth]]'' is another fantasy series that caters to this concept, taking the All Women Are Vain and [[All Men Are Perverts]] approach. Xanth's archaic prohibition against female rulers is presented as unfairly sexist, but the concept that all women desire to be considered beautiful more than almost anything else, and enjoy being seen as beautiful more than the promise of privacy, is completely inoffensive and simple truth.

{{quote|A pretty girl could express shock and distress if someone saw her bare torso, but privately she would be pleased if the reaction were favorable.}}

** Admittedly, his vanity wasn't disliked because it was feminine, but because he could hardly go a sentence without saying how great his smile was. The majority of the major female characters in the books don't seem to care too much about their looks, except on special occasions, like balls and weddings.

* ''[[The Belgariad]]'' makes some use of this as well. Certainly no female is established as neglecting her physical appearance when she had any other option available. While 7000-year-old Belgarath appears as an old man (and in fact takes care to look like a vagabond), his 3000-year-old daughter Polgara appears eternally 20—by choice, since while an elderly ''male'' sorcerer may appear learned and formidable an elderly female sorceress would be seen as a crone. Though as a child she kept herself filthy and unkempt, after her sister's marriage she came out of her shell and went to the opposite extreme entirely, constantly bathing, preening, and dressing flatteringly.