the bad dominicana

The Politics of Body Hair

YUSSSS

(via frrrass)

What this showcases (in a way that was probably not intentional) is that femininity isn’t a thing you are; it’s not defined as ‘like a woman’. Femininity is a thing you do. It’s a set of performed actions and behaviors that a person can take or not take as they choose, following a script written by their society.

Take this quote from the lovely Twisty Faster*:

“Femininity, in fact, can’t even be practiced without stuff (which is one way of debunking the argument that it is an inherited sex trait). It is simply not possible for a woman without makeup and deodorant and lingerie and kitten heels and diet pills and clothes without pockets and anti-wrinkle cream that promises “glowing skin” and self-help books explaining the best ways to suck up to men and jewelry and razors and tweezers and lemon-scented cleaning products and boxes of Lean Cuisine in the freezer — all stuff that must be bought — to be fully feminine.”

Check out this article about the importance of both performing femininity correctly and making sure that no one knows that you’re making an effort at doing so.

See, a woman who doesn’t shave DESTROYS ALL SOCIETY because she is a reminder that other women -do-. That hairlessness is not the default state for women.

*Worth noting at this time that I do not concur with Twisty’s stance that doing femninity, ever, is antifeminist. That’s some hardcore internalized femmephobia she’s got going on, there. I quote her here because she illustrates very well in the above quote that femininity is a set of actions, behaviors, sartorial choices, etc, not because I think she’s an unflawed person.

A grown human being isn’t ‘meant’ to have any particular anatomy or features. That would imply the intent of some outside force. You have a body, and it’s yours, and you should be able modify it as you damn well choose without having to take shit for it from anyone.

(via moniquill)

(via wocsurvivalkit)