After hearing a blog friend called vain for shaving her baby's head to even out the hair- seriously, yes, I'm not making this up- I just had to type up this rant. I'm so damned tired of women throwing around "vanity" as the ultimate insult. You know what? It is my wish for all women to be "vain". I hope they care about themselves, love their faces, their hips, their hair, their legs, their breasts, I hope they think they are funny and smart and valuable and generally kick ass.
I am so OVER women shaming other women to stay in this neutral ground of not being that "annoying compliment fishing" low self esteem girl, or the "she thinks she's SOOOO hot/awesome/cool" girl. So much of what is hissed about as vanity is pure, good old fashioned, healthy self esteem and self respect. Is my physical appearance or other character traits the most important thing about me? No, of course not. But it doesn't mean one is shallow if they *gasp* care about their appearances, enjoy their bodies, their faces, or their lives even. I've actually heard women call other women vain for "bragging about their lives like you're so special and happy". Whoa. What the hell is wrong with loving your life, thinking you're special, and being happy?
Here's to being "vain", because most of the time that just means you don't hate yourself.
YES. Ugh, your last sentence is so true. So many of the criticisms launched at women (by other women and by men) don't even really mean anything anymore. They are just an indication of some failure to conform.
ReplyDeleteThe whole hair thing over on Jenna's blog is seriously ridiculous. All of your comments have been right on.
I seriously cannot believe how much criticism it generated! I was totally shocked.
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