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Saturday, May 8, 2010

Unscathed by high school

My son recently expressed the opinion that a man's worth is basically 40% his intelligence, 40% his bravery and toughness, and maybe 20% his physicality: his appearance and whether he can do anything special with his body.

He then added that a woman's worth is 95% her looks, and maybe 5% her brains, but that he was being generous with the 5%.

(The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the management of this blog.)

I'm not going to pass judgment on the merits of what Johnny said. In any case, he said this to his mother, trying to get a rise, so it's not even clear the extent to which he believes it himself.

But I will say that I'm sorta proud of him that he's made it all the way through high school without ever having been brainwashed into anything remotely resembling political correctness.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

When I was 17 it was most definitely 100% looks. G

John Craig said...

Are you trying to imply that you've changed?

Anonymous said...

Well, I certainly pretend to have changed...
Actually, no measure of good looks would make up for some of the pathological personalities I have encountered along the way, so I think I have learned at least a little from experience.... but who knows..

John Craig said...

Guy -- You're right, of course, but as Tolstoy said, it is amazing how complete the illusion that beauty is goodness. So sometimes it's a lesson that has to be relearned.