Random thoughts

[fuzzyred]

I was driving in my car today, wearing shorts, and a stray thought popped into my head. "Why are women expected to shave their legs?" I mean, seriously, women and men both have hair there, you see that body part when either (any) gender wears shorts, why are women expected to shave? Mind you, I usually don't, because I often wear pants and it doesn't bother me anyway but it is commonly expected. Especially with a skirt or dress, not just shorts, or bathing suits. Why is hair un-womanly? Why don't men have to shave? WHY DO PEOPLE CARE SO MUCH ABOUT HAIR?

*deep breath* Sorry about that, I'm calm now. It just seems like such an arbitrary thing, and I'm curious where it came from, and why we all continue to buy into it. Of course, if you like shaving, or want to for personal reasons (whatever they may be), that is certainly your prerogative. It just seems unfair to me, is all.

Comments

[ex_flameandsong751]

I never understood the societal expectation to shave, either. A number of European women (while not all) don't, and IMO, it just seems unnatural to want to be completely hairless. Like, it's one thing if it's genuine, legitimate aesthetic reasons (as opposed to "this is my aesthetic because society expects it"), and I know a lot of male swimmers get waxed because they claim it helps them swim faster, but I just... do not like the whole hairless-body thing myself. I like hairy guys*, and I think it's hot when women don't shave.


*I have been attracted to guys without hairy chests before, but hairiness is a preference.

[stealthsystem]

We don't shave. Never have. Don't plan to. But some women who have dark hair feel uncomfortable with visible hair.

[siliconshaman]

Because Western society as it now, expects women to display neotic features, including a lack of body hair to mimic prepubescent bodies. [while at the same time prominently display secondary sexual characteristics such as mammary development.]. This ties in with the sexualisation of underage girls by the fashion industry.

and yes, that is exactly as skeevy as it sounds.

[lithophiles]

So, like, this is probably a weird response, since I'm from one of those plural systems that has a large inner world, but... it influences my values and tastes at the front, definitely. And it's kind of embarrassing to admit this at front, but I personally am attracted to really hairy women. (This is more common to see in my world, since there are multiple polymorphs of male and female, and in some places you will definitely see women with a lot of chest and arm hair along with leg hair. Although not all societies are equally tolerant of all polymorphs.) So yeah, my stance is "shave if you like it" too, but my personal attraction (the superficial physical part, anyway) to women goes up with the amount of body hair they have. And no, I have no idea what this society's obsession with it is all about.

-Helain