Feminine Critique: How to shave your legs as a feminist

The idea that women should not shave their legs, wear makeup or give as much thought to their outward appearance simply because men don’t do the same things still hinges too heavily upon the way a woman should look. And because of that it can often implicitly perpetuate the very thing that it seeks to eradicate — a stigmatization of women based on their appearance.

What we need to realize is that condemning that girl, like my sister — who wears makeup or puts on perfume and paints her nails everyday — effectively achieves the same results as the people who tell her she needs those things to feel beautiful. It alienates her from her own control over her appearance. And perhaps more importantly, it still focuses on a notion of a “right” appearance for women.

…Instead, in order for women to truly be equal to men, we need a shift away from the importance of female appearance — we need to have a varied and equally valued array of appearances that aren’t stigmatized within or outside of the female community. Equality doesn’t mean adopting the same customs as men. It means demanding the same amount of respect irrespective of whether or not we choose to share those customs.

Yup.