But mar-a-lago face is a real thing and while the first instinct is to recoil in horror at what these people have done to themselves, elites have a long history of this kind of extreme identity signalling. And I do think this phenomenon is best understood as part of that tradition.
That looks like an extension of the handicap principle, which is quite blindly accepted (like the alpha males thing) but has not a lot of evidence.
There is some real signaling that looks kinda handicappy, like the ancient Chinese growing long fingernails: at first sight it was detrimental to their ability to do manual work. But it actually isn’t because they didn’t need to do manual work. That’s different in my opinion from botching one’s face, as they see the procedures as an improvement over the alternative of looking their actual age. They are fleeing from the wrinkles, and that face is a consequence, not a goal.
I have no idea if you’re being serious.
Tbh I struggle with that myself sometimes.
But mar-a-lago face is a real thing and while the first instinct is to recoil in horror at what these people have done to themselves, elites have a long history of this kind of extreme identity signalling. And I do think this phenomenon is best understood as part of that tradition.
That looks like an extension of the handicap principle, which is quite blindly accepted (like the alpha males thing) but has not a lot of evidence.
There is some real signaling that looks kinda handicappy, like the ancient Chinese growing long fingernails: at first sight it was detrimental to their ability to do manual work. But it actually isn’t because they didn’t need to do manual work. That’s different in my opinion from botching one’s face, as they see the procedures as an improvement over the alternative of looking their actual age. They are fleeing from the wrinkles, and that face is a consequence, not a goal.
My understanding is that it is a goal. It’s not just a botched face job or over use of botox. People walk in and ask for a face like that.
I used to call it real-housewife-face, because that seemed to be where the desire to do this to themselves started.
But is does seem to overlap a lot with visitors or wanna be visitors to that Nazi bar down in Florida.