Is it possible to look feminine and to drive a bike?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I think people have varied perceptions of what "looking feminine" is.
For instance- you mention your nails. To me, long nails or painted nails don't look "feminine"- they look aggressive and harsh and artificial. I find short natural nails feminine looking, because a woman's hand is just naturally feminine looking compared to men's hands. Visible makeup also looks less feminine to me. When I was very young it didn't. Times have changed, and my perceptions have changed too. It's all just a perception based on how we are raised or what we are surrounded by. Short hair can be very feminine looking as well- unless maybe it's a crew cut?
Aside from the perception issues though- I think it's more important to have one's appearance and "accessories"( i.e.hair, nails, makeup, skin, clothes) suit or match the lifestyle and attitude we want to live. The external stuff should not interfere with the things we want to DO in our lives. If we try to maintain external accessories that are difficult to keep a certain way while we do our activities of choice- then we are merely creating a conflict in ourselves, and our outside is not appropriately coordinated with our inside. (I hope this makes sense?)
I play music and I realized long ago that trying to keep nail polish looking good and playing music simply worked against each other.
Last year I sarted paying attention to my fitness and began to either walk or bike every day. My typical wardrobe up til then consisted largely of long skirts and loose tops. Well, I changed that wardrobe to fit my new lifestyle- now the things I wear enable me to very quickly change maybe one item and just head out the door or jump on my bike to fit in a quick ride. I don't have to change my entire outfit anymore to walk or ride- just maybe some chamois tights.
A funny story...all my life I've worn lipstick. Felt totally naked without it, never wanted to be seen without it, was addicted to it. Never a problem in the various relationships of my life...until I met my beloved DH 8 years ago. I found I had to keep putting my lipstick back on like every 20 minutes because it kept getting kissed off over and over! It became such a constant CHORE, a PITA, that I finally just had to admit that lipstick was no longer going to fit in my new lifestyle. So I switched to no-color chapstick and became much more lazy about putting it on only once in a while. Incidentally, my lips are MUCH healthier, naturally pinker, & softer now than they ever were in the past- I think it's from all the "calisthenics" they do every day!

Anyway, instead of thinking about how your life can be adjusted to not interfere with your appearance, consider flipping it around to thinking about how you can make your appearance reflect and coordinate smoothly with your life. Just some rambling thoughts that I hve had to think about in my own life over the years...

[Brandi]

I went on a big mountain bike ride with 5 guys last year. It was a full week of riding in the dirt with these guys. No showers. No mirrors. Oh but I did have a little mirror. I tried to keep myself tidy. I gave up on the 2nd day. I just kept my hair tide back and my face clean. But you know what? It did not matter what I looked like to the guys at all. As a matter of fact my husband likes a girl who is not fussy with her looks. He cares more that I am happy and having a good time.. i will say cutting your hair shorter might help but short hair can be funny looking too after riding a bunch of miles. Maybe just cutting shorter but still be able to tie it back would be the way to go. And as far as the nail thing goes I trimmed all my nails including toes so i would not have to think about it. And my nails grow like crazy.