To ask what cultures you're from and you're attitudes re: body hair?

[BettyCrockerLover]

Hey everyone :)

I know this is a personal question, but I was wondering about beauty/body hair issues and if these attitudes are different within different cultures around the world and if so, how

I am from North Africa but I was raised in a lot of places and I think the only places a woman should have hair are on her head and her eyelashes and eyebrows, anything else seems a bit...unhygienic to me.

What about you all?

[ReginaPhilangie]

White, English. Shave pits and legs and the occasional chin hair. I only shave my bikini line if I'm going swimming, otherwise I leave it all be. I hate doing my bikini line it gets so fricking itchy. I only shave because society frowns on women being hairy. I'm not brave enough to tough it out, but if it wasn't frowned upon I'd leave it all be as quite frankly it doesn't bother me and if it's there it's obviously meant to be there. In the winter I can sometimes resemble the Yeti.

Only once have gotten rid of all my pubic hair. I Immaced (that's how long ago it was), and it resembled a fricking raw chicken fillet. Urgh. And the regrowth was so itchy it was unbearable, never again. I do think we're supposed to be hairy down below. I think if a man prefers a completely hair free one then...well he's obviously got serious issues. Far to much like a prepubescent girl TBH.

[WorraLiberty]

Why do people keep bringing children into this? It's pretty sick.

Do you view anyone who shaves their legs and armpits as trying to look pre-pubescent too?

I'm a 44 year old woman who has had 3 vaginal births

With or without pubic hair, I am never going to look like a little girl.

Jeez!

[YummyYummyYum]

vlad some people (men and women) seem to have 'an allergy' to deodorant

[catgirl1976]

White british

Personal preference is no body hair, just head, eye brows and lashes

Also prefer me to remove chest hair (and certainly back hair) and trim armpit and pubic hair. Don't mind hairy legs or arms on a man but other body hair removed / trimmed

[perplexedpirate]

White British. I have always shaved my pits, but I suddenly have the urge to grow the hair and dye it a really soft baby blue colour.
Am I having a mid-life crisis? More to the point, would it work?
I think it would look so cute and unusual.

[ChimeForChange]

White British (blonde)

Get my eyebrows threaded because it makes my face look better!

Armpits and legs when on show.

Bikini area when OH says it resembles a forest.

[ChimeForChange]

perplexed you could plait it if it's long enough too

[ChimeForChange]

OH is Muslim - he shaves armpits and pubic hair - I actually much prefer it shaved!

[eccentrica]

Wallace I found your post very moving. I suspect a lot of people have internalized those sort of experiences without consciously remembering them. I think it explains a lot of people fear and revulsion towards body hair, also it's obvious why those who don't remove their pubic hair can sound defensive, given the sort of attitudes you describe.

[perplexedpirate]

Might be a bit short chime. Maybe a French plait?
I really fancy it actually. I think it's seeing Amanda Palmer everywhere. If I dyed it it'd look like I'd done it on purpose iykwim, rather than lost the ladyshave.

[DonDrapersAltrEgoBigglesDraper]

Yes, I think Wallace's post flies in the face of all those people who say they 'choose' to do it, freely and willingly.

I mean, yes, of course they do choose to do it and probably do prefer it.

But. That choice does come from a place of huge social pressure. The choice not to de-hair, as in not to de-hair at all, is a massive political statement; one that most women are simply not willing to make.

And if they do, they're seen as weird - 'other' even. Not normal.

I prefer to be relatively hairless. But I for one am fully willing to admit that my preference comes from internalised experiences as eccentrica says, and from social pressure. I just do not have the guts to go to the beach, say, with hairy legs.

Another example. I work in the public sector. In policy. Lots and lots of very intelligent women who don't really give too much of a priority to make-up and appearances. I am a feminist and have been for as long as I can think. I embrace the label fully - and yet even I notice things and have to remind myself not to judge. Things like hairy upper lips. No make-up, untended brows.

If I notice these things (no make-up, body hair, etc) as a feminist - things which I 100% fully and utterly support and approve of, even if I don't do them myself - then you can bet your last dollar that other people, non-feminists and anti-feminists notice them and do judge because we've been conditioned, brain-washed, whatever to.

Wallace's post sums this up really, really well.

[kali110]

White British wax or epilate my legs when can be bothered,and bikini line and bit of trim. Either wax pluck or shave eyebrows so dont get mono brow, and shave armpits when going out.
Shave or epilate arms when i remember. Only once had a Hollywood. Never. Again. Itchy and felt uncomfortable.im not implying men who like shaven fannies want sex with children, however i feel like shaving it all off is like being childlike, but that is just mine and partners opinion. End of day its everyone's own personal opinion.

[SuperiorCat]

I'm too lazy to cope with the necessary maintenance to remove all my pubic hair, but I seriously do not understand people saying it looks like a child's body.

My body has wrinkles, cellulite, stretchmarks, breasts, rounded hips, episiotomy scar, c-section scar and overhang, even with my short and curlies removed there is no way it looks like a child's body, if anything, it has more in common with the body of a pensioner.

[Skinheadmermaid]

British, of arabic descent. I'm very pale skinned with very dark hair and i'm also hairy as a werewolf.
I'm envious of how little hair removal everyone needs to do! I shave pretty much my entire body from neck downwards, including back, ribs, arms, entire legs etc. i like my skin to look and feel smooth. I pluck my huge monobrow and beard. I also shave my sideburn area. If i didn't i would look like captain hook.
I shave off everything down below. I like to feel smooth down there and i like to see all the -ahem- action.
I also once had quite severe excema down there when i was younger and i had to shave it to apply the cream. When it eventually cleared up the pubic hair in that area grew back white! So i whip it all off.
I do suffer from random patches of excema and psorisis and having smooth skin makes it easier to apply any creams. Shaving doesn't irritate my skin...i use a fresh razor every couple of days and conditioner.
I do all of the above every.single.day...i wish i coukd afford laser treatment!
My bf is sikh so isn't meant to touch his hair but he trims his downstairs so its nicer for oral.
Like i said i love having smooth, supersoft skin. Can't stand feeling hair on myself!

[thecook]

White British

Legs and armpits shaven every day. Also pubic hair. Have shaved it off since the early nineties long before it was fashionable.

I attend a gym in West London and never ever see a women with pubic hair in the showers.

I has a boyfriend a while back who asked me to grow it back and just trim it. I refused.

[kali110]

Honestly though how do you remove hair from your back? For everyone who waxes down there, how do you wax your arse? Seriously?

[EBearhug]

If a man waxed Id think he must be some sort of pansy or a sportsman

This reminds me of a guy I knew some years ago. He was a keen cyclist and shaved his legs.

He only shaved up to the bottom of his cycling shorts, though. So it was a bit like he was wearing hair shorts. Doesn't appear to be a look that's caught on with many others, from what I've noticed, though I guess I only see up to the bottom seam of the shorts. (Erm, I have to admit to have been taking quite a look in the current weather and lots of people in shorts.)

[FloweryOwl]

Half English half Spanish, dark haired.

Get my eyebrows threaded, shave my legs if I have to get them out. Shave my armpits most days because of short sleeve shirts, but don't bother if I'm not doing anything. And when I was younger I used to shave my vagina completely, but now I can never be arsed and DH doesn't give a shit either way so can't see the point. So I trim if im wearing shorts or skirts.

[foreverondiet]

White British. Dark hair.... Have homedics me and have epilated and lasered at home bikini line, upper lip, legs, lower stomach, underarms. Tried everything else on arm pits but so hairy that waxing epilating lead to ingrown hair and shaving had to be done most days. Go to gym a lot so like not to be hairy...

[whois]

White British, dark hair.

Shave legs and arm pits and have a Hollywood wax to take off my pubic hair. Pluck eyebrows.

I'm not bothered about by arm had I'm not religious about my legs, would def shave them if going out with bare legs but I'm not 100% if I forget before netball in the dead if winter or something.

[whois]

Forgot to say, I prefer men to shave or trim their public hair and I don't really like chest or back hair or beards.

I prefer smooth skin.

I don't like bushy public hair on men or woman. Social co strict or whatever, doesn't make my feelings on that any less valid. Not interested in giving oral if DP has a bush going on. I also hate long pubic hair on myself, the way wee gets in it (or blood) is gross.

[EstelleGetty]

White Scottish with very, very dark Irish grandparents. I am a pretty hairy person. I shave my pits and legs and try to keep my bikini line under control but it grows so fast. I have strong brows which i used to pluck to death when i was at school but now i just leave them, except for the occasional tidy because i love them!

A couple of friends of mine suggested we should all let our underarm hair grow unchecked for a month to see how we got on. I had to decline because if i let mine go for a month, i could tie pigtails in it whereas my 2 friends are both very fair. I absolutely don't consider myself unfeminist because of my decision. Feminism is about choice.

I love hairy men. My DH is v dark and hairy. I so much prefer a hairy chest to a smooth one. Good Lord, our DCs (when we have them) are going to be swarthy...

[Beastofburden]

So ladies, being MUCH older than most of you I have a DD who is of an age where I ought to talk with her about such things. I had been prepared to discuss armpits and legs and to avoid the subj of slightly hairy backs. I am so not going to discuss anything more. What will you advise your own daughters? Is it worth the hassle? Should she face down any pube-bullies? What extra grooming will this generation come up with, that we all think, OMG how can they be bothered with that?

[amessageforyouYoni]

The thing about shaving your fanjo FOR a man isnt necessarily always the case, anyway. DH doesnt really give two hoots if i rock a full on bush or a Hollywood styley - but it feels nice for ME to have less ahuir down below, all sensitive and tingly and lovely. So there.