Earrings: A Defense?

Girls do it all the time. They put jewelry on themselves, do up their hair, and then paint their fingernails. The question of why has long been answered: they do it in order to enhance their appearance. However, I wish to dispute this closed idea, and instead offer my own analysis: they do it as a defense.

First, why do we shield our bodies with clothing? We do it to protect ourselves from both the extremities, as well as others' peering eyes. I put forth the idea that we hide our bodies as a preventative measure: we don't want people to see something they can ridicule.

Think about it for a moment: if people insulted what you were wearing, then you wouldn't be nearly as hurt as if they insulted you directly. So what would you logically do? Try to distract people from you more and more, until people were so distracted that they didn't see you anymore, but instead what you wore.

Perhaps this is part of what females do; they wear earrings, elaborately make their hair, and paint their nails, all in an effort to distract attention from themselves. The underlying truth of this is simple: we are all vulnerable, and wish to protect ourselves. Magicians use this method all the time; they distract you from what they truly try to accomplish (redirection). Similarly, we dress up when going to a ball in order to impress others, and reduce the chance that people ridicule you on who you are. It would make sense that on a day when you are being judged by others, you would protect yourself by wearing garb to disguise you.

So, if we wear things to distract others so they cannot ridicule us, then why do we not wear a suit of armour itself, instead of these trinkets, which serve that purpose? Despite the physical problems with the idea itself, there is also the fact that we wish to bond with others, and completely hiding ourselves from ridicule is a problem. With this in mind, we let ourselves be vulnerable, and we let people interact with us, so that we too can gain emotional support.

So, what does this prove? Simply put, something that we have always known: those who are shallow and wish to decorate themselves with beauty enhancing things, wish to hide who they truly are, for fear of rejection.