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Ladies, put your razors away: Women should embrace body hair
The Western Front ^ | June 27, 2002 | Dana Carr

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.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: armpithair; bikiniline; france; howtorepelmen
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To: Post Toasties
uh...sure bub.
201 posted on 07/02/2002 3:11:48 PM PDT by smith288
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To: stanz
Not I :)
202 posted on 07/02/2002 4:05:33 PM PDT by Mfkmmof4
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Comment #203 Removed by Moderator

To: one_particular_harbour
I can't believe, after so damn many warnings, I actually looked. What the hell is wrong with me?

Not a thing. BTW can you taste this milk to see if it's expired?

204 posted on 07/02/2002 4:29:56 PM PDT by amused
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Comment #205 Removed by Moderator

To: one_particular_harbour
No problem. Can I finish this bologna sandwich from the end of the package first? Its a little green and slimy, and I need to finish it before it goes all the way bad.

How bout a nice greasy pork sandwich served in a dirty ashtray?

It could actually make for a nice palatte cleanser after the bologna.

206 posted on 07/02/2002 4:45:38 PM PDT by amused
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To: oceanperch
That's not unusual. I am fastidious about keeping neatly groomed in all areas. Alot of the guys I know are like that also. Most women I've met love it, but it comes down to the fact that I do it for my own vanity.
207 posted on 07/02/2002 4:55:11 PM PDT by SandfleaCSC
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To: Olydawg
You should have put in parentheses "Get to know your fellow freepers up close and personal" ;-)
208 posted on 07/02/2002 4:56:51 PM PDT by amused
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To: amused
Ladies, put down your razors and pick up Liquid Laser. You will be smooth for weeks.


209 posted on 07/02/2002 5:09:20 PM PDT by Hillary's Lovely Legs
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To: SandfleaCSC
OPs' son has a screen name here "king Vanity" he rarely posts between surviving for life and a huge sense of Humor. Nice "docking" poster.
210 posted on 07/02/2002 5:45:52 PM PDT by oceanperch
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To: Olydawg
Sorry, but I've been indocrinated all my life to appreciate the lack of body hair on a woman.

Guess I need desensitivity training.

211 posted on 07/02/2002 6:06:35 PM PDT by mindprism.com
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To: hobbes1

I hope to God *somebody* out there is putting that braid to good use.

212 posted on 07/02/2002 6:11:33 PM PDT by mindprism.com
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To: mindprism.com
You don't need to be desensitized. I appreciate that men and women are different and go to great lengths to be as smooth as possible. I can't imagine a man wanting to stroke a hairy leg. He might as well marry a gorilla.
213 posted on 07/02/2002 6:15:05 PM PDT by Hillary's Lovely Legs
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To: Olydawg
Thatch should be removed at least in the spring, in America and Down Under.

At this rate, blondes will have more, a lot more fun.

214 posted on 07/02/2002 6:23:44 PM PDT by SevenDaysInMay
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To: ctdonath2
Severe rediation poisoning may be insufficient to defleece Miss Afghanistan types.
215 posted on 07/02/2002 6:35:58 PM PDT by SevenDaysInMay
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To: I_be_tc
Remember when she got blasted for doing the "french" do.

Yep!


216 posted on 07/02/2002 9:48:25 PM PDT by Drew68
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To: Redleg Duke
**Probably with a mop and bucket**

oh gag! lol

217 posted on 07/02/2002 10:46:44 PM PDT by homeschool mama
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To: mindprism.com
Oh yes indeed......She is definitely the model Nabokov had in mind....
218 posted on 07/03/2002 5:17:55 AM PDT by hobbes1
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To: ccmay
My wife does not like full beards. I grow a beard twice a year. In the fall for hunting season and in the spring for hockey playoffs.

The rest of the year I have a goatee. Sometimes with a mustache, sometimes without.

Infact, I shaved off my 'playoff beard' last night even though the playoffs ended nearly a month ago. Currently have a goatee with no mustache.

I am 28 and have had a goatee since my early 20's. I have had it since before I met my wife. In the past 5 years I have shaved it off twice. Once for our wedding and once for a job interview. Her and my mom are always trying to get me to shave it off. I want to see your face they say. I just tell her, look, we've been together for over 8 years and I have always had it.

And some times my wife will flip-flop and want me to grow it real long so she can braid it.

219 posted on 07/03/2002 5:32:00 AM PDT by Phantom Lord
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To: hobbes1
Oh yes indeed......She is definitely the model Nabokov had in mind....

Now, you see, I think Humbert Humbert was trolling after someone like Natalie Portman from the Beautiful Girls era.

220 posted on 07/03/2002 5:36:01 AM PDT by Hemingway's Ghost
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