Lasers. Libertarians. Lesbians.

• Lori Palminteri
• Uncategorized
• February 26, 2025

I bought an at-home laser hair removal device off Amazon that cost me roughly a hundred dollars and had good reviews. Mostly, I got it for my underarms because I get a perpetual ingrown hair in my right arm pit that I have to pull out with tweezers. That’s really, really sexy, I know. You love to hear it and picture it.

But I’ve also used it on my “lady region,” not necessarily with hopes of being hairlessly (unsure if this is a real word) smooth down there (which would be nice) but to make the hair grow slower and smoother. It’s sort of worked? Though I now have random bald spots in my pubic area. Not in a gross way. Maybe not in a good way, either? I’m not really sure. It’s fine though, I don’t think any one really cares.

This is going to be a blog about feminism and libertarianism. So how does my laser hair remover and patchy under regions have to do with that? Everything. And, well, absolutely nothing. The purchase of this device (which blows cool air as it lasers your skin to offer maximum comfort), was by in no means a necessary purchase to my life. I have other bills I should pay, a car payment, no retirement savings. It’s a justified “self care” product, but even then, Americans love to push the margins on what “self care” looks like, and whether or not we even deserve it. It was somewhat for health reasons to stop that pesky ingrown hair, but mostly for vanity reasons. And this is okay, because, it’s my body, my money, my life. Which is the epitome of being a libertarian.

There seems to be a lot of confusion as to what being a libertarian is. It’s defined as, “an advocate or supporter of a political philosophy that advocates only minimal state intervention in the free market and the private lives of citizens.” Which basically means, we want limited government and don’t tell me how to live my life. I lean fiscally conservative while I’m fervently liberal on social issues. You’ll find most who claim to be left or right are actually liberation, though we are hated by both sides because we criticize both sides when they impede on our liberty. To me, being libertarian is the most American thing you can be.

I am not anti-capitalistic. At all. In fact, I would consider myself very pro-capitalist, though of course there are pitfalls of a capitalistic society brought on by the extremely greedy. Make no mistake, capitalism promotes greed. However, I would argue that capitalism is inherently feminist.

How? Well… pretty simple, look at any country where capitalism isn’t king/queen… do women have great lives there? No. They don’t. Because if money isn’t the source of power, then muscle and/or religion is on the throne. And religion without money behind it (which, again, yes has it’s own problems) just goes back to muscle having power. Men, biologically, are stronger than women. Without money, the physically meeker are oppressed by those with bigger biceps. And that does not make for a great society, especially for women. Money makes society possible. Women (with the help of some men) liberated ourselves when we were able to make our own money. Which didn’t happen till modern history, in western societies where you were free to question religion and your fathers and husbands. Money makes feminism possible. It makes cities like New York City possible, where a woman can live by herself and roam the streets at night knowing there’s police system in place, where their neighbors are people with families they love, living in property they work hard for with career they either despise or enjoy for a desired lifestyle, raising the stakes for a good life. Money IS freedom.

Sadly, many people are slaves to money. Especially in America because we are so heavily brainwashed to be consumers. But you can lower your overhead and live a simpler life. You don’t HAVE to live for what you own. You can choose to own less, and ignore the fake lifestyle perpetually bombarded into our daily lives by advertisements . But as much as citizens cry about money being the root of evil, I don’t see them packing up and moving to third world countries.

Money, like any inanimate object, is not evil or good. How you use it can be good or evil. But most people won’t use it for good or evil, but rather selfish impulse buys like a laser hair removal that will only partially work. Another part of being libertarian is not judging how others live their lives, which includes what they do to their body or how they spend their money. Of course, there are exceptions. Like if you are putting money toward sex trafficking underage girls, that’s obviously evil and we should not just judge them but punish them severely. Conversely, if you spend your money helping others and on charity, I don’t necessarily think you deserve a statue, but that does merit some applause or adulation.

This also means that I think it’s okay if a homeless person spends their measly dollars they begged for on the street on heroin as much as I think it’s okay for billionaires to waste their money on a submarine trip to the Titanic. It’s your life. Honestly, I’d rather do heroin under a bridge than go in a submarine to the Titanic, but ultimately, these are people who are allowed to make their own decisions. I believe in individuality. Believing in individuality also means believing people are allowed to be fucking idiots (as long as it’s not violent towards other people).

I spend a lot of my summers on the beach of fire island with closeted lesbians. They aren’t closeted about being gay. Oh no, that’s very much in the open and frankly, pretty obvious. They are closeted in the sense that they are not liberals. To be not liberal and also gay is to be ostracized by the very group who not long ago preached that love is love and all should be accepted for who they are. Now, just because they are not liberal doesn’t make them republican. There are too many gay people with republican parents who do not fully accept them, thus creating a tension with the republican ideology rather than their policies (some would argue this is the same thing, I would argue it’s not, but that’s for another time). This is when I try to pitch libertarianism to them, and push how this country needs third and fourth parties if it ever wants to be saved, abandoning the two elite owned, two sides of the same self serving coin, dividing the masses into intolerant and misinformed idiots.

There’s a likelihood I’ll get backlash for stating this, but it’s a truth— and I say this as half a gay person, when an oppressed group achieves equality, some parts of the the group aggressively fight for their own victim-hood. The reality is, however, true equality means no one is special. You are not special for being white or black or brown. You are not special for being straight, gay, bi, trans. You are not special for being a Christian, a Hindu, a Jew or Buddhist. You are not special in the eyes of the government. You are not special. This is freedom.

Hopefully, you are special to people in your life. Hopefully you are a special mother, father, daughter, son, sister, brother, niece, nephew, friend, lover, co-worker, artist— hopefully, you, as an individual, are special to other individuals who know you. And that circle, no matter what their political affiliation, gender, age, race, sexual preference, religion— those are your people. You should cherish them for all the ways you are alike and different. The world will only become a better place when you do good things for those you can reach, which probably isn’t that many people. And that’s okay. Because the small acts of kindness, I believe, ripple outward further than most of us can see in a world so focused on highlighting the damning parts of society.

I believe in independent thought. I don’t believe it’s bad to be selfish in pursuing a life that’s best for you, and to put your needs first (with the exception of your own children). I believe in underdogs. The niche groups. Because someone in your inner circle overlaps with another circle of people totally different than you. This network of people is a spiderweb of the masses. It’s okay to not understand everyone and everything in the spiderweb. And just because you’re not understood by a group also doesn’t necessarily mean that group hates you.

No one can save the whole world. Those are child dreams. But you can make a little difference. Like my laser hair removal device. It makes a difference in some very smooth spots and none in others. But if I’ve learned anything from being mostly straight with a sexual fluid streak, is guys don’t really give a shit, it’s lesbians who are more into a bare vagina anyway.