A realization.

[imagines]

I have been thinking about this for a time, and right now I have a pounding headache and I'm feeling pissed off at culture, so the time is right to condense my thoughts.

It is not my obligation to adhere to the prevailing cultural standards of female beauty so that other people will feel aesthetic pleasure upon looking at me.

Comments

[flwrpwr_vampyre]

You have said so many things I feel here. The shaving thing in particular but the brafree thing too. I don't have the courage to go out in public without a bra but I only rarely wear one around the house and if someone knocks on my door they are going to get me in exactly what I'm wearing and I don't care what they think.

Hilariously, I haven't shaved my legs in over a year and last summer was the first time in my entire life that I've felt really comfortable in shorts/shorter skirts.

Anyways, rambling comment is rambling and you rock!

[imagines]

Rock ON. Have you seen bras_suck? I discovered it a couple of years ago upon googling "hate bras" or something like that. I backread a ton of posts, and it gave me the much-needed shot of courage I needed to ditch my bras that very day. Solidarity, woohoo! There is also fuck_shaving.

I still don't have the courage to go out without some kind of undershirt, but it's a start. I think it's bullshit that breasts (especially larger breasts) are somehow obscene, whereas male chests are not, but that doesn't mean I'm ready to confront the disgusting attention I'd get if I didn't wear a couple of layers. BLEH. Still, an undershirt + t-shirt is far more comfortable than straps and bands and all that, especially in summer. Ahhh, airflow.

You should come visit me and we can go walking in a park with bare hairy legs, yes? :D (I always have more confidence about it if I'm with people who also don't shave. Then I have backup!)

[flwrpwr_vampyre]

I have not seen the first one but I'm already a member of the second. I don't have the courage to let my underarms go but I've gotten to where I only trim in the winter and in the summer I shave once a week, sometimes twice and everyone who gets pissed at the stubble can feck off.

And you are telling me on the large breasts thing. I still get pissed at remembering being told from a girl at church that my shirt was too tight when it wasn't nearly as tight as some of the shirts that the little chested girls were. *ANGRY FACE*

I wouldn't wear a bra at all if the discomfort of being stared at didn't outweigh the discomfort of wearing a bra. I'd rather people not notice my tits at all than stare at them, regardless of why they're doing it.

I plan on visiting you at least once this summer, if everything works out good. I had so much fun last time. And yes, I'll definitely be wearing shorts. Let's hope it's a windy day, it feels so good in your leg hair.

[imagines]

re: tight shirts and large breasts: ooh, you reminded me of an article I just saw today!

I'd rather people not notice my tits at all than stare at them, regardless of why they're doing it.

Yeah, this. People can be so incredibly RUDE AND CREEPY. :|

Ohmygod, big yes to you visiting! We should organize, like, a Hairy Geeks In A Park party. Or something. LOL IDK I AM SILLY.

[jedusor]

There was a great Not Always Right post once by someone who worked retail. She was wearing an ankle-length skirt, and someone asked her to get something down from high up. While she was standing on the ladder, the person noticed that her legs weren't shaved and freaked out about how unprofessional it was. Her response: "You're looking up a woman's skirt and complaining about what you see there, and I'm being unprofessional?"

[imagines]

Oh wow, I love it! Gotta remember that comeback, I could use it.

[evilsimon]

*high five*

Might I recommend the Moving Comfort sports bras? They don't run cheap, sadly. However, they do compress comfortably, at least in my experience. I am not insignificantly stacked, and my body structure also runs to slender, so when wearing normal bras, my boobs kind of...stand out. When I am wearing one of those, I can wear a relatively well-fitted button-down shirt and look pretty much like a boy. It pleases me. It isn't quite as dramatic as some of the binders I've owned in the past, but it's certainly a step above the sports bras that really don't do much on either the support or compression front. Which appears to be all of them.

edit: Oh! And apparently their website actually believes in my bra size, unlike EVERY STORE EVER. I found mine in a sports store in upstate New York, so I only saw their site when I linked you to it 8D;;

[imagines]

Ooooooh. Which "model," I guess, would you recommend? Some of them look like they might be more Enhancing than others, but I'm not sure. It sounds like you have a similar shape to me, so what works for you might be worth a shot. I'm cool with paying a lot for something well-made that does exactly what I want.

[evilsimon]

This one looks like the closest match to the one I have. I don't remember the specific model name for it, and they might not carry the exact type any more, but this one looks almost identical. This one has different straps, but the body of it looks pretty similar.

[imagines]

OMG I want a neon green sports bra. That is AWESOME. Now I just need to figure out what actual size I am. I have a tape measure somewhere... *searches*

[148km]

Transfer of kinetic energy in the HOUSE.

ahaha THIS. ಠ____ಠb

I wear bras because I feel uncomfortable without them (and I have like the most sensitive nipples ever jhfksf... and while I'm on the topic of bras, sports bras have actually been LESS comfortable for me, possibly because I'm so small, but I really hate how they SQUEEZE THE LIFE OUT OF ME), but I'm not gonna lie... shaving is one of the "peer pressures" that I succumbed to, because suddenly I was in junior high with a bunch of little girls who thought they were women/sexually attractive to normal people. I still shave, mostly because I can't stand the feeling of stubble long enough to just let my hair grow back. XD;; But I haven't cut myself shaving in years, so it's not really a big deal for me.

Skirts... I like skirts. And dresses. Much more than I used to--I think they probably turned me off at first because Skirts Are For Girls, And If You Wear Them, You Are A Girly-Girl. :/ (Personally, I think skinny jeans are a lot more restrictive and uncomfortable than skirts

[imagines]

But I was like "FUCK YOU THEY ARE SHOES."

HAHAHA, I LOVE YOU, LUKI. ♥ I love my Docs. Sometimes I wear them with my skirt. :D

you-can't-be-a-feminist-if-you-shave-or-wear-makeup-or-skirts

LIES, ALL LIES. Feminism, to me, means the right to do what you like because you like it, not Because You're A Girl. I'm sick of double standards; I'm sick of "men do this, women do that, BECAUSE THEY'RE MEN AND WOMEN." I want to do what I want to do, for my own reasons. That's it.

I admit I do have a harder time believing that every single person who says they like shaving actually likes shaving, but this is because I used to think I liked it. It's still very complex in my head--I think it is definitely possible to enjoy shaving, and possible to do it for reasons besides societal pressures, because smooth skin *is* a pleasant sensation. And I wouldn't ask for the freedom to do as I please with my body, while simultaneously denying that freedom to others! That would be crazy hypocritical. But I still want to keep pointing out that we would likely

[148km]

I'm sick of "men do this, women do that, BECAUSE THEY'RE MEN AND WOMEN."

THIS, so much. I got really annoyed when I was showing some (visual kei) videos to people at a Japanese study group and the main response was, "Oh, yeah, this band--they're all men--all men!--but they dress like girls."

WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN. 8| Like maybe if they were wearing dresses that would sort of makes sense, except they're not? I just don't even... whatever. I appreciate androgyny.

Obviously shaving is not a natural instinct, but it started as a cultural pressure for me and it just so happened that it wasn't a pain in the ass and I actually liked the feeling of smooth legs. So I'll probably keep doing it (at least in summer) until I no longer feel like it. (I haven't shaved in about a week and it's feeling very... itchy right now. x_x

[daikenkai]

guuuuurl, A+ post

[astro_knight]

Do people sleep with their bras on? Is it common? None of the women in my family do, so I have no idea. It sounds awful! D:

[daikenkai]

Apparently it IS common! A lot of girls I know sleep with their bras on. I don't know how they do it. D:

[havocmangawip]

Oh ick sleeping with bras on.

When I moved to Syracuse and even before, it was "odd" that I didn't sleep with panties on.

Hello hi? YOU NEED TO BREATHE!

(Yes, at 8 I said, "Mom says that your body needs to breathe." as the other little girls were getting into night gowns and clean panties at a slumber party.)