I can't remember quite why, but last night sometime a Katha Pollitt sentence jumped into my head: Writing about the Lorena Bobbitt case (remember her?) she referred to "regular mainstream I'm-no-feminist-I-shave-my-legs women."
Rightly or wrongly, early feminists got a bad rep for personal appearance. And, in some circles, that stereotype continues to this day. I'm assuming that many if not most of the women who frequent Daily Kos are feminists of one variety or another. So my question is this: How does your feminism interact with your appearance?
Do you even think about your appearance in those terms? Do you just want to be comfortable, and if so, just how much comfort do you allow yourself? (Sweat pants to work?) How much do you think about whether or not others are seeing you as a sexual object? Do you find power or pleasure or shame or anger in being seen that way? How much effort do you put in on a regular day or when you're going out? What is the outer limit of appearance work you'd consider?
I don't want to imply that these questions don't apply to men as well. They do, just in much more subtle ways that y'all are often allowed to pretend don't exist. So do feel free to join in - I'd love to hear what you have to say.