OK, I just had to comment on this because it made me laugh. It’s been awhile since I thought about it because I tend to ignore the stupid, but a somewhat dim sorority girl wrote a very long-winded editorial on why it’s so wrong when women don’t shave their pits, and this was all brought to her mind because she was riding the bus and saw a girl with hairy pits! ZOMG! Stop the world, we’ve GOT to focus on this one!
Confession time: I don’t shave my armpits. Why? Because I have insanely sensitive skin and always, ALWAYS break out in a horrible rash when I shave them. Believe me, I’ve tried everything over the years to alleviate that condition and still get away with shaving. Tried Nair and a whole host of other products, when I was younger and more insecure about such things. These days I forego all things that which do not work, and stick to the one thing that does, which is NOT shaving them. Big deal, right? I guess it really is a big deal to some people. But why? It’s a pretty personal choice. But for some reason, human beings (particularly other females, and rarely males from what I’ve found) take it very personally when other people don’t shave their pits. Sorry, other women. It’s because it’s what we’re “supposed” to do in our culture. But in other cultures, no one shaves anything. In some, both men and women remove all their hair! It’s funny how that works.
I did have one ignorant male, one time, say that he thought it was a hygiene thing. It’s not, though. It’s an aesthetics thing. He considered a woman who doesn’t shave to be slovenly and have poor hygiene. But really, you only have poor hygiene if you neglect to bathe, brush your teeth, etc. I bathe every day, sometimes twice a day depending on how work went. I also use a clear deodorant on my hairy pits, and I’ve never had a problem smelling like B.O.
So I ask the people, SO FUCKING WHAT? I personally don’t care. I don’t avoid shaving to make some feminist statement, either, and I do consider myself something of a feminist. I just find body hair removal to be both a waste of time and a detriment to my skin’s health. I’m clean and well-kept otherwise, so what is the big deal? I think it comes down to a culture where women in particular feel a need to cut each other down for some crazy reason. A woman like the one who spent a good deal of time writing the editorial piece against hairy pits felt the need to cut down other women based on a personal choice regarding the removal of something as stupid as body hair. I’m serious, I’ve never had any males come up to me and comment on my pits, aside from the one guy. I’ve had numerous females make some rather snarky comments about it, as if it had anything to do with them or they had any reason to be concerned.
End point: mind your own business, take care of yourself, and don’t try to be the body hair police. Be a real woman and grow the fuck up! If you like to shave, great! More power to you! But if you see another woman who chooses to be hairy, don’t make assumptions about her personality. And if it absolutely repulses you to see a woman with hair on her body, just don’t fucking look.
I will actually say this…I think if all women everywhere are expected to remove their body hair, I think it’s only fair that men be expected to do the same. Guys can get away with being uber-hairy and doing nothing about it. I would hopefully never attract the kind of male who would demand this, but if some guy I liked demanded that I be absolutely hairless, I’d say, “OK, but you must do the same.” Seriously.
Amy loses and wins 