Cathy Classics by Cathy Guisewite for February 10, 2010

Glossy and shimmery looks like a middle school girl. Fine for that, but on an adult, nope.

Few things look sillier than a 30+ woman trying to look like a teenager. Unless you are a celeb with a personal surgeon, trainer, stylist, and paparazzi-photo-airbrusher on retainer, that is.

But of course, Cathy has a credit card. She could get all of those things if the saleslady/evil minion had them in stock.

58+ and proud of every well earned wrinkle, bag & sag. Keep in fair physical shape, don’t use makeup but do use sunscreen. I don’t care if I look “white” in the summer, I do care if I get skin cancer. And I do not even think of dressing as if I were a teen!

As a teenager, I was not attracted to girls my age. They were all so giggly and shallow. My first crushes were on girls 5 to 9 years older. My wife is only 6 months younger.

Why does Cathy always listen to these people? Are they experts? They work behind the counter of a store and their job is to sell this stuff so they make up whatever they think the customer wants to hear in order to buy this stuff.

As a Guy, reading Cathy usually just makes me very sad. Sometimes it makes me flinch, especially when Irving faces Guy reality, but the strip still rarely or never gives me pleasure. But eventually the strip gets me to understand how women are, which I need to live in my overwhelmingly female-majority setting. Understanding why … well, that’s just beyond the pale.

It’s not really how women are Avon. Take the makeup list the other day. They used the whole list of everything that’s made for every lip issue on earth, which no one person would ever need or be able to use at once, and they make a point with it, to show what women have to deal with as opposed to what men have to deal with society-wise. Cathy always used extremes to make a point that women have the weight of the world put on them by society, while men just tend to slide on through. This strip has always been this way, dealing with the issues of the times by looking at the extremes to make the point. Miss Guisewite always did an excellent job of keeping up with all the latest fads and issues.

Cathy did have a much more interesting life when she was single though, which is why we all hope she breaks free and “gets her groove back”.

Cosmetics is the largest grossing consumer industry. I find it hard to believe that almost nobody here uses makeup as they claimed. There’s nothing wrong with using it.

I also wear make-up, but do so lightly. I use mascara rarely.

right on, @mrslukeskywalker! you said it just right. people often don’t see that the exaggeration is there to make a point. but also to make you laugh when you want to cry.