Ranking amateurs

[textualdeviance]

It's odd... I'm reasonably good at writing, singing, acting and cooking. I have a bit of skill with graphics, video and web tech. I also have a few other random talents, too--research, general problem-solving, picking up bits of different languages, etc.

Yet I still feel inadequate because I can't play an instrument, dance, draw, sew or do anything athletic.

Oh, and because I'm not pretty.

Because even if I could do all of these things like an expert, it wouldn't matter, because shallow het guys don't consider me fuckworthy.

My culture is so broken.

Comments

[textualdeviance.livejournal.com]

Also, I may just be seeing this wrong, but I think you're engaging in a bit of false equivalency.

If a woman's creativity or intelligence were so culturally valued that women without them faced serious social ostracism, then I think you could compare shallowness on those things with shallowness about aesthetics. But that's just not the case. It may be true that a rare few subcultures value these things more than they do a woman's looks, but even some of the ones that one might think would do so don't. Even in scientific fields, for instance, "attractive" women are more successful than equally qualified colleagues who don't fit cultural standards for looks.

Attractive women with no other skills whatsoever can make fortunes just by standing around and looking pretty. Unattractive women have to actually be better than average at what they do to get anywhere.

It may be that none of this is your personal experience for one reason or another, but statistically, it's definitely true for American culture, at least.