I've gone through several stages of reactions to the type of insecurities that women show over their looks. First it was an indulgent 'ah you silly thing'. Then it became a sort of impatience 'Are you being deliberately blind or obtuse?' But it didn't take me too long to get distressed at the deep seated anguish that you see displayed.
Men or women who insult women for their looks are consciously or un consciously bullies. There is a whole subsection of journalism devoted to it.
Ber is right though, it seems to be bound up with a woman's consciousness and seems to surface in all sorts of cultures. What to do about it? I don't know. Decent men saying honestly how they appreciate women in general or their own loved one in particular doesn't seem to do the trick. I think one way is to think carefully about who you are and creating self respect but that is so hard for young people generally who are often confused about their emerging adult identity. Some women like wearing make up and all the rituals that go with it and some women don't or like a natural look. As a man, I like both sorts of women. And I have no problem with body hair wherever it appears (nor it's unexpected absence
) I'm not a huge fan of plastic clones though and the porn star look makes me want to run a mile.
Finally I'd like to pick up on Leoba's jokey reference to a nude moot though. I spend time during the good weather at the local naturist beach and I recommend it as a way of feeling relaxed about body image. Even 70 year olds look better with no clothes on. There are people there with amputations, mastectomies, overweight and underweight, plain and glamorous all confident and relaxed with one another. It is a very liberating feeling, connected I think to the fact that you don't have to apologise for your body. The opposite to being accidentally discovered undressed and covering up desperately as in a farce as if you had done something wrong.