Hair brained

This mornings post on Amanda Palmer got me thinking about hairy women (I think about a lot of things…)

Ever wonder WHY women shave their armpits and legs?

I did and Googled the question.

The whole practice began as an ADVERTISING
CAMPAIGN by the women´s clothing industry
at the end of the Victorian era. Up until that time women´s arms were completely covered by more modest garments… then fashion designers
decided that short sleeves were not only acceptable but preferred for comfort… so,
they began designing accordingly -but what to do about those bushy pits?– SHAVE, OF COURSE!
Soon, magazines such as Vanity Fair were carrying advertisements/articles that insisted
that women shave excess hair for HYGENIC PURPOSES [Uh: so women before that were somehow
unclean???]… and did not mention who was actually behind the whole thing. Immediately following a whole NEW industry sprang up: women´s depillatories, razors, oitments, salves
flooded the market as an entire generation of women embraced the practice as a new-found freedom of expression [ANYTHING[!] to get out of those hideous, stifling sleeves!!!].
Oddly: the only nations that really embraced the practice were the United States and Great Britain~~~ go figure: we´re supposed to be the most ´enlightened´ but we shackled women to life-long scraping for the almighty advertising
dollar!!

There you have it…
Personally -as a man- it bothers me more to see
big butch types like professional wrestlers and
athletes emasculate themselves by removing excess body hair. Well, to be honest SOME GUYS
need a GOOD TRIM here and there just to cut down on the simian factor. But, I say: TO EACH HIS/HER OWN!! If you like it, DO IT!!!

Also this might be true for modern day shaving but it appears some ancient civilisations did it to. Clarification would be appreciated and I think the above google is the tip of the iceberg.

Here are some links from a discussion topic I found on the subject: –

• I am one HAIRY gal. Part Italian, part monkey, not sure, but the hair on me “au naturel” is one big messy, sweaty, stinky, hot mess. I don’t like the way it feels…forget about what people say, I (italicized ) don’t like it. I like the way my skin feels with no hair. I like the way my clothes and sheets feel up against my skin with no hair. (I need not continue with more romantic descriptions, but I think you get my drift…)
  Bottom line, I just plain feel better without body hair.

  Yes, I spend a small fortune on hair removal–waxing, YES, stringing, YES, tweezing, shaving, NAPALM, YES! Whatever it takes–it’s worth it to me. And it is indeed at times torturous, but again, worth it to me.

  As for abiding by what nature dictates, ok, I get that point, but while I love the beauty of nature, I also love the way a manicured garden looks, as opposed to an overgrown, unkept one. So I cut back, weed, prune, mow, weed-whack, etc…my body…and my garden 🙂
  • Hahah! Napalm! Weed wack! Preach sister! I’m with you. Total TMI but if I didn’t get after my hairs the word unsightly doesn’t even come close to properly describe my buns…
    ARGH! 😛
• I don’t shave my pits or legs. I wear sleeveless dresses and short skirts. To everyone who thinks its abnormal, I say, “lick it!”

  Nothing is worse than pediphiles…. Young children don’t have hair. Women have hair. It’s natural, it’s beautiful, and it’s liberating.
  • Living in Texas, I occasionally find it nessecarry to shave underarm hair. It itches and collects grime that’s difficult to bathe off during my siesta bath- running to the bathroom after fixing lunch to wash my upper body in the sink, as Grandma taught me to do.
    Also, I want to get rid of my genital hair occasionally for hygeine reasons. It makes things less messy 4 days of the month, and I’m planning on getting waxed a week before my baby’s estimated due date to make things less complicated for that event.
    I am against the horrible social bullying for women to shave. It’s a personal hygiene choice. Do what makes you feel comfortable.
  • I really dislike when people bring the whole pedophile thing in. First of all, guys who like shaved legs, underarms, and anything below the waist aren’t necessarily pedophiles. That’s an extremely ignorant thing to say as your defense against shaving. Secondly, I get the whole freeing vibe you’re trying to put out, but honestly, shaving is important for hygiene. B.O. worsens in the pits if you don’t shave and dead skin collects easily on hairy legs. I won’t even start on the hygienic reasons for shaving “down there”. Anyway, do what makes you happy, but stop with the whole “Men who don’t like body hair on women are pedophiles” show. It’s annoying and, quite frankly, immature.
    • Sure, that’s why all men shave their legs and armpits too, right? For hygiene. Or do you think men don’t sweat or produce skin cells? If it was for hygiene, both men and women would do it (unless you’re saying men are filthy and repulsive- is that what you’re saying? Cause you don’t really come across as that much of a radical feminist otherwise…)
      • Nope, not saying that at all. Taking my comment out of context – the entire thing revolved around not calling guys who liked girls shaved pedophiles. And no, I’m completely anti-feminist.

        Anyway, I acknowledge the fact that shaving was, in fact, a fashionable thing that sprung up in the ’20s. No doubt about it. So no, it’s not all about hygiene.

         But men aren’t really required to smell like ‘roses’ are they? as is the requirement put out there for women
    • It’s obviously wrong to label men who like the whole ‘shaven haven’ thing peados, considering men are swamped with that kind of sexual imagery HOWEVER hair removal is not more hygienic than leaving your hair where it is. That’s absolute nonsense and I honestly thought that myth had been debunked quite some time ago:http://www.theguardian.com/com…
      • • yes, we really are. it’s like carrying a loaded gun in your pants.
    • na 
      

      fun fact: it’s actually more hygienic to have hair “Down there” than it is to shave it. The hair is on your body for a reason. And that reason is to keep you clean.
      • Yes, I’ve already covered this with someone else. I was wrong about that.
  • Robert 
    

    Ok, Katheryn I can take you up on that offer. hehe. Though I like naturally hairy women, mostly forearms and legs. Armpit hair on a woman is nice too.

     Amen! That’s how I feel 🙂 I’m 24, not a 10 year old. It’s very liberating to be free of social expectations for my own body
• Thya S. 

  Thank goodness for Harper’s Bazaar! Nothing is more unsightly than pit hair, seriously.
  • Donna  

    How DARE you have hair on a certain body part… when I think that you should not have it there. Remove it. Now. I order you. (And the foolish women follow it, blindly.)

    There’s nothing the least bit attractive (or unattractive) about shaving (or not shaving) hair under your arms.

     Do what you want to do, I don’t see why another women should have say over what you do with your body. If you want to shave, do it. if you don’t, then don’t. I choose not to and I don’t judge anyone who does or doesn’t (because I understand!). 🙂