Summer and shorts are back

I've had hairy, unshaven legs now for going on 2 years.

In that time I think I've seen one other woman with legs that were not shaved - there is of course the Hairy Legs Club tumblr, but I mean in person. I still don't think they look glamorous. I still don't wear my girliest clothes with them. But I also haven't spent a single minute on leg hair removal in two years.

It's funny, arm hair doesn't look unfeminine to me for some reason. Mine isn't as dark as my leg hair, so that could be part of the reason, but it surprises me how much my own gaze in the mirror stops me from wearing certain clothes with hairy legs.

After having, and nursing, a second baby, I've also lost much of what I used to have up top. My breasts are not coming back, and since they weren't very big to begin with, I've also been spending a lot of days without a bra. Deflategate on my own body comes at a lucky time because recently there seem to be more women in the media spotlight who are protesting how freaked out we get by female nipples. Tiny bikinis are fine, as are male nipples and breasts, but whoa, a female nipple?! Put that thing away. Because,...it is...the only one....that's....um...actually useful?

Men don't have a single purpose for their nipples. Women have evolved to breastfeed babies, and we know they have nipples. Why do they have to pretend they don't?

The other day, my 5 year old daughter saw a guy rollerblading by without a shirt on. And she wanted some of that freedom for riding her bike, too. So, off came her shirt, on came a LOT of sunscreen, and she went on her merry way around the square. And it didn't matter. People here in Zurich are less unsettled by kids being naked at play, but mostly people probably thought she was a boy. Because her hair is cut short (her choice) and "boys can take their shirts off"....otherwise, there is no other way to know if she is a girl or boy because at that age there are no differences when the pants are on. Especially if it takes a short haircut or lack of shirt to indicate to people she might be a boy. The only way people decide is by whether a child is "acting like a girl" or "acting like a boy".  Nature, my ass.