“What one believes to be vanity often results from an inferiority complex.” Roger Peyrefitte
Are you vain? Yes? No? Well, let see…
Do you frequently look at yourself in mirrors or display windows in the street? Do you wear clothes according to the weather or to showcase your assets? Do you regularly take selfies?
If you do any of those things, you are vain my friend. You are excessively proud or concerned about your appearance and few people would call this an asset.
In Western art, vanity is often symbolized by a strutting peacock, or in the Bible by the Whore of Babylon, “the Mother of Prostitutes and Abominations of the Earth.”
Ahem… That sounds a little excessive to me…
Most women are generally concerned about their appearance and try to emphasize what they believe to be their best assets. Which sometimes leads to laughable situations.
Every winter you can spot young women, who regardless of the weather are exposing their midriff. In July maybe, in December it is a little more difficult to fathom. Do they have a particularly interesting navel or are they promoting some new kind of a diet?
Guys on the other hand (after shelling out big bucks and spending countless hours in gyms) like to show what they paid for: an impressive muscularity. And they display this awe-inspiring brawn in skimpy Stringer Tank Tops.
Some men also sport some peculiar hairdos that like magnets attract and distract. It might be a way to draw attention away from more pressing problems.
Vanity is a monkey on anybody’s back. It prevents many people to be taken seriously. Applying for a job with outrageous make-up or a ring in your nose might deter prospective employers from giving you a job.
It would be good to remember that “the only person allowed to be vain is your boss” … or somebody who was chosen (?) by plebeians to be their ruler.
Cogito, ergo sum
“The only cure against vanity is laughter, and the only fault that is laughable is vanity. Henry Bergson
Alain