Female body hair / husband- help?

I get the whole thing about doing it to make sure your kids grow up knowing whats normal.
I stopped shaving my fanny because of that reason. DP prefers me shaved all over if its his first choice, but doesnt bat an eyelid if im hairy either and fully agrees that women shouldnt have to shave if they dont want to just because of societal pressure. If I was you though, and my partner actually had a STRONG preference, id probably concede and shave at least for going swimming, because being attractive to my chosen life partner is fairly important to me.

Yeah no worries TheCowThatLaughs I do see what you mean about brighter hair colours being more fashionable now, probably because of the likes of Rihanna and Katy Perry. It's a bit of a sore subject for me as I've faced ridicule for most of my life for having different coloured hair yet now because a celebrity does it it's deemed as ok..

I suppose it would be similar if sudden Rihanna and Beyoncé stopped shaving - it would probably be seen as fashionably to not shave but that's more to do with pop culture than anything else (same as men having longer hair after David Beckham grew his a bit - my other half has longer hair for ages before that and was ridiculed for it, but as soon as a celebrity did it) but that's a whoooole other thread...

Not that it's at all relevant for you to ask me what I believe feminism to be, but in my view feminism is all about the way the world is for women because they are women and the way the world is for men because they are men. It's about women's rights and equality, being offered the same opportunities regardless of gender and not facing any discrimination based on gender.

I saw an old Insignia ad from the 80s a couple of weeks ago and caught myself feeling surprised by the luxuriant black hair sprouting from the man's armpits - I couldn't quite work out why and I'm sure I wouldn't have felt surprised by it at the time. Do men in deodorant ads now shave too?

Off topic, but I've never understood why armpit hair is so particularly taboo on women (and now potentially anyone). I rarely shave anywhere but I would feel embarrassment at exposing my hairy armpits.

It's mainly dh who takes the dcs swimming and this is partially down to the extra effort I feel I have to make to be pool-ready, which is sad. I don't want to add regular shaving to my routine - it doesn't feel better to me so there's no point in the extra time and money it takes - but I don't feel able to expose hairy skin publicly.

I should probably just go for it - I doubt anyone would really notice.

What do you believe feminism is blueberry?

boom

Sorry I just meant that people tend to see other people with clothes or hairstyles that they like and copy them or be influenced by them. I know I do. I hardly ever shave my legs but only cos I don't wear skirts much, but I shave my armpits, and if I'm going swimming I do my bikini line. I would probably have the sides waxed regularly if I wasn't so lazy, I think it would look nice, but I wonder WHY I think that?

And actually it's like being a catholic and saying I agree with gay marriage - you still have the beliefs you just disagree on one point.

*thus

And this my point has been proven. Because I disagree with ONE thing, I'm "not a feminist". I'm don't with this thread and it's quite frankly insulting posters.

cailindana I see where you're coming from about there being no feminist choices, but wouldn't you agree that the OP's choosing not to shave, for reasons around the norms she wants to depict for her son and future daughters and a wider pondering of feminist issues, is a more feminist choice than my choice to carry on depilating because it's what I've always done, I like the way it feels and I can't be fucked dealing with whatever fallout there might be if I stopped?

TheCowThatLaughs I've had on and off random coloured hair since I was a teenager, something that has been highly frowned upon by many so no, I wouldn't say it's always been "the norm". Literally banging my head against brick wall here, you will find fault with anything and turn everything into a bigger issue than it needs to be.

Fwiw MrsBuffy I don't think I particularly suit the blue, I had a bit of a spur of the moment thing going on

Because many times on this site my feminist status has been challenged because I wear make up, shave my legs and quite enjoy doing most of the housework etc. On more than occasion I have been compared to a 1950s housewife which couldn't be further from the truth, and quite frankly an insult. I hold many opinions which I would consider to be feminist, I happen to disagree on certain points and to some on this site that means 2 things 1) I'm not a feminist and 2) my opinion is invalid.

I have been made to feel on this thread that my opinion is invalid, merely because I disagree on a few points. If you were to read my threads carefully you would see that minor disagreeing that the points you made are a contributing factor to some women shaving, I merely made the point that it's not always the case.

You don't come across to me as a feminist blueberry. You don't agree with basic feminist theory. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. It is a bit strange though to come on a feminist thread and claim tl be a feminist while rejecting a feminist viewpoint. To me it's like saying "I'm Catholic but don't believe in Jesus."

I think blue rinses have been around quite a while...

It IS fairly normal now to have blue hair now isn't it? The fact you can buy blue/purple/pink dye in boots proves this. So you've obviously been influenced by other people in society, unless you were the first person to dye her hair blue?

By saying "what the feminists are criticising" implies that I'm not a feminist because I hold a different viewpoint to the majority on this thread.

The fact you just followed up your post with "BOOM" speaks volumes.

"It's hard to go against social norms"

What I am saying is many women would find it easy to go against the social norm (granted, not all women would obviously) half my hair is currently blue and I'm sat at a playgroup ignoring the mutters from other mothers (my child is happily playing in the ball pool before someone says why are you sat on your phone) so I reject your statement that implies the reason women don't shave is because it is difficult to go against the social norm. Yes, that may well be the case for some women but it isn't the case for all who choose to shave.

And actually FuckOffFerret my male sibling shaves and grooms more than I do so quit making sweeping statements generalising all males. You don't want men grouping women in one box but you seem to find it perfectly acceptable to turn the tables.