Is it vain to wear contact lenses? Are people who wear them trying to improve their appearance or their vision? This is a question that comes up quite often when a teenager first thinks about switching from glasses to contact lenses.
In one sense, this is a very stupid question. Nobody was born with glasses. Glasses are an unnatural means of correcting a problem with vision. Though it is better to wear glasses than not to be able to see well, there are many disadvantages. Glasses are heavy. They leave marks on the side of your nose, tiny little injuries to your skin that are bearable, but by no means healthy. Glasses fog up. They fall off during athletic events and are hard to keep on when upside down. They get dirty and require constant cleaning. They allow only a limited field of vision and offer no correction for peripheral vision. And the list goes on.
Despite all this, when someone is considering switching from glasses to contact lenses, one of the first things acquaintances will mention are the change to the appearance, image and identity of the user. In fact, people often question their own motives for wanting contact lenses, wondering: “Is it vain to wear contacts?” The Daria episode entitled “Through a Glass Darkly” explores this issue in detail.
Because wearing glasses is sometimes associated with being intelligent, studious or square, the social significance of wearing glasses has become more prominent in most people’s minds than the functional significance.
“Is it vain to wear contact lenses?” No. Not if it helps your vision and makes your life easier. On the other hand, if wearing contacts is difficult for you because of allergies or other irritants, then wearing them only for cosmetic reasons would not be a good idea.
In order to decide what is right for you, you should weigh the costs and the benefits. Contact lenses, when fitted properly, can improve your vision while making you more mobile and less weighed down. Contact lenses can be more expensive than glasses, but you can also purchase them online at a reduced price. If you have allergies or unusual sensitivity, then contact lenses may not be right for you.
It is always a good idea to consult with your opthamologist before making the final decision. But whatever you decide should be based on the impact on your life, and not on the the preconceived notions that other people may have about the symbolic meaning of glasses.
Every chimpanzee that I have ever encountered has been interested in shoes. They like to look at your shoes, and they also like to try them on. I’m not certain why, but it might have something to do with the difference in shape between their feet and ours.
In case you are wondering what it means to be “square rigged”, it refers to sails that have horizontal spars that are perpendicular to the mast. The spars are also sometimes also called yards, and the tips that go beyond the sail are called “yard-arms”. Apparently, a square rigged sail is more aerodynamic, compared to its non-square equivalent. Here is a picture from the wikipedia of a square rigged mast.
A hermaphrodite brig has two masts, and only one of them is squared: the forward one. But a brig, on the other hand, is a ship with two masts both of which are squared. Here is a picture from the Wikipedia of a brig:
