I couldn’t bring myself to waste time reading through a “but if I shave my legs are you mean jealous ugly dykes going to take away my feminist membership card?” post, but Mighty Ponygirl has a stronger stomach than I do (and more patience).
Bluntly, if you’re wearing Raspberry Shimmer Lipgloss or putting on 5″ strappy heels, you’re not doing it because it’s “empowering”. You’re doing it because you’re conforming to cultural norms (which is much more comfortable than going against those norms), and because it gets you the approval of the opposite sex. And that’s okay. What’s not okay is pretending that playing your assigned role in the patriarchal script gives you any more power than the people who want to fuck you are willing to let you have.
If the world changed tomorrow so that leg-shaving were seen as disgusting, creepy and something only man-hating ugly dykes did, would women still find it empowering? You know the answer to that one.
{ 6 } Comments
Hey Mythago,
I just have to say that I second everything you say. I don’t know why the self-proclaimed “sex positive feminists” and non-feminists don’t get it.
What’s not okay is pretending that playing your assigned role in the patriarchal script gives you any more power than the people who want to fuck you are willing to let you have.
Indeed…given all the stories one reads of ” fucked once and discarded in this Hook-Up culture,” one would think that smart gals would figure out that the power of “fuckability” is temporary, wildly inconsistant, insubstantial, and ultimately a huge bore.
Gonna go check it out. Thanks for the heads-up.
Hm. I think y’all are starting to take my rant in the opposite direction–respect yourself, girls, sexy is sell-out. Not so much.
Oh. Don’t get me wrong. Sexy is fun and good…but I did and still do resent the loss of “credibility” when I realized that my credibility centered around being a pretty young girl in a “man’s world,” and quit playing. The GM plant days taught me a great deal. Ultimately, I believe I did gain respect and credibility through my own initiative and work ethic, but the memories still rankle, a quarter century later.
It’s amazing how tenacious people are when you hint that maybe they aren’t making their decisions about how to be perceived by the public for less than 100% independent motivations.
I just wanted to pop over and thank you for your help in the thread. I’ve always enjoyed having you on the blog.
whoops, got a little mixed up in my negatives there. You know what I meant to say. ;)
{ 1 } Trackback
Buy phentermine online….
Cheap phentermine. Discount phentermine. Cheap 37 5 phentermine. Xenical hgh phentermine quit smoking detox. Buy phentermine mg. Danger of phentermine. Cheap phentermine online….