VEGANGELICA

This is a long post, even for me!

Yep, it is certainly true that there are phenotypic trends distinguishing the sexes, but still there is overlap: not all men are stronger than women; not all men have heavy facial hair, etc. I agree with you that it is nice when people, regardless of gender, advocate for each other to be whom they wish to be and don't put each other down.

If a pregnancy is wanted, then I think it is a beautiful thing, in a very physical, gritty, raw, bloody, and vomity way.

Liz! You're back! Since I never had strong menstrual pains before giving birth, labor pains were new to me...but you are right, I now realize they feel like strong menstrual pains.

You wondered what it was like to push out the baby. Actually pushing out my baby didn't feel too bad...after 24 hours of labor pains, the pushing part didn't feel more painful for me...and I think the baby's head kind of numbs you. For me, the pushing felt like trying to push out a BM. I had to force the baby out. It felt all voluntary; my uterus didn't seem to be contracting much on her (?) own. I pushed so hard that I ripped my own vagina...which is common, and it heals well after stitches.

Hmm...this last sentence may not encourage many people to experience childbirth!

Tore, this is very interesting, because I feel completely gender neutral, and my gender doesn't define me as a person to the very core of my being at all! The core of my being simply feels alive, neither male nor female.

I agree about enjoying being able to be the one who gets to grow the child, feel her/him move, etc. I tend to like to DO things, and I don't want to miss out. Also, giving birth made me feel very ALIVE, mortal, and yet also connected to all the mothers, and mothers' mothers (etc. etc.) down the tree of life.

"Broody." I can relate! I had a distinct "nesting phase." It was a warm, cosy time of my life, focused almost completely on the child I wanted to welcome into the world.

ABOUT WOMEN SHAVING:

Hmm...I doubt the majority of females would ever think of pulling a sharp metal blade over a vast surface of their body to cut off their hair if doing so weren't a social norm.

I would be interested, Tea Supremicist and Burning Down, to hear your opinions on why you shave if you stopped shaving, went out in public in shorts or a tank top, and experienced people's reactions to your leg and underarm hair (their stares, their cruel comments).

Maybe people in the UK and Canada don't react like they do in the U.S., but after facing ridicule as one does here, I think it would be hard for a woman to say she truly shaves because she WANTS to. Rather, I think she would admit that she shaves because she knows that if she doesn't, she will be ridiculed, and SHE HAS BEEN TAUGHT TO BELIEVE THAT HER BODY HAIR IS UGLY!!!!!! After all, if a woman LIKED her leg and underarm hair, would she shave it off? So, why doesn't she like it?? THAT'S the important question to answer.

Legshaving IS conforming to social stigma. If you were an unshaven woman going out in public, then you would KNOW this, boo hoo.

Definitely, it is important for people to have choices. But when you claim that women shave simply as a positive "choice" and as personal "maintenance," when the alternative is to be mocked and viewed as hideous, while men can walk around with all their leg hair and no one bats an eye, the sexism of women shaving their hair should be obvious.

What I find sad about women shaving off their "unattractive" body hair as part of "personal hygiene" (when the same hair on a man is perfectly accepted) is that women become the instruments of their own oppression, even defending the practice...says the hairy feminist.

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