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

THIS COMMENT IS SO LONG THAT LJ DIDN'T WANT TO POST THE ORIGINAL DRAFT :D:

[blindmadness]

Good for you, bb! ♥ Seriously, everyone should be able to do whatever they want with their bodies and no one should judge or think less of them or whatever. You are the one that has to live with it; if other people don't want to look at you because of it, hell, no one's forcing them! But you can't stop living in your own skin, so what you want to do comes first, goddammit.

I don't usually wear makeup -- mostly because I'm lazy, but also because I have really sensitive skin (so no foundation, etc.) and putting on eye makeup is frustrating for me because it requires standing RIGHT BY the mirror because my vision is so shitty. Plus, wearing anything on my lips when I'm around Ned is a lost cause, but. >____> It's IMMENSELY boosting to my ego, too, to have a boyfriend who is not only completely supportive of this decision, but also frequently tells me that I don't need it and I look better without it. I do sometimes wear a little bit for special occasions and such, but that's because I want to, not because I feel like I can't leave my

[astro_knight]

This post is fabulous. ♥!

I used to shave under my arms too, but it was painfully itchy, I just stopped. Stopped doing my legs too because of all the surprise cuts! You know, the sneaky ones that don't start stinging until like, twenty minutes later? Aghhh.

I wear bras in public to stop the bouncing and chilliness, but home and some friends' (also Gran's) houses are warm and I don't run around a lot there. :D

[sleepherealone]

I actually did not wear anything OTHER than sports bras until I was around 17 or 18 just because I'd never thought of going shopping for regular bras and even if I like the latter now, I never had problems with sports bras. It'd be awesome to go braless, but even though it evidently sounds like my boobs are smaller than yours, they're still too bouncy for me to feel comfortable with. >:O But I like this post! It's really awesome to see how self-aware you are of all these things that make you, you.

[kaberett]

You will not be at all surprised that I am enormously proud of you, and very impressed that you've written this post (because I keep not writing posts like it - because most of the people on my flist get it already, and I don't think I'll convince the ones who don't...)

So!

1. I intend to actually get around to dying my armpit hair electric blue this summer.
2. Cupless sports bras might be the kind of thing you're after?
3. I do go out wearing strap-tops and no bra and have only once had any trouble at all (a friend asking, in a slightly disapproving tone, whether I was wearing a bra).
4. You'll get there with the baring legs, and it's amazing. Promise.

x

[kaberett]

Oh! And

5. Second-wave feminism is unfortunately frequently virulently transphobic. I say this just so it doesn't come as a nasty shock when you find out. :/

[imagines]

Oh, I was somewhat aware of this already--but sadly, mostly because I'm used to just about everyone being virulently transphobic. :|

[havocmangawip]

Transphobic people suck.

I thought we were in the Third Wave of feminism since the "first wave" was the Suffragettes and the Second wave was in the 60s and 70s and the "Ms. Magazine/Feminist Majority" people.

[mijan]

That was a fucking brilliant rant. Absolutely spot-on, undeniable, and solid. YOU are MADE OF WIN