AIBU to consider shaving my 7-year-old’s legs after teasing?

@Oganesson118 i think the issue here is more that a young girl who should at 7 years not feeling self conscious is being made to feel upset.
Thats the problem.
My DD went to a mixed primary and is now in an all girls school and im thrilled I've got her to 13 and she's totally unaware of her legs !!

These threads always go the same way. One group of women who were hairy children but weren't allowed to shave who say to go for it and another group of women who aren't hairy who say to focus on confidence and resilience. I've noticed that women who were hairy children almost always say to shave. I think some women don't understand how much body hair other women can have. Difficult to say without knowing how much hair your DD has and how thick and dark it is.

Op whatever you do re shaving please please let the school know .
They must 100% crack down on this and stamp it out.
Ofsted is all over misogeny at the moment so please please please flag this urgently to the school. It's wholly unacceptable.

Theres no 7 year old boys hearing the word 'hairy' about their bodies and feeling insulted by that

Hairy is associated with maleness and if you are a hairy female (me), its seen as unfeminine and therefore something to be got rid of.

And what if we choose to shave them because we prefer it that way and it's nothing to do with men.

I'd speak to the teacher about the horrible boy but also have a plan to do her legs in the not too distant future.

I started doing mine when I was 9 as everyone bullied me.

If it would make her feel more comfortable, then yes I'd do it. I started shaving my legs secretly when I was about 9ish because I hated them being hairy (even though my hair wasn't that dark) and ended up cutting myself all the time. I'd rather have had the help and support!

It's all very well saying tell the teacher, build resilience, body confidence etc but whether certain woman like it or not, some girls and women simply don't like to have hairy legs. If she's one of them, then help her.

I think it’s a very personal decision but at 7 , it seems very young to start. Kids are cruel and it’s so hurtful for both your daughter and you….but as a retired teacher, we can’t “fix” everything for our children at school. Say she does shave her arms and legs and he finds something else to pick on? What if he started to mention, I dunno, her eyebrows? Her teeth? or something else ridiculous after this? I’d think I’d ask for a meeting with her teacher before I started going through with the shaving

At 7?! No way! Spend your time teaching her how to politely respond to idiotic comments. Wouldn't it be fab if no woman ever felt obligated to shave their legs because of the outdated attitudes of men?

At that age, I wouldn’t be minimising her feelings, which are a valid reaction, but I’d be trying to work on resilience and giving her the right words to come back at him with. Also if it’s only to her, be having a word with the teacher.

You need to tell the teacher that this happened. They all need to be told they cannot make fun of another child.

In the school my children went to the message was very clear, do not comment on someone's physical appearance unless it is to say something nice and complimentary. It was framed as we are sure you wouldn't want people saying horrible things to you to make you upset would you?

Shes SEVEN op. Please, please dont do this.

Me too.

I think its personal op

When it comes nearer summer give dd the choice. There isnt a right or wrong answer imo its what she feels comfortable with.

I would iimagine it would make the teasing worse given she'll have black stubble, leading to insults like 'you shave like a boy/man'

I think examples is the way to go to help her have confidence this is just normal for men and women and some women have lots of hair on their bodies and some men dont have hardly any, its normal

As someone who got teased as a child for exactly the same thing, I would do it.

I wouldn’t do it at 7, especially if it’s only been this one boy who has made the comments. I would actually tell the teacher and perhaps suggest they discuss, at an appropriate time, the need for us to be kind to others who might have different physical features (as I’m sure they already are doing), because it’s not okay for that boy to be making fun of her hair. Dark hair always will show up against skin, it’s not a crime to have it, instead of the thin, blonde or light brown arm and leg hair most white people have in the UK.

What if she had a medical condition that caused her hair to be more noticeable (as I do, for example), would you still advocate shaving her at the age of 7? I get that she’s upset, it’s so hard to see them tear up about these things. However, even if she shaves this year, that won’t guarantee kids won’t make a nasty comment about something else…