Stop That; the Guys Don't Like It.

Recently, I "stumbled-upon" an advice column telling women what they should or should not wear. As someone  who always has one, opinions on what styles should get chucked do not bother me. This particular list featured hair extensions, bright-colored lipsticks, and too much make-up.
This is like any other issue of Cosmo or Allure, telling us women what we need to know. Now, my beef isn't with the media portraying women as airbrushed, supernatural beings (not today, anyway) -- it's actually quite the opposite. The articles have seemed to shift focus -- now bloggers are telling us, "Hey you! It's okay you don't look like a model... guys actually want realistic women!"
And that's wear the problem comes in... How many times (girls) have you read about how you should not wear too much make-up because guys don't like that? Or how about how guys love curves? Don't forget to leave your hair extensions at home, because when you are with a guy, they might run their fingers through your hair and rip one out.
Give me a break. Has anyone noticed that by telling us we can be ourselves, we are still reinforcing that with "because the guys will like you anyway!" Why? Why can't we do things for ourselves?
I love Sephora; it's my guilty pleasure. Something about looking around at expensive make-up puts stars in my eyes. Not only do I love looking at it, I love buying it. Don't give me that nude-colored eye-shadow either. I like creating smoky dark eyes and spending an hour on my make-up before I go out. Here's the real shocker: I like doing this because I think it's fun. Not because guys may think I'm hot -- I'm told they don't like a lot of make-up anyway.
Aside from my Sephora addiction, I like running (when I can find the time). I do care about my figure to a certain extent. Again, it's not because I'm trying to attract males. I do it because I like to feel good about myself, and that's one of the ways I achieve that.
Ladies, let's get with it. Everything we do doesn't have to be about the guys we're going to attract. My feminist side screams at every article telling me to do or not do something simply based on what the opposite sex might think. I'm not saying I don't ever think about it, but why is our culture so obsessed with it?
Perspective: guys aren't engrossed in magazines and websites instructing them not to wear socks with sandals because 1) they know we'll like them anyway and 2) if we don't we're probably too high maintenance for them. We should learn from them (just this once...)