I want to use this Rudy Jude discount code
Plus a meatball hack, Britney Spears' abortion story, and the power of personal imagery
I’m on the verge of using one of Rudy Jude’s discount codes.
Recently, I was out with friends and I was trying to explain why I haven’t yet gotten Botox. I firmly believe that we should all do whatever we want to survive in white patriarchy (unless harmful to others), and I’ll never judge another person’s choices about what they do (or don’t do) to conform (or not) to beauty standards. But at dinner with friends, I found myself trying to equate “taking a stand” with me not getting Botox and not convincing anyone, myself included. I’m wary of a future in which Botox and fillers become as integral to women’s beauty regimes as sunscreen or lip balm. And I don’t love the idea of my daughter growing up surrounded by less and less wrinkly role models. Yet I spend a ridiculous amount of money on blonde highlights. I buy retinol eye creams. The more I talked about my non-Botox (and my dubious rationale behind it), the more I despaired of ever coming to any sane sort of conclusion. And I guess that’s as good an indicator as any that beauty culture is intrinsically insane.
As someone who’s been radicalized by recent critiques of beauty culture a la
, I find myself increasingly interested in the decisions we make in the name of physical appearance. I feel completely at peace with saying no to the following:manicures/pedicures
makeup on a daily basis
bras!
hard pants
Botox, fillers, or lasers
religious and/or painful removal of body hair
“doing” my hair
It’s important to note that both my thin privilege and my white privilege make some of these choices far less fraught (and far more safe) than they otherwise would be. I also think my adolescent acne (and my early experience with a dermatologist who preached about sunscreen) has something to do with the fact that I’m not overly bothered by smile lines or forehead elevenses. My point is that I don’t think I’m brave to have opted out of certain things.
And I’m acutely aware that one particular standard of beauty still absolutely owns me. Here’s a link to the product Rudy Jude was hawking and which I still might totally buy even though it pains me a little to admit it.