In which my booty is heartily admired
Mar. 2nd, 2003 03:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
flexagonEver since I got engaged, everyone and his dog has been flirting with me. Yesterday I was walking through Alewife when I heard from behind me an incredibly heartfelt "Oh my god, you have beautiful buns!" and then as I turned to look the guy sort of laughed and said "oh, sorry... sorry!" I do get this statement once or twice a week, but the sentence usually ends in the word hair, and in my surprise I told the guy this. He was not impressed with my hair. At that point the door I was going through got stuck, which meant I was delayed and ended up having a short, amusing conversation with him. The following facts came out:
It's interesting how we've become a culture in which a compliment on something physical is kind of a dangerous thing. I think the whole genre of compliments has gotten kind of polluted by the idea (and practice) of catcalling and such... few people know anymore how to tactfully compliment someone on physical attributes, and even fewer people seem to be able to take such compliments as simple compliments (not catcalling, not a sexual come-on, not objectification, just a frickin' compliment). I've heard that it's done more in other countries, like Italy... and it can be done in weight rooms as long as it's couched in suitable respect for the work the person's put in on whatever muscle is being complimented. But I kind of wish it were more okay here, too... among other things, the number of attractive people I see around seems to have quadrupled lately (another side effect of being off the market, no doubt), and it would be nice to be able to walk by them and say "wow, you have great legs" or whatever without it being weird.
I had a great weight workout today, not least because it was warm enough to be in a tank top and actually see my muscles. Of all the guilty pleasures in my life, few of them can beat skullcrushing a 40-lb weight, right in front of the mirror, while some beginner with 5 lbs in each hand learns a wussy delt exercise behind me. :) It didn't hurt that a cute Harvard sophomore then hit on me, on the bus, all the way home. So okay, I now feel fantastic, even my legs, but I weighed myself and I'm well over 120 lbs again; about 123 in fact. Maybe it really is time to relax my weight standard a bit.
- He was surprised that I don't get complimented on my buns more often,
- I've got one lucky guy, because that's like, Jennifer Lopez, man!,
- As I was in a hurry and needed to walk on ahead, he was welcome to look all he wanted,
- No offense was taken at the initial remark,
- No offense was meant by the initial remark, and
- He's glad somebody can take a compliment like that.
It's interesting how we've become a culture in which a compliment on something physical is kind of a dangerous thing. I think the whole genre of compliments has gotten kind of polluted by the idea (and practice) of catcalling and such... few people know anymore how to tactfully compliment someone on physical attributes, and even fewer people seem to be able to take such compliments as simple compliments (not catcalling, not a sexual come-on, not objectification, just a frickin' compliment). I've heard that it's done more in other countries, like Italy... and it can be done in weight rooms as long as it's couched in suitable respect for the work the person's put in on whatever muscle is being complimented. But I kind of wish it were more okay here, too... among other things, the number of attractive people I see around seems to have quadrupled lately (another side effect of being off the market, no doubt), and it would be nice to be able to walk by them and say "wow, you have great legs" or whatever without it being weird.
I had a great weight workout today, not least because it was warm enough to be in a tank top and actually see my muscles. Of all the guilty pleasures in my life, few of them can beat skullcrushing a 40-lb weight, right in front of the mirror, while some beginner with 5 lbs in each hand learns a wussy delt exercise behind me. :) It didn't hurt that a cute Harvard sophomore then hit on me, on the bus, all the way home. So okay, I now feel fantastic, even my legs, but I weighed myself and I'm well over 120 lbs again; about 123 in fact. Maybe it really is time to relax my weight standard a bit.
