[miss_jane]

As I read through some of the threads about various aspects of beauty (cosmetic surgery, shaving, makeup etc) I noticed that the majority of them were distinctly not about the politics but about hints ands tips. I thought it would be useful and nice for busties to have a place to discuss the politics behind the "beauty myth" and hopefully clear some of our thoughts on it.

The type of topics that have been playing on my mind:

*Cosmetic Surgery
*The Removal of Body Hair
*Diets
*Makeup
*The Media's Attitude

Just to make everything clear I don't want this to become a place to attack busties who chose different ways of expressing their beauty.

So what are your thoughts? Can stereotypical beauty maintenance sit comfortably with feminist politics? Feminism is about a lot about choice for the individual, but is any choice (specifically about beauty) that a woman makes necessarily feminist? How difficult is it to stand up and fight the beauty myth?

As a side note : The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf is the book that stemmed these thoughts in me and a few years own I still haven't cleared in my mind the way I feel about things.

[ambercherry]

i like this thread, too. and the talk about applying for jobs certainly comes at a good time, as i am going out this afternoon to resume drop at a bunch of shops.

i don't wear much make-up, either - if i do, it's just eyeliner, and it's more just to make my eyes show up a little more. but by the end of the day, it usually fades off anyway. sometimes i'll wear lipstick, but it's of the minimal colour kind, and on special occasions i'll wear mascara. this past halloween i dressed up in a gown, a wig, and put a lot of make-up on - or, as it turns out, i thought i had put a lot on(it felt like i did!). my partner looked at me and told me it didn't look like i had put much on. (he's not big into the make-up thing - or for that matter the shaving/waxing thing, either).

as for the job hunting/interviewing thing, i feel compelled to wear makeup even to drop off these resumes, which is crappy, because i don't like feeling as though i have to wear it. and even crappier is that fact that i'm self-conscious of the fact that my head is shaved (nice little brush cut). i love my hair - but i'm worried that maybe it needs to be more "girlie" for the stores to which i'll be applying. of course, if that's the case, i don't want to work in a place with those standards. gah.

regarding the plastic surgery debate - i agree with you, smurfin, about some underlying issues not getting fixed with plastic surgery. but i think in the case of medical reasons, if a person feels strongly about having the surgery, then they should go for it.

years ago, my mom had a breast removed due to breast cancer. she never had surgery to replace it, she now just has one boob, but she does usually wear a prothsesis (sp?). sometimes she doesn't, though, and i highly admire her on those days (although it's really not *that* noticeable when she doesn't - but still). she's a helluva woman. and i by no means mean to come down on women who choose to replace breasts lost through cancer, or anyone who chooses to have surgery for medical reasons.