It's vegan and gluten-free

[westen44]

^^^

I got the Paleo point, but my answer got so off track I deleted it except for the very last part. 

[Dave W]

Back to the subject, sort of...

I've been seeing TV ads for Lume, a feminine deodorant "for your private parts." Just 15-20 second ads.

Turns out they have a funny 2 minute video that includes a little jab that must be aimed at Gwyneth and her followers: "stop putting things inside!"

[uwe]

The benefit of odorless female private parts escapes me. That's like food without taste or rock music without volume. A very limited sensory experience.

I blame Americans. Sign up for the counter-movement: #Leave-the-germ-on-your-anoderm!

[Dave W]

The benefit of odorless female private parts escapes me. That's like food without taste or rock music without volume. A very limited sensory experience.

I blame Americans. Sign up for the counter-movement: #Leave-the-germ-on-your-anoderm!

Good point. Lume defeats the workings of the butthole-sensing toilet.

[uwe]

I still find your newfound interest in all things relating to female hygiene somewhat worrying, Dave. What is there that you feel compelled to tell us?

You really shouldn't have dropped out of that gynecology class at medical school, that was shortsighted.

[Dave W]

That's a career I'd never want.

[Highlander]

There is always the old hoary (whorey?) chestnut about the medical convention...?

Gynae to a Dentist... "Don't know how you can put your hands in someone's mouth..." (Still no face-palm emoticon)

[uwe]

I am  happy to report that - very much in the Hegelian sense of thesis, antithesis and synthesis - there is a counter-movement already.

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/oct/06/anicka-yi-tate-modern-turbine-hall-commission

What if, Yi wondered in 2015, instead of satisfying the lubricious male gaze through pictures and sculptures of naked women, art explored what she called the "patriarchal fear" of the smell of women. To that end, she asked 100 female friends and colleagues for swab samples. Some swabbed their mouths, others their vaginas. Yi used these samples to grow bacteria in petri dishes, then analysed scent molecules from the collected bacteria, translated the data into a formula and produced a chemical – rather in the way commercial fragrances are made. Then she released the results into the air at an exhibition called You Can Call Me F at the Kitchen gallery in New York. A scent diffuser wafted the aroma through the space where the bacteria samples were alive and growing in petri dishes. "The smell," wrote one critic, "is innocuous. It's doubtful the gallery-goer would be conscious of it ... were they not told about its peculiarity."

The LBO:  Where Hegel and pussy smell confluctuate.

[westen44]

Hegel's influence continues from the 19th century to the present day.  I once read of a couple in the 19th century who were so serious about Hegel's philosophy that they eventually broke up their relationship because of differences in how they though Hegel should be interpreted. 

[uwe]

No Marx without Hegel. And whatever you might think of Marx' recommendations, his analysis of capitalism was/is spot-on. Even investment bankers agree with that.

[westen44]

No Marx without Hegel. And whatever you might think of Marx' recommendations, his analysis of capitalism was/is spot-on. Even investment bankers agree with that.

I can't remember reading anything by Marx except for "The Communist Manifesto."  Of course I've read stuff by people influenced by him.  He was definitely very influenced by Hegel.  I remember reading something about Marx saying he took Hegel's philosophy and turned it on its head.  I wasn't sure what that meant.  It might have meant he took Hegel's dialectic and used it for totally different purposes.  I never tried to read Hegel much.  It was incredibly difficult.  Also, to me it just sounded like pantheism.  I read that Friedrich Engels at one point became interested in pantheism.  So that was no surprise to me to read that.  People such as Kant, Hegel and Heidegger are notoriously difficult, especially if you can't read them in the original German.  I'd rather stick with Soren Kierkegaard and Albert Camus if I'm going to even bother with being a layman looking at philosophy. 

If Gwyneth Paltrow could be brought in to offer her views on Hegelian philosophy, this could probably be brought back on topic. 

[uwe]

Das Kapital/Capital is the book to read of his works. Reading German philosophers in English must be a nightmare (if there is one thing that German language is good for then it is for expressing the more esoteric reaches of philosophy), but let me assure you: Heidegger is nearly incomprehensible in German too, the old Nazi-cuddler.

Dave's former heartthrob Gwyneth is underrated. She has discovered a niche of sex lifestyle products that has left the realm of the yucky porn shop. If Gwyneth peddles it, it is not porn, it's health-, wellness- and female empowerment oriented. Plus a touch of esoteric crap, all spiced with a slightly risque consumer experience that is never smutty. You can buy a GOOP product and discuss it at work or with your friends, no one will think you're the unsavory type, but you're not frigid either. There is a huge market for that among women who would never set foot in a sex gadget and associated products shop, at least not without a hygienic hand spray. For some reason, they don't like the vibe there either.

[westen44]

Marx is too political.  In fact, some would say being political is all he is.  To me political philosophy is the lowest form of philosophy.  But it is true the Germans are better than anyone at philosophy.  But it's German philosophers such as Kant which, in my opinion, have the most gravitas.  I can't say I really understand him, although I haven't spent much effort trying to, either.  At some point, I became drawn to Kierkegaard, strictly as a hobby, not as something done academically.  He was very influenced by Hegel, yet disagreed with him on many things, too.  Kierkegaard is much more similar to Schopenhauer than Hegel. 

Overall, I'm not exactly sure how Kierkegaard felt toward Germany.  If he said anything very specific, I can't remember it.  He was, however, critical of how Denmark was forever in Germany's shadow.  In his journals, for instance, he once made the remark:  "There is nothing the Danes won't do for money; but only after the Germans have done it first."

It's true Gwyneth Paltrow is trying to add credibility to something that otherwise might be considered something private and sensitive.  Plus, she is making money at it.  I actually liked her acting, though.

[uwe]

I didn't dislike her acting either, discounting stuff like the Marvel franchise which doesn't really demand acting for the roles she made good money with (nothing wrong with that). I loved it when she said that she didn't follow the films and thus refused to take it seriously. We're talking about CGI-boosted comics, gimme a break. Not everything that takes a lot of effort and attention to detail is art.

What Gwyneth did was take a voluntary turn from her Hollywood acting career before she would be confronted with the statement all actresses fear: "We were really looking for someone younger to play the female romantic lead and you're unfortunately not yet weathered enough to play her mother."  While her celebrity status still had drawing power for most anything, she married a scandal-free rock star, had her children and showed real commercial nous in setting up a personality lifestyle brand like GOOP, which sells nothing special at high prices to a grateful consumer basis lapping it all up with GLEE (pun worked hard for!). Not bad for a blonde.

[westen44]

I like sci-fi and I'm sure I would enjoy her movie "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow."  It's probably not serious, but some of my favorite sci-fi is light.  It came out in 2004.  Somehow, though, I missed it.  From what I've read, it has got better reviews as the years have progressed.  Also, it has Jude Law whose movies I usually like.