I'm finding the hypocrisy on this thread alarming
Not sure if that was for me, Sickofsitting, but if so, I will try to explain.
I don’t shave my legs in the winter. It’s nice to give my skin a break from it (unshaven skin retains more oil obviously), I also appreciate the savings in time and expense. My DH never comments one way or the other. I think he probably prefers the feel and look of shaved legs on a sexual partner, but he understands perfectly well that if I want to shave my legs, I will. So if they are hairy, it’s because I want them to be.
In the summer, I shave them. I wear shorts and skirts all summer. I also teach fitness classes, for which I usually wear shorts (and am obviously very much on show).
Now, I could leave my legs hairy, and I know that the sky will not fall in on me. I very much doubt anyone would say anything, but I suspect I would notice people looking, and possibly commenting privately to their companion.
Either way, I am sadly too insecure to be able to deflect that sort of thing, and it would hurt me. I have shaved my legs since I was about 12 (at which age, I started doing it simply because everyone else did, and I didn’t want to be ostracised by my peers or rejected by boys. Shallow, yes, I was a child, after all).
Hopefully that explains why I can simultaneously conform to societal expectations re leg shaving, while also feeling sorry for any young women who feel obliged to remove body hair.