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22 Jun 2012
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Grown women are, after all, meant to have hair on their armpits, vulva and legs. There is nothing ‘unnatural’ about a hairy woman; if there were then the hair would not grow there in the first place. Likewise, there is nothing ‘unfeminine’ about a hairy woman; if femininity is defined as ‘like a woman’ then a woman in her natural state is by definition as feminine as she can be. Indeed, one could say it is the hairless woman who is ‘less feminine’, as she removes parts of her natural, womanly body.

 —

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)

(Source: slutgrrrlinternational, via moniquill)
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