gertrui

> Aren't you just taking the place of the "male gaze" at that point and replacing it with your own gaze and your own demands to be satisfied?

No, women should be free to present however they please, that's my point. We shouldn't feel pressure to conform to imposed ideals of femininity, to be praised for it or knocked for not complying.

> She also lived in a time when April Ashley, who was the image of feminine beauty and grace, was accosted by old ladies in parks to shame her for "pretending" to be a woman once she was outed by UK tabloids just as her career began to take off.

The old ladies in the parks were very rude and shouldn't have done that, but, having "feminine beauty and grace" isn't a requirement of womanhood, it's not what makes someone a woman. This is unfortunately yet another gendered imposition, with women feeling like they have to adhere to a beauty standard that comes from the male gaze.

It doesn't help either when males who opt-in to this beauty standard for their own pleasure get praised as if they are being good women. On the plus side, at least Wendy Carlos wasn't trying to be an ultra-feminine caricature or anything like that, just living life making amazing music while also trying to achieve a more reasonable bodily satisfaction for a less distressing sense of self.