How come when a woman wears giant hideous earrings, no matter how ridiculous it looks... there will always be a woman who comes up to her and says: "I love your earrings"?

“Gaint” earrings are likely to catch attention. But how can we know they are secretly criticizing the earrings? Could be a genuine praise, or just an attempt to start a conversation.

We all have different taste. The original woman obviously likes the earrings or she wouldn’t be wearing them. The second woman has similar taste.

Who are you? The fashion police? Perhaps you’re the one with lousy taste.

Choice 1. The other woman might love the earings.

Choice 2. The other woman might think the earings are ridiculous. I stereotype Southerners (in America) doing that sort of thing, but I actually don’t think the majority of Southerners do this kind of backhanded compliment. I think most people everywhere say nothing if they don’t like your fashion taste.

Choice 3. She might love the other women and give her compliments to make her feel good. As women age the compliments usually get fewer and fewer, especially from men, so girlfriends help us continue to feel good about ourselves. You can say real friends tell us their honest opinions, but also sometimes real friends tell us we look hot, gorgeous, and a myriad of compliments to bolster our mood, confidence, and ego. They won’t say something looks great when they think it’s awful, but they might exaggerate their adoration of a fashion the other is sporting that day.

I think of the three, number one happens the most.

Perhaps it is because woman are constantly judged by their looks. Turn on CNN for a few hours and you will see it.

Shit, pants-suit Hillary and why doesn’t she smile more.

Maybe the ladies know misogyny and try to prop their peers up instead of smash them down.

I don’t comment on your tiny cock in the locker room.

There’s no accounting for taste (or the lack of it.) Snooty though it may be I have yet to discern a more reliable gauge of a woman’s depth or social status than the quantity of makeup and jewelry encumbering her.

@stanleybmanly I don’t understand. Are you saying that the more makeup and jewelry a woman wears, the higher her social status? In my experience women who wear a lot of makeup for every day either are doing it for a job, they’re covering up blemishes, or they’re over compensating to make themselves feel better.

As for the jewelry, if it’s expensive obviously she’s wealthy. Some women wear a lot of jewelry because it’s fun.

In short, you never know.

No. I’m saying the exact opposite, though in the light of day that opinion is more likely than not more about one of my personal hang ups. I just don’t like makeup and jangling jewelry. I’ve found that the more paint and bangles, the more vacuous the head another d personality they adorn. Which is exactly why the more egregious examples are usually confined to prepubescent teens and bubbling middle schoolers. They can get away with it.

I agree with what the ladies said above. I was also thinking just because I may compliment someone’s earrings doesn’t necessarily mean I would want to wear those earrings myself. Maybe I like the way those earrings look with that lady, or maybe I like that the lady is bold enough to wear something very bold.

Once in a while, there will be someone that compliments almost everyone and why that is, I’m not sure. Maybe as a way to ingratiate oneself to that person. You’d only know that the person compliments everyone if you are with them a lot, in which case you’re seeing their interactions with multiple people very often. I am thinking of a woman I work with, who will come in and say “I love your sweater!” Then I’ll hear her say to someone else “I love your scarf! You look fabulous!” I know she does that to almost everyone, then.

As for @stanleybmanly‘s judgement about makeup and hanging jewelry, I don’t make assumptions and I don’t judge for something like that. How can one correlate hanging jewelry to someone’s intelligence? It seems like a very far stretch.

It isn’t a matter so much of intelligence. There are VERY smart people with superficial fixations. It isn’t necessarily the equipment, but rather what you choose to do with it.

Maybe they’re trying to start a conversation with the person, and the only way they feel comfortable doing so is to give them an insincere compliment.