to think we owe it to our DC to let our armpits go feral?

[ClockWatchingLady]

When our kids are little, shouldn't they see that women have body hair (and accept it rather than remove it)?
Once they're in their teens, they'll probably see endless full-body-waxed women online, whether we like it or not.
So while they're little and forming their basic impressions of the female body, shouldn't we stop all this bloody depilation? Whether we feel comfortable with it or not, don't we owe it to the younger generation?

Yours faithfully,
Mr Tumnus

*hirsute

I shave pits, bits and legs every week, I dont' feel clean with hairy armpits and think it looks unkempt. I would assume any woman with hairy pits also had knitted lentils as a hobby.

Having hair doesn't necessarily mean dirty. Lots of men have underarm hair and I wouldn't think they all had a BO problem.

Presumably you also shave your head? After all, you can't possibly feel clean with all that hair.......

It's true, I plait mine.

But no, seriously ... if you sweat more than usual and you've shaved, it is really important to see a doctor. Any unusual changes in your body, you should check with a GP, not assume it's normal.

What worries me is that teenage boys growing up now will think that 'normal' women are hairless as per the images they see on the internet and in other media.

I don't wish to look prepubescent.

Good god no

You stay hairy but it's not for me

I smell more if I don't shave regardless of how often I shower so I owe it to the people around me to shave

Oh, do what you like catgirl!

Um ok

You too

i shave my pits every day and legs every few days when stubbly and wax bikini line every 6weeks ish

french and italian woman seem to like being hairy (notice this on holiday) no offense anyone :)

one time i went away for the weekend and forgot my razor felt weird being stubbly and conscious in a strapless dress and sure pist were a tad wiffy

yet my oh obv doesnt shave his pits - does anyones man?

yet he never smells and hair is soft - unlike mine

Sorry, I meant that in the terribly obvious sense.

You should do what you like.

Clearly many people on this thread know how to make their children feel confident and secure, and know how to feel happy - this is a good thing.

nup - the only thing i shave is my chin

Sorry

I read that all wrong and was really confused as to why I had caused so much offence :)

Oh, no!

I wrote it wrongly.

We'd best go out separate ways with razors and/or furcoms at the ready!

How about giving them this doll?

Gave me quite a turn....

I sometimes shave and sometimes (often) don't. I can't always bothered and having hair doesn't upset me. The beauty of it lies in having the choice to shave or not and that we should be each free to make that choice for ourselves at any time.

I know at least one man who does shave his armpits - he is quite obese and probably is something to do with odour/cleanliness or chafing...

I was once with a man who was pubeless. I didn't approve and yes I realise this is social conditioning too.

Trim them boys, don't bin them!

I shave all body hair every other day - bar on my head of course

I prefer to be smooth all over. Ill leave the natural look to other women

OK, a few things:

1. All our decisions are influenced by many things. In the case of people?s physical appearance (including body hair), what we see on people around us influences our aesthetic judgments massively. Numerous psychological studies indicate that familiarity/experience influence preference, even when we?re not aware of it. So saying that we?re each making our own decision, whilst on one level is true, is simply not enough to explain our behaviour. We are not ?sheep?, as one poster has said, but we are very much not operating in a vacuum. Let?s be honest about this.

2. Unfamiliarity can lead to disgust. Consequently, people increasingly experience disgust about female body hair. This is only getting worse with increased depilation and internet porn (which is, incidentally, primarily driven by male sexual preference). One way to reduce this is to let our children experience the sight of female body hair, repeatedly and early on.

3. If I grow the hair on my legs (which is thick and dark), some people are disgusted, and make this rather obvious. This limits my personal choices to: a) spend time, money and effort on depilation or b) experience hostility and disgust. I think this is a pretty crap choice. The only way I can see it changing is by exposure to female body hair as an acceptable option within society at large.

4. The relief I felt, on returning to this thread, at reading some of the recent insightful posts means I?ve fallen a bit in love with some of you (hope you don?t mind).

While I don't shave, dd (13) does, because the girs at school who don't get the piss taken by the girls at school who do.

Perhaps, when she's older, she'll decide she can't be bothered.

I don't think we should have to modify the ways in which we treat our bodies cosmetically for our DC or anyone else.
We definitely don't 'owe' them it.
Unless they lead a very sheltered life, they'll meet all sorts of people from all walks of life at some point and realise that everyone is different- If anything we owe it to our children to teach them not to judge/ be judged based on looks.... IMO anyway

I agree that our children need to be exposed to things outside the social norms- Different body shapes and sizes, tattoos, facial hair, cultural dress, what abuse can do to you (even down to sunburn), races, abilities... bla bla bla
They need to see it all but it doesn't mean we have to be the ones that do it ourselves (unless we want to)