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I have nothing against people who don't wear makeup, shave, or wear skirts. But I was just wondering, why do they feel it's wrong?

Also, I have nothing against lesbians who, I don't mean to be offensive, look rather man-like. Why do they chose to do this? What's wrong with looking feminine?

Again, I don't mean to be offensive, and if I am I offer my sincerest apologies, I'm just curious.

The thing about looking "feminine" that I don't like is that so much of it is socially dictated. Like with shaving, I feel that it's unnecessary and so I don't do it even though some people I meet are all "eeeeeew that's disgusting!" Strangely enough, they can't explain *why* it's disgusting (plus, they never notice until I tell them or unless they're really close to my legs). They just know it's not "right" and that it's different. The same thing can be said about make-up--one of my favorite shows is "What not to Wear" (such a guilty pleasure of mine), and the typical make-up regime for the participant is foundation/cover-up, eyeliner, mascara, eyeshadow, blush, and lipstick. Why do people need to think that we have flawless skin? Why is all of that really necessary in order to be, well, normal? It's so weird because barely anyone has flawless skin over the age of 11. And yet we have to be perfect. We have to look "feminine"--all of which is actually bullshit.

Basically, though, I think that if you're being feminine just because that's what's "right" and not because it's what you're comfortable in, that's a big problem. The entire beauty/clothing industry just plays on people's insecurities. Do what you like--if it's "girly" then that's okay--'cos you like, it. Don't just do something unquestionably, though.

Ok, I see where you're coming from and such. It's about being comfortable or making a statement.

The thing about make-up though is that people naturally want to acheive perfection. People naturally feel rather repulsed by their imperfections. So they want to get rid of them, which not everyone can afford so they do the next best thing, cover them up. I don't think this mentality will ever end, it's human nature to wish for perfection.

You do have to acknowledge that make-up has indeed come a long way and is much more less plaster-like than a few decades ago. I don't know anyone, save my grandmother, who wears liquid foundation anymore. Most people just use a light powder now.

What's wrong about deminine beauty is when you're expected to look a certain way or you're considered a deviant or ugly. At least that's my take on it.

In general, society (all societies, I have yet to find one that deviates from thist) place masculine and feminine into positive and negative. Our language, thought processes, etc are based out of binaries. So with every group a value judgement is being made.
Light and dark
hot and cold
clean and dirty
etc, etc.

Anyways, since anything feminine is relegated to the "negative" end of things, it is seen in general as something negative. It is especially so, if anything on the opposing side is emulating it. EG A man wearing a dress.
In our society there are bad things for a man to be. But the worst thing to be is a woman.

Feminine things are not seen as positive, unless females are using them and staying within their end of the binary. I do not like this. I think all people should value all things feminine or masculine. I think the traditional ideas of feminine and masculine should be totally rehashed.

For one, there is nothing wrong with looking good. Two, there is nothing wrong with being clean. Three, there is nothing wrong with taking care of one's skin, nails, hair, etc. Four, there is nothing wrong with wearing comfortable clothing, whether this is a short skirt and a tube top, a summer dress, blue jeans and a t-shirt, or a winter parka.

I say, ******** feminine and masculine boundries.
You wanna look feminine, look feminine.
You wanna look masculine, look masculine.
You wanna look like a purple elephant, look like a ******** purple elephant.

Part of this has to do with the way words are starting to lose their meanings, boiling down to either positive or negative. We talked about it in English class a lot when we read 1984.

The best example of this I can give you is my SAT class. I won an SAT class through a raffle at a college fair and they gave us a whole crapload of materials. One was a giant stack of vocabulary flashcards. On the top of the flashcard, they each said either +, -, or 0, meaning positive, negative, or neutral. Not only were there cards mislabled + or - when they were really neutral, there were no degrees of positive or negative, so basically "good" and "amazing" would both be categorized as +, when they are very different.

Anyway, the point is, shoving things into binaries is crap.

At least it's not as bad as it used to be. You know, no telling women to wear corsets to mutilate themselves.

I've seen pictures of women who have had their rib cage deformed by corsets; they're much worse than a botched plastic surgery job. Another thing that was worse back in the day was foot binding in eastern cultures which hindered the women from being able to walk properly due to deformed feet.