Hippie Feminist here, though not a lesbian lol. You should make a bingo card.

I like to think of Beauty practices as "Pretty-ing" or "De-Uglifying."

Putting on an extra nice dress, doing your hair up fun, maybe some red lipstick or something fun, jewelry- Few people do this to cover up some ugly part of themselves, and the cultural messaging matches it. No one says someone is ugly without a pretty dress and a necklace, just that they look extra beautiful with it on. Most people dont feel ashamed to be seen without a special pair of earrings. These are beauty practices I consider "Pretty-ing" and I indulge in them with no strange mixed feelings. They seek to elevate the already naturally beautiful woman.

However, there are beauty practices, like shaving, that are not like this. They are to remove or conceal some unsavory part of the natural female form- shaving, concealer, unhealthy diets. A woman in public not wearing her Sunday Best is rarely held in disdain- But she will be ridiculed if she also happens to be hairy, have uneven skin, or a few extra pounds. Shaving does not elevate from an already lovely state. Its pulling yourself out of the ugliness that is your natural body. The removal of something shameful. It starts with an entirely different assumption than putting on the nice dress. I call these "De-Uglification" and avoid them usually. Im not perfect. Still pluck the face.

I think for different people, different practices can end up in different categories. Maybe in some communities nice clothes are deuglification.

I will say trimming up the hair makes tick checks easier, but I dont think this is why most people do it these days haha.

Im intrigued by your comments on spiritual anorexia. What got me to quit struggling with food was growing frustrated by the experience of the "calorie voice" always in my head. I woke up and the first thing my brain did was divide the calories in a banana in half, by three, in quarters. How many calories in a pound of fat, how quickly Id lose a pound if I ate a half banana every day instead of a whole. It was incessant, a constantly rattling calculator. And I didnt want that to be my brain, I didnt want to be that boring. Yet God calls his followers to pray without ceasing- perhaps the frantic calorie chatter is a misfiring of wiring that could become constant prayer chatter? hmmm

Anyway, hope youre doing well. Stay warm, dont get buried in snow.