It’s What America Is Really About
By Plumcakeapparently he’s some sort of athlete, too.
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August 12th, 2008 at 10:01 am
I don’t get it. He’s such a butterface. He looks like Andre the Giant. Then again, I forgive body imperfection easily. There’s no excuse for an ugly face – there’s also no fixin’ it, so…
August 12th, 2008 at 10:43 am
I don’t think he’s ugly at all. His face reminds me of that of the late, great Kevyn Aucoin, who had such a beautiful personality and so much talent.
That Speedo’s lookin’ pretty precarious though, Mikey.
August 12th, 2008 at 11:11 am
I think he’s cute in his own way, and he seems to be a very genuine, nice person, which makes him all the more attractive. Unlike some athletes who are so full of their own fabulousness they’re just repulsive.
August 12th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
I don’t care what his face looks like, there ain’t NOTHING better than a swimmer’s body.
August 12th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Face? He has a face? Oh, uh, right. It’s up THERE.
August 12th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
“There’s no excuse for an ugly face”???
Hmm. In my opinion, there’s no excuse for an ugly personality, dear.
August 12th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
So, why draw attention to it, Amy?
August 13th, 2008 at 7:52 am
ROWR!!! FFFFSST!! Cat fight!!!
For the record: Phelps = hot.
August 13th, 2008 at 8:42 am
Body “imperfection”? “No excuse for an ugly face”?
Those sentiments are definitely not in keeping with the “love your fabulous self the way it is” theme of the Manolosphere. There are plenty of sites that relish being mean to others. This is not one of them, so why are you poisoning it?
August 13th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
My thoughts exactly, La Petite Acadienne.
I’ve always appreciated that even the commenters–not just the writers–on the sites overseen by the esteemed Manolo show wit, intelligence, sensitivity and acceptance. I didn’t think we threw around terms like “butterface” here. If I’m wrong, I apologize.
My best to you, Shaun Industry.
August 13th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
mmmm… pour honey on that biscuit.
I’m so glad he’s not a teenager any more. I was feelin’ a little skeevy last Olympics with the drooling and the lusting.
August 14th, 2008 at 6:43 am
Look, it must be lovely to live in this little Manolocentric world where everyone reads “The Secret” everyday and goes tiptoeing through the Xanex-filled tulips every morning. But, here in the real world (the anchor of the blogosphere), we have a little thing called dissent, and thank God for it!
There’s a reason why the Internet has flourished so rapidly in America – because this country was founded on the ability to dissent, to disagree, to say anything you believe to be true, to express any opinion regardless of its popularity. I’m not one to toss around Nazism or Communism to win an argument (so it seems the perfect time to start – just kidding), but how is pretending that you live in an idyllic world where everyone agrees and everyone is beautiful any different than China replacing one little girl as a representative because she wasn’t cute enough, or any communist country (North Korea and China, for example) not letting anyone film anything that might make them look bad so that they can pretend that everything is perfect in and there is no dissent?
I don’t know about the Manoloshpere, but in the Shaunosphere, you can have any opinion you want, and I can tell you exactly why it’s wrong (I’m just joking, don’t send me hate mail, please). In the Shaunosphere, you don’t have to apologize for dissenting, unless, of course, you disagree with me (again, just joking). If you believe calling someone imperfect is an insult, I truly feel sorry for you. I am a true believer in wabi-sabi (the Eastern aesthetic philosophy that’s devoted to imprefect or flawed beauty) – perhaps that’s the appeal of the half-fish/half-horseface (again, a joke, lighten-up people) that is Michael Phelps.
I respect the fact that there are those that disagree with me (blasphemers!), so why can’t you respect the fact that there are those that disagree with you? Trust me, there are those that agree with me on this one too: http://chrisilluminati.blogspot.com/2008/08/women-everywhere-wish-michael-phelps.html
August 14th, 2008 at 9:58 am
Shaun, I can only speak for myself, however what I took exception to was not the fact that you find Micheal Phelps unattractive. That’s absolutely your right. If you’ve ever read the hot dad polls on Teeny Manolo, you’ll know that we often have very differing opinions on male beauty.
But the WAY in which you stated your opinion was really quite cruel.
There is often dissent and disagreement here. We’ve had some very rousing arguments around here. However, there is a difference between respectful debate (i.e. “Sorry, Michael Phelps just doesn’t do it for me. I don’t find him attractive at all.”) and being mean-spirited (i.e. “There’s no excuse for an ugly face.”) It is the latter with which I was taking exception.
And for the record, I think that the entire philosophy behind “The Secret” is flawed.
So there! LOL.
August 14th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Oh, Jesus Christ Superstar! Get over it! Look, I wasn’t talking about Michael Phelps specifically when I said there’s no excuse for an ugly face. People say mean stuff all the damn time. You know what, people are probably saying a whole lot worse about you and I right now. I know that people have said MUCH crueler things to me, only in jest and I easily got over it. And y’know, it’s okay to think and say mean stuff about people. I don’t think what people say about me is necessarily true, so who cares? Other people could just let it roll of them and say that they disagreed; why can’t you and Amy?
I’m not continuing this any further – it just gives credence to what has been come a repetitive and stupid argument. I’m sorry, but I don’t buy the whole apology for being a nice-Nazi thing… That’s another great thing about a free country: I don’t have to give a damn what you “take exception to”.
August 14th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
My Goodness Toto! I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore!
“There’s no excuse for an ugly face.” Excuse me-Genetics anyone? One cannot help being born with their face. It is determined by one’s DNA. (and MP is still hawt even with the ears)
There is no excuse for an ugly mind… That takes years of practice, self pity, and prejudice. It is much harder to fix in the long run.
August 14th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Suit yourself. As you said, it’s a free country. I personally don’t think it’s particularly admirable to say mean things about people — I think we already have too much of that in our society and that we should strive to be kinder human beings instead of falling back on “everybody does it.”
At any rate, I DO agree with you that this argument is going nowhere, so we might as well leave it at that. I wish you well.
August 14th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Oh! Never read “The Secret” nor have taken Xanex. I do appreciate a fine wine and a kick ass Vodka Martini! (While wearing Super Fantastic shoes!)
August 14th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
And THIS, ladies and gentlemen, is what America is REALLY about: yelling at each other on blogs.
August 14th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
All I have to say, after viewing the picture for the 2,394,493rd time and skimming the comments (what? words? where?) is this: God bless America.
August 14th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
And as for complaints about his face, I suspect even supposedly-more-beautiful people would not look any better, presumably having just come from an exhausting swim in a chlorinated pool, wearing one of those slimely, headache-inducing swimming caps, and standing their dripping, nearly nekkid in the chill air.
Makes me want to run over there with a nice, fluffy towel.
August 14th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
La Petite FTW!
I’m just stepping in to say I’m jealous that Plumcake gets all the comments. Won’t someone start a fight on my Canadian Hipster Olympics post? Pretty please?
August 18th, 2008 at 4:16 am
I’m totally there with you on that one, Susan C – A nice fluffy towel to rub him down with, right?!
I think Mikey is incredibly hot… conventionally beautiful face or not. He’s no pretty boy,and thats totally ok – he’s a HOT SPECIMEN OF MALEHOOD!! Oh, and one who appears to be a genuinely lovely human being…
And I think previous posters had it right when they alluded to Shaun Watsisface’s ugly personality… hopefully whomever is working on the reach-into-my-computer-and-bop-you-over-the-head-with-a-foam-baseball-bat button will wrap it up soon. I hear they’re planning to position it under the Shift button on all Toshiba laptop models…
September 5th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
It IS a free country, and the folks who don’t care for the polite atmosphere in our little Manolocentric world is free to go elsewhere. There are plenty of other places to express yourself as poorly and unpleasantly as you choose.