AIBU to think armpit hair is a moral issue?

[ICBINEG]

How did it come to pass that the natural appearance of an adult woman has become socially unacceptable?

Adult women have hair on their arms, legs, fanjo and (if you can bear the disgustingness of it all) armpits.

In a not at all surprising turn of events the natural appearance of an adult male is still considered attractive including (god forbid) hairy legs, arms, balls and armpits.

Why have we adopted a prepubescent look as the optimum for women but mysteriously not done the same for men?

AIBU to next shave myself when shaving becomes compulsory for EVERYONE and not just those without a Y chromosome?

Observation of my SIL suggests it can take over a year to unlearn the societal conditioning and start seeing your own hairy armpits as attractive....a whole year to stop thinking the natural female form is repulsive....AIBU in thinking that society is totally fucked up?

"Pixie's hairy arm disaster happened less than a week ago so she hasn't really had that much time to prove she's learned her lesson"

Bloody hell!

I shave my armpits cos they get smelly

I rarely shave my legs as they don't.

Plenty

Only if you're feeble-minded enough to base your life choices on such idiotic publications.

YABU- It's a cultural issue not a moral one.

Gosh, well if it's in the Showbiz section of the Metro!

Do what you like with your hair, anyone with decency won't care. I don't need to unlearn anything or see anything on my body as more or less attractive just because someone else has it as a preference either.

I decided this morning that my scoliosis makes me look a bit glam as it looks like I'm dropping one knee slightly and sticking a hip out constantly. Fuck social conditioning bollocks. My body and I like my shaved fanny and curvy fucked up spine.

There isn't free choice though, you are free to make the choice to remove but if you make the choice to to let it grow you will be judged, hugely all the time.

It is not a free choice until I can stand on the edge of the local swimming pool, displaying hairy legs, a peeking of under arm hair and a fetching pant moustache, and have not one person think 'OMG that's revolting' because no one would turn a blind eye to a man sporting the same.

Free choice, my arse.

Those of you who choose to shave because it is cleaner/ less smelly/ neater, do you also try and persuade your husbands to shave too, for the same reasons? If you were a man, would you shave?

They would if he's wearing a ladies swimsuit Gobblers

OP, men do shave their faces, you know. A lot of them everyday before they go to work. My dh cuts his face to ribbons every morning doing it.

I'd be mortified if he decided to grow a big bushy beard (outside of weekends and holiday).

I think I get off lightly if pits and brows were all I have to worry about.

Oh you're all so individual in your "choices", isn't it so odd that everyone makes the same "choices" and when people don't, its headline worthy? Julia Roberts anyone...world wide news when a famous woman goes out with armpit hair!

Its not about "I don't read magazines so I can't be conditioned" its way way more pervasive than that.
Get real folks!

"do you also try and persuade your husbands to shave too"

Why would anyone persuade someone to shave or wax someone else's body?

arf at Bunny a true man would sport a mankini.

I shave mine because I feel cleaner. That's all.

I don't know why people get so aggressive! It's totally weird.

Would you have preferred it if the link had been to some weighty academic study? Or would the shout and humphy face then be that it's irrelevant.

Lots of young women and men read the showbiz/zeleb pages - to have a piece written with such vitriol and to be banging on about a famous woman having armpit hair 15 YEARS later is surely a bit much?

Sonia Don't get me wrong, I'm equally irritated when people imply that not shaving is wrong too. I hate that other people feel the need to judge someone else's body like that.
I don't self tan, and refuse to listen to peer pressure on that one either
But wrt leg shaving, if I don't shave my legs, my itchy skin problem gets worse- it really is a comfort driven thing.

Well Summer is over, so I'm not considering it an issue until next May.

I think it should be personal choice too. It isn't fair to pressure anyone into shaving. That article was just plain nasty, IMO.

Gobblersknob. Good point well made!

Emsiero I could applaud you. Bloody well said.

scentednappyhag Agree, entirely about live and let live.

I think I rechristened you in my reply upthread. Apologies - I plead frequently writing shopping lists for baby supplies.

The interesting thing, for me at least, is that when I was younger I don't remember it even occuring to me to have my undermeats completely devoid of hair, or to have thought that the men I was with would be shocked to find pubic hair. That's very different now.