Shamed for body hair growing up, Desi women now challenging racist standards

nbc ^

[janetjanet998]

Anjana Rajamani was 12 years old the first time she tried to shave her face.

"This guy I had a crush on said my mustache was thicker than his in front of all my class," she said.

After crying in the bathroom of her Southern California middle school, she went home and shaved it off.

"I gave myself razor burn," said Rajamani, 22. "I had pink marks in my mustache area for two weeks."

For Desi women who grew up in mostly white schools, that story might be uncomfortably familiar. Young South Asians say their elementary and middle school years were characterized by a dominating feature: hair. Everywhere. Bushy unibrows, thick leg hair, upper lip fuzz and coarse locks made them feel othered — and ugly — when they were 12.

[outofsalt]

And the Jewish ones.

[polymuser]

https://www.indiatoday.in/lifestyle/story/guinness-world-records-harnaam-kaur-woman-with-beard-pcod-340038-2016-09-08

[alternatives?]

Whatever color they want.

[gcparent]

8 omg. How many bathrooms?

[fella]

"Until about 1920 women did not shave at all."

Then all the boys came back from Paris so it's France's fault.

But then the girls there were shaving to keep from getting lice from the boys on leave.

So it's the Keizer's fault.

But he wouldn't have gone to war if Archduke Ferdinand hadn't been assassinated by Gavrilo Princip.

So this is all Gavrilo Princip's fault.

Now who do we sue?

/sarc

[HartleyMBaldwin]

“Not that there is anything wrong with yoga pants, though.”

About 99 out of 100 women who wear yoga pants in public shouldn’t. That 100th one, though...

[The MAGA-Deplorian]

“Until about 1920 women did not shave at all.”
Then all the boys came back from Paris so it’s France’s fault.

But then the girls there were shaving to keep from getting lice from the boys on leave.
So it’s the Keizer’s fault.
But he wouldn’t have gone to war if Archduke Ferdinand hadn’t been assassinated by Gavrilo Princip.
So this is all Gavrilo Princip’s fault.
Now who do we sue?

This chick!

Mademoiselle from Armentieres
Parlez-vous
Mademoiselle from Armentieres
She hasn’t been kissed for 40 years
Hinky-dinky parlez-vous

Oh Mademoiselle from Armentieres
Parlez-vous
She got the palm and the croix de guerre
For washin’ soldiers’ underwear
Hinky-dinky parlez-vous

The Colonel got the Croix de Guerre
Parlez-vous
The Colonel got the Croix de Guerre
The son-of-a-gun was never there
Hinky-dinky parlez-vous

Oh Mademoiselle from Armentieres
Parlez-vous
You didn’t have to know her long
To know the reason men go wrong
Hinky-dinky parlez-vous

Oh Mademoiselle from Armentieres
Parlez-vous
She’s the hardest working girl in town
But she makes her living upside down
Hinky-dinky parlez-vous

Oh Mademoiselle from Armentieres
Parlez-vous
The cooties rambled through her hair;
She whispered sweetly “C’est la guerre”
Hinky-dinky parlez-vous

Oh Mademoiselle from Armentieres
Parlez-vous
She’ll do it for wine she’ll do it for rum
And sometimes for chocolate or chewing gum
Hinky-dinky parlez-vous

Oh Mademoiselle from Armentieres
Parlez-vous
You might forget the gas and shell
But you’ll nev’r forget the Mademoiselle
Hinky-dinky parlez-vous

Oh Mademoiselle from Armentieres
Parlez-vous
Where are the girls who used to swarm
About me in my uniform?
Hinky-dinky parlez-vous

Oh Mademoiselle from St. Nazaire
Parlez-vous
The Mademoiselle from St. Nazaire
She never washed her underwear
Hinky-dinky parlez-vous

Oh Mademoiselle from Aix-Les-Bains
Parlez-vous
Mademoiselle from Aix-Les-Bains
She gave the Yankees shooting pains
Hinky-dinky parlez-vous

Oh Mademoiselle from Montparnasse
Parlez-vous

[gundog]

I thought Michelle Obama destignatized being a hairy, ugly young girl when she became First Lady. Oh, wait...she wore wigs, had bangs, and generally whited it up.

[Hot Tabasco]

Tell them to come to LA shave off their eyebrows and paint them back on with a Sharpie pen.

Don't forget to add stealing paint brushes to use them for eyelashes like all the babes on the news outlets are doing these days........

Profession painters are getting pissed off.......

[steve86]

“Indian”, even when applied only to the Indian sub-continent, covers a lot of territory. My late Indian lady in-law, didn’t need to shave at all and didn’t need deodorant under any conditions. It amazed me.

[Captain Peter Blood]

Actually it was the blade companies that put that one over.
They wanted more business and found a way to women to shave.
They got a phony government report that said shaving was a a hygiene thing, then they got the movie actresses and the women’s magazines to go for it.
That is the real story. Nothing to do with France and the war, those girls did not shave either, especially Eastern European women.

[Secret Agent Man]

I cant believe what soft peope we have nowadays.

Girls shaved or used a cream, and simply took care of it as part of their natural grooming, if they needed to.

Hesus Christo. Girls life ends because hair.

[chapin2500]

Your confession is the strangest thing I’ve ever heard, or read.

I’ve been married for twenty years to a rather attractive woman, but the thought of shaving her legs for her?! 🤢🤮

[Secret Agent Man]

Yes and just about everyone gets picked on for something.

So we all deal with it in one form or another.

[grey_whiskers]

Danish women too.

[Secret Agent Man]

and btw the girls stay mean and get meaner.

[Starcitizen]

Desi women? Sounds like a busload of Lucys.
——————

It’s actually a term for Indian racial superiority and pureness.

Like, um, something Hitler would have coined.

[Bobalu]

Eight daughters!?

That’s a lot of estrogen under one roof....

You must have the patience of Job, especially when waiting for a bathroom to become available. :-)

[Chode]

[Jewbacca]

1 master 2 jack and Jill 1 half

We’re OK.