Do you shave for you or for men/women?

[Ofashynessthatiscriminallyvulgar]

Hoping this doesn't offend anybody. I'm talking about all over, legs, armpits etc.
I shave my legs and armpits every day as I like the smooth feeling and I get stubble after even one day. I even have to pluck my chin hairs most days and have regular dermaplaning as I seem to have a very hairy face.
However I realise that I'm conditioned to think bodily hair on women is 'gross'. It's expected that women have smooth, hair-free bodies, of course you see the odd woman with full armpit/leg hair in retaliation, but generally not. I remember forgetting to shave once, going out in a dress and feeling so ashamed and 'dirty'.
Men don't have these pressures.

For me. I'm extremely hairy and do not enjoy hairy legs. They also itch when the hair rubs on trousers

For men and women.

Men, my dh but not that often. He is used to seeing me hairy and not bothered. I just like to do it as a taadaah.

Women, I would do it more. I make sure my armpits are shaved when I go to the gym and my lower legs if I'm wearing short leggings.

I feel more anxious about a stranger or female friend than my dh.

I do it for me, but I recognise that the reason I feel more comfortable hair free is that I've been conditioned to think this way. I'm afraid I've decided that since I can't change this conditioning (I've tried and I hated it), I will not make my own body a battleground for feminist ideals and will stick with what makes me feel good in my skin. I will, however, try to support my daughter to make different choices if she wants to.
I do feel vaguely guilty every time I do hair removal though. Sigh.

I only shave my legs from knee down and arm pits in the summer when on show.

Never shave anywhere else.

Armpits once or twice a week, mainly because it clings onto a sweaty smell more than skin.
Legs only every other week, I wear a lot of dresses but my leg hair is fair and not thick, so it's only really noticeable after about 10 days. I would say legs is more due to social convention than anything else.

I'm not particularly hairy. My legs only grow hairs from my ankle to about an inch above - very sporadically. I shave those because it looks sodding stupid to have little hairy cuffs around your ankles.

Otherwise I don't care about underarm hair etc. My attitude has definitely influenced my teen daughter. She sees that I don't care about whether I have hair or not and it's given her the confidence to make her own choices. As things go presently she prefers to shave her armpits but is otherwise chilled out about it all.

Saying please and thank you are just good manners.
I understand what you're saying, but what I'm asking is, how did you become conditioned to think it is a normal societal expectation?
Your mum? The media? Etc.

Just armpits, I'm unfortunately a sweaty Betty, I feel smelly. But I rarely shave my legs, my hair growth is sparse anyway there so not really noticeable and I don't expect people to be stroking my legs haha

I shave the parts that will be seen like my lower legs if I want to wear something that shows this part because dealing with stares, sniggers and comments will end up hurting my feelings. I don't want to confront them and I'm not thick skinned enough to not care. I've often wished I was a man because it's easier being a hairy man than a woman.

Nobody sees my underarms and I shave every now and then for myself. I had done laser but it's all come back. I don't shave often though maybe once every 6 weeks to make things less smelly. Social expectations is that fanjo will be shaved but I never will remove hair fully there, just trim. I find shaved genitals repulsing actually.

I shave for myself as I feel cleaner and I enjoy the feeling of smoothness. Also it sucks when certain hairs get pulled out by jeans 🤣

Definitely for social convention.

Though I did just buy some swim bike shorts so I don't have to faff above the knee on holiday.

I am super dark hairy though and my pubes/ thighs/ bum are the worst of it - I would literally never depilate if it were just for me. might invest in a home ipl device this year.

I do my armpits every 2/3days. I sweat quite a bit and find the longer the hairs get the more the sweat stinks and i then have to use men’s deodorant as women’s doesn’t quite cut it. Legs get done when they start getting itchy and a bit more frequent in the summer as i have really thick dark hair and look horrendous against my tan lol bush gets a trim every now and again when I feel like the hairs are getting in the way and giving me friction burn during foreplay lol

For fellow sweaty people
Fucking magic these ones. Work even on hair, but top notch on shaved. Put on in morning, work, party till 2am, still like fresh! I alternate blue and gree (no reason, just whichever I grab)
https://www.superdrug.com/toiletries/deodorants/womens-deodorant/womens-roll-on-deodorants/perspirex-original-antiperspirant-roll-on-20ml/p/790871

We all learn as we grow up what is “expected” of us in terms of what’s considered conventionally attractive. We absorb it from the media, from contemporary fashions, from cultural norms, from what others around us are doing. Additionally, we learn that standards for physical attributes are frequently accompanied by associations with qualities of virtue, even if those virtues aren’t true. Being fat = greedy and lazy; being unfashionably dressed = untidy and slovenly; being a hairy woman = dirty and smelly. So to avoid being considered those things, we modify our appearances.

Some people are happy to defy those conventions, because they think it’s not worth the effort or they don’t care about being found conventionally attractive; but generally even people who defy the conventions know that the conventions exist and that they are actively defying them.

Not to mention that a very basic level, most of us are motivated at some level by sex and wanting others to find us sexually attractive, so we learn what’s sexually attractive by how much attraction we generate.

Freshly shaved legs on clean line dried bed sheets is one of life’s great pleasures!

I wax for me as I like how it feels. DH isn't fussed, I sometimes go through phases of not being arsed. As long as someone washes regularly I don't see why it matters (both hairy and hair free- basic hygiene I think makes more of a difference).

Sorry but if I am hairy in a summer even with regular showering I do start smelling later. And no, it's not clothes either.
I was also fat and greedy😶
Stereotypes don't just get plucked out of air unfortunately.

Bodybuilders have to show muscle definition. We could turn dirty/smelly into flashyyy

i've got very coarse hair which gets very itchy and constantly ingrown despite exfoliating etc.

i remove hair on leg parts which are visible and armpits. remove some of the hair on bikini region if i'm wearing swimwear but only parts which are visible and try to wear "boy-shorts" style bottoms to cover up.

i've got an incredibly deep boil under the skin in my bikini area which is very embarrassing. it's large, painful and it keeps refilling so i'm thinking of getting surgery to remove it but i'm looking at £1.2 k.

i hate removing hair but do it as i know it's expected of women.

DH is hairy and i don't mind, he doesn't mind my fuzz either.

I shave my armpits for me. I prefer to get good coverage from my anti perspirant.

I only shave my legs, and deal with my bush when I'm going on a beach holiday. That is for others more than myself.

Never shaved my legs, but they are fair hairs, so don’t know how I would feel if they were dark! Pits done as and when, same for bits. Only if I’m going swimming etc!

I epilate 100% for me. I love the feeling of hair being pulled, I liken it to tattoos and piercings and as I don't want to be covered in holes or ink, I epilate to de-stress.

I also couldn't give a fuck about people seeing me with body hair and regularly go 3/4 months without removing any hair at all. I still wear dresses/shorts/sleevless tops, weather dependant but regardless of having body hair or not.

I shave because I don't like the feeling of stubbly legs, armpits etc. I have dark hair, so it would also be really noticeable if I didn't shave. It's mainly the feeling of my leg hairs brushing together when I cross my legs that I can't stand. I shave all year round.

My boyfriend has never remarked on the status of my hairiness.

I used to remove a lot more hair than I do now, and I did laser my bikini line, upper lip, armpits and legs. Legs wasn't quite as successful but still massively reduced.

Now I just maintain as and when I feel like it - it can be months before I tidy up my eyebrows / upper lip. My armpit hair has gone so I don't feel the need to touch the blonde wispy ones. I don't touch my arms or thighs, the blonde fine hair can stay, I don't care. I tidy up downstairs once every few weeks mainly because I find hair traps smell, and I exercise a lot. I find it more comfortable and cleaner for going to the toilet, too, if my bumhole is shaved! (Makes sense I suppose - like you might do for pets).

My lower legs I'll shave if I'm wearing a dress and it's got quite long - I don't care too much about 1-3mm stubble.

I don't, for hygiene and my skin health.