I quit shaving a while ago for basically political reasons (in particular, to get away from the idea that being or looking "feminine" means involves removing a part of my female body) but I've never thought about these "beauty" practices in terms of transhumanism before. That's an interesting framework, and I think it's especially interesting to look at how people's apparently individual choices still contribute to an ever-stiffer competition for everyone else, and what it costs to walk away from that competition.
On “making [my] body fit more easily into the expectations of others”: I haven’t worn makeup or shaved for years. It’s a combination of not caring to spend time/money/energy on those things and, on the other hand, wanting to bring my authentic appearance to the world. Purely a personal choice and I think there’s lots of room for freedom on this.
Recently, during the obvious/conspicuous part of my second pregnancy, I found myself struggling a lot with people’s probable expectations of my appearance. It seems like past a certain point, a visibly pregnant belly is the *only* aspect of my body and even my self that some people seem to see or care or ask about. It seems like people almost have an expectation that a visibly pregnant woman ceases to be anyone or anything else. I found myself becoming hyperaware of my clothing/accessory/media/activity choices in an effort to visually convey that, though I was glad and grateful to be carrying a baby, I was much more than a mere gestator. Anyway. Idk if this precisely fits the question, and some of the self-consciousness is definitely just my own hangups, but I think there’s a possible element of wider societal expectations of women’s bodies in there too.
Another thing that comes to mind is purity culture dress expectations, but I’m not going to do a deep dive into that right now...
Hi, I've read this substack for a while, and this is my first comment. Thank you for creating this space for dialogue. I do not diet and have not done so since my daughter was born eight years ago. Dieting is glossed as a healthful practice, which makes it difficult to resist. Because there are so many conflicting messages about dieting, I do not cast aspersions on anyone who determines the evidence is in favor of dieting. But based on my own experience with dieting and the many conversations I’ve had with friends who are still dieting as they enter their forties, dieting seems to be primarily (or sometimes exclusively) about making our bodies meet the expectation of others. And that expectation is to look like you’re at peak fertility your entire life. Maturity, growth, and moving into other stages of life are not allowed.
The funny thing is that we’re supposed to look like we’re at peak fertility but we’re not actually supposed to be fertile! I agree with you, Leah, to a certain extent that artificial birth control can be corrosive and dehumanizing. My own experience with birth control has had corrosive aspects, mostly when it was the default option (presented by my doctors, peers, the wider culture) that I passively accepted. But has it always been corrosive for me? No, not when I actually thought about the pros and cons of the technology and had a conversation with my husband about whether or not it was truly appropriate for us. Will I come around to your way of thinking, Leah? It’s very possible because you make some excellent, resonant points. But it also feels more complicated. At the very least, I hope that at the individual and cultural level, we can be more intentional about assessing whether we’re using technology (be it birth control, cars, AI, etc.) in service of our flourishing or whether we’re contorting ourselves to meet the demands of technology.
"To say: 'this part of being human isn’t adapted for the modern world.'"
Many of our ancestral human qualities aren't adapted to the modern world. Apparently, for example, our jaws are shrinking but our teeth aren't, leading to tooth crowding our ancient ancestors rarely had:
Modern medicine is a form of "survival transhumanism" – and it's generally a good thing! The sagacity to know when to reach for a medical solution and when to refuse (and which medical solution to reach for if you're not refusing) is tough, though.
The little sliver of human suffering I've witnessed despite my fairly sheltered life leaves me reluctant to reproach others for, say, using AD(H)D meds just because their work or school isn't a great fit for them. Brokering peace with the body and brain God gave you is, like chastity, an admirable goal – but also one, like chastity, it's fairly normal to fail at.
In a recent study, 17% of youth with the same tissue disorder that runs in my family reported gender dysphoria, wayyyy above the general-population rate. Which makes sense to me! While men with the disorder can suffer intensely, testosterone is the closest thing to a cure for it. So transitioning stands to offer natal females symptomatic relief. Meanwhile, natal males with the disorder might feel "sissified", a poor fit for masculine stereotypes. The disorder is also under-recognized, marginalizing, even gaslighting, those who have it:
People try to solve their problems with the tools available to them: if some better tool could be available to them, but isn't, they use the tools they have. It bugs me that those who transition get so little credit for rationality from many traditionalists, though I consider myself mostly-traditionalist (I suspect many self-styled traditionalists are less committed to accepting bodily limits than they suppose: many seem pretty cool with boob jobs on natal women, for example).
Regarding the artifice of fashion, specifically, I found this reflection by a historical dressmaker and re-enactor interesting:
She emphasizes that the sheer artifice of previous eras' "fashionable shape" gave her more bodily privacy and mental comfort than she has in modern clothing, not because more skin was covered (depending on the neckline, it may not have been!), but because complying with fashionable ideals (ideals she takes as given, and perhaps for social creatures like us, they are, even if the specific form they take isn't) in clothing with "negative ease" (clothing that makes your body conform to it rather than conforming to your body) is more attainable for a wider variety of natural body types, taking pressure off people to, well, "look good naked". Rather than modifying bodies themselves to fit fashion, the clothing modifies.
Makeup isn't clothing, but it's also artifice, disguise, and in that sense privacy. Contouring one's face for public consumption every morning is a hassle, but growing awareness that contouring can be rather convincing is beneficial, in a way. Pressure to be "naturally beautiful" by changing the body itself (however unnaturally) can be intense. Simply knowing a good contouring job can create a passable illusion of change to one's natural features lets slip how much artifice even what's supposedly natural may involve.
I think my biggest question (though I have a lot of questions!) is in a world where abortion is criminalized, who do pro-lifers want to be punished when abortions do occur, and how? For Leah in particular--I know that your goal is to have a world where abortion is unthinkable and no one *wants* to have one or give one, but right now we aren't in that world, and I don't really see how we could get there without using coercion to prevent abortions in the near future. So I think I would really like to see you comment on the specifics about what sort of coercion you want to see in pro-life laws.
Over the past few days I’ve been sharing the news of my third pregnancy in three years. You wouldn’t believe how that seems to rock everyone else’s world (even acquaintances). Shock and concern (due to the workload) make sense to me, but some negative reactions indicate that others think I’ve done something wrong with my body by taking this on.
I think my biggest question as labor/delivery hover near (St. Luke pray for me and baby Luke!) is how post roe policy will effect postpartum conversations doctors have with patients. Will we see an opening up to life or will we see more pressure on women to contracept or even undergo elective surgery to avoid pregnancy?
I rejoice in Roe’s overturning, but I worry that women are in more danger of being pressured to remove parts of themselves.
My biggest question for you in a post-Roe world is how you think we make the leap from rampant criminalization and the culture of fear and coercion it creates to a culture of love for one another.
We've seen children and parent's digital records scoured for evidence of obtaining abortion pills. We've seen women suffering miscarriage being investigated for abortion (and then being denied appropriate timely care!). We're seeing (attempted) criminalization of driving across state lines to secure abortions for young rape victims (and everyone else). We see neighbor urged to turn against neighbor with legislation like SB8.
Imo the biggest outcome of Dobbs is the growth of our security state, the second biggest is growth in maternal mortality rates. Both of which were clear and probable outcomes warned about for years in the run up to Dobbs, with ample data from international studies and domestic research to back them up.
Now, many on the Right are quite vocal and quite adamant that the way we get from a culture of fear to a culture of "love" is simple: fascism. And they're on track! They're implementing the classic 20th century fascist playbook! But with 21st century digital surveillance and a greater emphasis on 'protecting babies' (though about the same emphasis on 'trans people are scary').
Which imo makes being anything less than clear on your alternative approach... well, worrisome at best.
As others have mentioned, I generally eschew shaving and makeup, but one that hasn't been mentioned yet, I believe, is shapewear. I used to always wear a girdle-type piece while dressing up when I was younger (I'm 49, a little younger than most people who wore those), but I have since decided they are too uncomfortable to be worth it. I also once tried on Spanx and was so horrified by my inability to breathe that it was a one-time event. My body looks the way it looks, and I choose breathing over flattening and smoothing everything.
When I was in my early 20's (50 years ago), I opted for compromise: one unshaved leg for me and one one shaved for the world. Now I shave them both, with longer periods in between.
The biggest place where I practice transhumanism, and where I have the most mixed feelings about it, is in delaying having a baby. Emotionally, relationally, and physically I would probably prefer to become pregnant right after I get married this summer. But logistically, I don't really see any way to make it work before the end of my PhD (I'm not against birth control, but friends in my program who are have delayed marriages partially for this reason). I have pretty complicated feelings about the structure of academia in the US and how it incentivizes building your family at a very particular time.
Unrelated, my biggest question about post-Roe policy is whether any state legislatures will pass laws which punish women for having an abortion and if yes or no, why or why not.
I don't understand your post. Women (and men) have been practicing birth control for thousands of year and woman and men have also been making themselves more attractive to each other for thousands of years. What does this have to do with the "modern world"?
Also, based upon your logic, when a man uses a condom when having relations he's also "turning off" a basic bodily aspect of being a man.
I quit shaving a while ago for basically political reasons (in particular, to get away from the idea that being or looking "feminine" means involves removing a part of my female body) but I've never thought about these "beauty" practices in terms of transhumanism before. That's an interesting framework, and I think it's especially interesting to look at how people's apparently individual choices still contribute to an ever-stiffer competition for everyone else, and what it costs to walk away from that competition.
On “making [my] body fit more easily into the expectations of others”: I haven’t worn makeup or shaved for years. It’s a combination of not caring to spend time/money/energy on those things and, on the other hand, wanting to bring my authentic appearance to the world. Purely a personal choice and I think there’s lots of room for freedom on this.
Recently, during the obvious/conspicuous part of my second pregnancy, I found myself struggling a lot with people’s probable expectations of my appearance. It seems like past a certain point, a visibly pregnant belly is the *only* aspect of my body and even my self that some people seem to see or care or ask about. It seems like people almost have an expectation that a visibly pregnant woman ceases to be anyone or anything else. I found myself becoming hyperaware of my clothing/accessory/media/activity choices in an effort to visually convey that, though I was glad and grateful to be carrying a baby, I was much more than a mere gestator. Anyway. Idk if this precisely fits the question, and some of the self-consciousness is definitely just my own hangups, but I think there’s a possible element of wider societal expectations of women’s bodies in there too.
Another thing that comes to mind is purity culture dress expectations, but I’m not going to do a deep dive into that right now...
Hi, I've read this substack for a while, and this is my first comment. Thank you for creating this space for dialogue. I do not diet and have not done so since my daughter was born eight years ago. Dieting is glossed as a healthful practice, which makes it difficult to resist. Because there are so many conflicting messages about dieting, I do not cast aspersions on anyone who determines the evidence is in favor of dieting. But based on my own experience with dieting and the many conversations I’ve had with friends who are still dieting as they enter their forties, dieting seems to be primarily (or sometimes exclusively) about making our bodies meet the expectation of others. And that expectation is to look like you’re at peak fertility your entire life. Maturity, growth, and moving into other stages of life are not allowed.
The funny thing is that we’re supposed to look like we’re at peak fertility but we’re not actually supposed to be fertile! I agree with you, Leah, to a certain extent that artificial birth control can be corrosive and dehumanizing. My own experience with birth control has had corrosive aspects, mostly when it was the default option (presented by my doctors, peers, the wider culture) that I passively accepted. But has it always been corrosive for me? No, not when I actually thought about the pros and cons of the technology and had a conversation with my husband about whether or not it was truly appropriate for us. Will I come around to your way of thinking, Leah? It’s very possible because you make some excellent, resonant points. But it also feels more complicated. At the very least, I hope that at the individual and cultural level, we can be more intentional about assessing whether we’re using technology (be it birth control, cars, AI, etc.) in service of our flourishing or whether we’re contorting ourselves to meet the demands of technology.
"To say: 'this part of being human isn’t adapted for the modern world.'"
Many of our ancestral human qualities aren't adapted to the modern world. Apparently, for example, our jaws are shrinking but our teeth aren't, leading to tooth crowding our ancient ancestors rarely had:
https://stanfordpress.typepad.com/blog/2018/05/why-cavemen-needed-no-braces.html
Modern medicine is a form of "survival transhumanism" – and it's generally a good thing! The sagacity to know when to reach for a medical solution and when to refuse (and which medical solution to reach for if you're not refusing) is tough, though.
The little sliver of human suffering I've witnessed despite my fairly sheltered life leaves me reluctant to reproach others for, say, using AD(H)D meds just because their work or school isn't a great fit for them. Brokering peace with the body and brain God gave you is, like chastity, an admirable goal – but also one, like chastity, it's fairly normal to fail at.
In a recent study, 17% of youth with the same tissue disorder that runs in my family reported gender dysphoria, wayyyy above the general-population rate. Which makes sense to me! While men with the disorder can suffer intensely, testosterone is the closest thing to a cure for it. So transitioning stands to offer natal females symptomatic relief. Meanwhile, natal males with the disorder might feel "sissified", a poor fit for masculine stereotypes. The disorder is also under-recognized, marginalizing, even gaslighting, those who have it:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36600979/
People try to solve their problems with the tools available to them: if some better tool could be available to them, but isn't, they use the tools they have. It bugs me that those who transition get so little credit for rationality from many traditionalists, though I consider myself mostly-traditionalist (I suspect many self-styled traditionalists are less committed to accepting bodily limits than they suppose: many seem pretty cool with boob jobs on natal women, for example).
Regarding the artifice of fashion, specifically, I found this reflection by a historical dressmaker and re-enactor interesting:
https://youtu.be/DyWnm0Blmh4?t=373
She emphasizes that the sheer artifice of previous eras' "fashionable shape" gave her more bodily privacy and mental comfort than she has in modern clothing, not because more skin was covered (depending on the neckline, it may not have been!), but because complying with fashionable ideals (ideals she takes as given, and perhaps for social creatures like us, they are, even if the specific form they take isn't) in clothing with "negative ease" (clothing that makes your body conform to it rather than conforming to your body) is more attainable for a wider variety of natural body types, taking pressure off people to, well, "look good naked". Rather than modifying bodies themselves to fit fashion, the clothing modifies.
Makeup isn't clothing, but it's also artifice, disguise, and in that sense privacy. Contouring one's face for public consumption every morning is a hassle, but growing awareness that contouring can be rather convincing is beneficial, in a way. Pressure to be "naturally beautiful" by changing the body itself (however unnaturally) can be intense. Simply knowing a good contouring job can create a passable illusion of change to one's natural features lets slip how much artifice even what's supposedly natural may involve.
I think my biggest question (though I have a lot of questions!) is in a world where abortion is criminalized, who do pro-lifers want to be punished when abortions do occur, and how? For Leah in particular--I know that your goal is to have a world where abortion is unthinkable and no one *wants* to have one or give one, but right now we aren't in that world, and I don't really see how we could get there without using coercion to prevent abortions in the near future. So I think I would really like to see you comment on the specifics about what sort of coercion you want to see in pro-life laws.
Over the past few days I’ve been sharing the news of my third pregnancy in three years. You wouldn’t believe how that seems to rock everyone else’s world (even acquaintances). Shock and concern (due to the workload) make sense to me, but some negative reactions indicate that others think I’ve done something wrong with my body by taking this on.
I think my biggest question as labor/delivery hover near (St. Luke pray for me and baby Luke!) is how post roe policy will effect postpartum conversations doctors have with patients. Will we see an opening up to life or will we see more pressure on women to contracept or even undergo elective surgery to avoid pregnancy?
I rejoice in Roe’s overturning, but I worry that women are in more danger of being pressured to remove parts of themselves.
My biggest question for you in a post-Roe world is how you think we make the leap from rampant criminalization and the culture of fear and coercion it creates to a culture of love for one another.
We've seen children and parent's digital records scoured for evidence of obtaining abortion pills. We've seen women suffering miscarriage being investigated for abortion (and then being denied appropriate timely care!). We're seeing (attempted) criminalization of driving across state lines to secure abortions for young rape victims (and everyone else). We see neighbor urged to turn against neighbor with legislation like SB8.
Imo the biggest outcome of Dobbs is the growth of our security state, the second biggest is growth in maternal mortality rates. Both of which were clear and probable outcomes warned about for years in the run up to Dobbs, with ample data from international studies and domestic research to back them up.
Now, many on the Right are quite vocal and quite adamant that the way we get from a culture of fear to a culture of "love" is simple: fascism. And they're on track! They're implementing the classic 20th century fascist playbook! But with 21st century digital surveillance and a greater emphasis on 'protecting babies' (though about the same emphasis on 'trans people are scary').
Which imo makes being anything less than clear on your alternative approach... well, worrisome at best.
Re: post-Roe policy - are there policies for restricting medication/pharmaceutical abortions that wouldn’t replicate the problems of the war on drugs?
As others have mentioned, I generally eschew shaving and makeup, but one that hasn't been mentioned yet, I believe, is shapewear. I used to always wear a girdle-type piece while dressing up when I was younger (I'm 49, a little younger than most people who wore those), but I have since decided they are too uncomfortable to be worth it. I also once tried on Spanx and was so horrified by my inability to breathe that it was a one-time event. My body looks the way it looks, and I choose breathing over flattening and smoothing everything.
When I was in my early 20's (50 years ago), I opted for compromise: one unshaved leg for me and one one shaved for the world. Now I shave them both, with longer periods in between.
The biggest place where I practice transhumanism, and where I have the most mixed feelings about it, is in delaying having a baby. Emotionally, relationally, and physically I would probably prefer to become pregnant right after I get married this summer. But logistically, I don't really see any way to make it work before the end of my PhD (I'm not against birth control, but friends in my program who are have delayed marriages partially for this reason). I have pretty complicated feelings about the structure of academia in the US and how it incentivizes building your family at a very particular time.
Unrelated, my biggest question about post-Roe policy is whether any state legislatures will pass laws which punish women for having an abortion and if yes or no, why or why not.
I don't understand your post. Women (and men) have been practicing birth control for thousands of year and woman and men have also been making themselves more attractive to each other for thousands of years. What does this have to do with the "modern world"?
Also, based upon your logic, when a man uses a condom when having relations he's also "turning off" a basic bodily aspect of being a man.