I used to feel proud of myself for resisting a lot of beauty conditioning/culture (I don't wear makeup, I don't shave, I don't keep up with trends in fashion), but upon consideration, I'm probably able to do that because of white supremacist beauty standards: I'm white, have blue eyes, and have hair on the blonder side of light brown. An…
I used to feel proud of myself for resisting a lot of beauty conditioning/culture (I don't wear makeup, I don't shave, I don't keep up with trends in fashion), but upon consideration, I'm probably able to do that because of white supremacist beauty standards: I'm white, have blue eyes, and have hair on the blonder side of light brown. And yet, I *still* find myself thinking, "if I'm going to be this bare-faced and hairy, I had better not gain any more weight," or "can I really cut my hair, when I already don't wear feminine clothing? Is it safe to look that butch?" Sexual orientation isn't nearly as visible as factors like race or ability, but I think it also plays a big role in beauty negotiations. I think being closeted and appearing as hyper feminine as possible were deeply related earlier in my life.
I used to feel proud of myself for resisting a lot of beauty conditioning/culture (I don't wear makeup, I don't shave, I don't keep up with trends in fashion), but upon consideration, I'm probably able to do that because of white supremacist beauty standards: I'm white, have blue eyes, and have hair on the blonder side of light brown. And yet, I *still* find myself thinking, "if I'm going to be this bare-faced and hairy, I had better not gain any more weight," or "can I really cut my hair, when I already don't wear feminine clothing? Is it safe to look that butch?" Sexual orientation isn't nearly as visible as factors like race or ability, but I think it also plays a big role in beauty negotiations. I think being closeted and appearing as hyper feminine as possible were deeply related earlier in my life.