How disgusting.
I wouldn't take her to a rockfight.
Even Mephista my mother-in-law knows enough where to draw that line.
Posted on 07/02/2002 9:21:16 AM PDT by Olydawg
Women on campus and everywhere should put away their razors and reclaim their body hair this summer.
The woman who chooses to give up shaving doesn't just save herself some time, money and skin irritation, she can discover the sense of personal acceptance, freedom and natural beauty that her body hair can bring.
Women are compelled to shave more in the summer as their legs, armpits and bikini lines become more regularly exposed.
Women don their shorts, skirts, tank tops and swimming suits and try their best to sustain a standard of hairlessness that is inextricably tied to American society's perceptions of beauty and femininity.
This standard is symbolically oppressive and absurdly impractical, but American women willingly persist in the 20th-century tradition of shaving.
American women did not remove underarm or leg hair prior to 1915 because full-coverage clothing styles made these areas rarely visible, according to an article, by Susan A. Basow, in the Psychology of Women Quarterly entitled "The Hairless Ideal: Women and Their Body Hair."
As skirts got shorter and silk stockings became fashionable in the 1920s, advertisements began to encourage women to "smooth away" body hair that was described as unwanted and ugly. The majority of American women have been shaving ever since.
An American woman begins shaving as an adolescent rite of passage into the world of womanhood, a habit that is adopted and unquestionably upheld.
Society teaches her that shaven legs and arms and a well-maintained bikini line are essential to feeling beautiful, feminine and sexy.
She believes she must strive for hairless glory as a necessary part of maintaining her sex appeal and attracting and pleasing men.
But is there really anything intrinsically attractive or sexy about a woman's lack of body hair?
Shaving commonly causes cuts, scrapes, razor burn, dry skin and ingrown hairs. These skin afflictions are not only irritating and painful, but are unnecessary and unattractive.
In addition to the physical hazards involved, shaving is a symbolically unsettling practice.
According to Basow's article, "As middle-class white women moved out of their 'separate sphere' of domestic life ... the removal of body hair may have served to maintain a distinction between the genders and de-emphasize women's adult status."
The presence of body hair is an indicator of a woman's sexual maturation. Removing it denies that maturity and independence.
Women should look like women, with their hair growing where it's meant to grow.
Basow wrote that hair removal symbolizes "that a woman's mature sexuality is controlled at the same time as her 'tamed' sensuality is on display."
On a more practical note, shaving and hair removal in all its other forms wastes time and money. Five minutes of shaving on 100 sunny days add up to more than eight hours of skin scraping.
Couldn't women better spend that time enhancing who they are instead of taking away from it? Rather than being trapped in the shower shaving, women could be frolicking in the sunshine or reading in the shade.
At $1 or $2 per razor head, women spend their money on yet another frivolous beauty product marketed with and sold off of the idea that women need to buy items to make them beautiful.
Despite all the symbolic, financial and time-related reasons not to shave, many women shy away from the possibility or don't even consider it because they fear the stereotypes often associated with women who do not shave.
They do not want to be viewed or labeled as the organic, tree-hugging, penis-loathing, militant, lesbian feminist.
They do not want to go against the norm or draw negative attention to themselves, so it's easier to remove socially unacceptable body hair than have to explain it.
"Although shaving, for most women, is habitual behavior and usually viewed as trivial, the intense social reaction to violations of this norm emphasize its power," Basow wrote.
Women need to critically consider why they battle nature by removing their body hair and decide what it means to them.
They need to realize that their body hair can be a liberating and valuable element of their bodies and lives.
A woman's body hair is not a hindrance to her femininity; it is a symbol of her sexual maturation and womanhood.
The woman who gives up shaving is one step closer to learning how to truly accept and love her body the way it is.
Bingo- this one never has and doesn't need to.
Come and see the violence inherent in the system!
Help, help, I'm being oppressed!
Now, as far as women's body hair goes, well, it all depends on one's own personal tastes. A fine light auburn covering on a lady would be terribly exciting to me. If this young woman would like to stop shaving, she may do so as far as I'm concerned. I will not be held responsible for the responses the individual men she meets have to her hygenic choices.
However, she ought to have to shave a beard daily before she would be allowed to complain about womens' weekly or monthly shaves. ;-)
Yup. He was born and raised here. It's just a somewhat recent thing of his- I think he started watching too many European films!! (Proof that media can warp people!) I've known a couple of other (American) guys who liked hairy legs and the like. I won't let the leg hair grow out more than a couple of days, though. (And that's just lazy winter behavior!)
Made-for-TV looks and a strict schedule of "beauty" adjustments are of secondary concern.
But then again, I like all the girls....
Okay, a brief history 101, of depiliation. In ancient Egypt, both sexes shaved / used sugar, honey, and tree sap / tar, to ALL body hair.Tweezers were also used, for smaller areas. The ancient Romans were also big on hair removal ; read Ovid's " THE ART OF LOVE " , for explicit details.Part of the reason, that " barbarians " were called BARBARIANS , was because they were all so hairy !
In the 19th century, in Hungary, women used a method of killing hair follicles, on the arms, legs of girl babies, and I guess, at adolescence, underarm hair, by passing the offensive area over the heat of a wood stove. This was handed down , from mother to daughter, for generations, and was still in use, even in the USA( by immigrants, ), well into the 20th century.
The author, of this article, claims. that this is a 20th century conceit, is not only FALSE, it is stupid, beyond belief !
Muslim women depilate their entire bodies regularly. Wonder if that has to do with all those child brides...
Hygene is hygene, and we don't want to be French, but there are some excesses in this department.
Amen. I'd love to grow a beard and never have to shave again. However, my wife has made it clear that if I do so, I will be cut off from any lovin' until I shave it off.
I'm a victim of a matriarchal conspiracy to juvenilize and objectify men!
Maybe it's time to tell my honey that it works both ways-- if she gets to keep her natural thicket, I'll grow a full beard. If she gets a "landing strip" I'll just do a goatee, and if she wants me to be clean shaven then she needs to set up an appointment for the full Brazilian wax job....
-ccm
Even Mephista my mother-in-law knows enough where to draw that line.
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