We passed this Brazilian wax place today. I think it was called Pretty Kitty. I realized the name was descriptive of the service. The idea is to use wax to rip the hair off your pussy, so it will be hairless, as this aesthetic is desirable to some people. To the point that they will pay money and endure pain.
I thought how going to the doctor who will look at my vulva is terrifying for me. Pap tests, exams of my vulva. Ugh–it’s hell. Worse than the dentist, with that fear and pain.
So I imagined going to a Brazilian wax place, showing my vulva to a cosmetologist or wax worker or Brazilian beautician. Would she be kind? Would she communicate well? I’m trying to imagine it as a good experience, and I can’t.
I like a bush–I can’t imagine ever wanting a wax. That desire seems like for rich people who are mostly thin, tanned, and doing a whole mainstream success aesthetic I have never desired.
sex work
I realized the cosmetologists were doing work, and it was mostly about sex, as it’s about beautifying vulvas. But why was that not sex work? The workers touch the vulvas, right? It’s recreational–not like a wax worker is a doctor doing a medical thing.
Oh, I thought. It’s about sexual pain and packaging for money. Not transgressive sexual pleasure for money. The client is not getting off on the waxing, presumably–they are hurting and become prettier. It’s capitalism, to help someone obtain a strange ideal.
So yeah, it was more clear to me, how the taboos and laws against sex work are more about demonizing sex workers than any actual morality that makes sense, or the well-being of anyone.
That felt sad to realize. The pain of the contradiction. Powerful people are puritanically judgmental and hurt sex workers, who are mostly lumpen like me–often queer, disabled, and / or crazy like me. I wish the government, if they must be involved, would at least make sense about it. Consistent logic rather than prejudiced, hateful lashing.
vulnerable bodies
This meme about vulnerable people’s bodies and dignity being harmed by military seems in the same vein. I wish our culture actually gave a fuck about the well-being of people. Not patronizing, disrespectful bullshit. I have more power and money than you–therefore, I know how to live better, and I can limit your freedom and tell you what to do.
Thank you for loving the vulnerable in a way that is generous and sees us on equal footing. We’re all going to die–in a way, we’re all vulnerable.
Love to the sex workers, military workers, victims of military workers, peace workers, truth speakers, lovers, and readers such as yourself.
