you don’t owe ANYONE your best effort at “beauty”
you don’t owe anyone makeup or uncomfortable clothing!
you don’t owe anyone an attempt to change your body!!
you don’t owe anyone a haircut, colour, or style you don’t want!
you don’t owe anyone a shaven face, legs, etc!!
you don’t owe anyone shaped or separated brows!!
when you choose how to present yourself, you may unfortunately have to take into account social and economic sanctions and sometimes physical violence against people who do not conform to heavily raced and gendered beauty standards.
but don’t do work you don’t want to unless you truly think it’s worth the trade off.
if you choose to make yourself look a certain way to decrease your risk of being targeted for discrimination, social ostracization, or violence, be conscious that that is what you are doing. Notice where the pressures you feel are coming from! You might even find that some of it is stuff you can avoid, leaving you a little freer to choose how you look.
and don’t take on guilt you haven’t earned.
if you decide not to put in the work to conform, you may feel anxious. you may have very reasonable concerns. but guilt isn’t fair to you, because you aren’t doing anything wrong.
you do not owe anyone “beauty”.
you are a whole person, not some object that exists to please others’ aesthetics!
