Towards a More Sex-Positive -- And More Relevant -- Left

[Dennis Perrin]

> However, why would a
> heterosexual woman or man NOT give a damn about being
> sexually attractive to the opposite sex?  Is it
> liberating to react to sexism and/or consumerism by
> making yourself ugly?  Isn't doing that just as
> reactive to men as spending all of your time polishing
> your nails in order to impress them?


> -Thomas

A while back I posted an anecdote about a lefty woman I dated in NYC, a
former professional child model who grew into a ravishing young woman, and
was so repelled by her "beauty" that she did everything she could undermine
it -- including not showering or using deodorant. She went in for this
pseudo-primitive anarchism, which I liked in a raw immediate sense, but
which became, I'm afraid, a sort of Gospel for her. She too preferred an
"ornamental" man, i.e. an effeminate man over whom she could play the
masculine role. And the last time I saw her, years ago at a party in the
East Village, she apparently found him, an obedient younger guy wearing
barrettes and fingernail polish. He seemed to enjoy her ordering him around,
so I suppose, in her small way, she overcame the hideous sexism she once
served.

DP