On manufactured insecurity:
Antiperspirant became a thing because marketers convinced people that smelling bad was a problem.
They started with women, using a message that to keep your man, you better not smell.
Then they moved on to men, for whom body odor was previously considered masculine.
Advertisers *made* the problem of body odor.
...And this is why I like the story Colonozation of Confidence by @WeirdWriter
It helps us see the LLM marketing chipping away at us, creating "problems" with our writing and thinking, out of things that are actually strengths.
https://sightlessscribbles.com/posts/the-colonization-of-confidence/
@elizayer see also: body hair removal
the wikipedia article is pretty good at detailing the history in the US! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_removal_of_leg_and_underarm_hair_in_the_United_States
Elizabeth Ayer
bituur esztreym
christa