How old would you let your daughter start shaving her legs

[tumdedum]

We are a fair skinned dark haired kind of family. My daughter is only 8 and is already very self conscious of her hairy legs. She says none of her friends have hairy legs. She wears shorts for PE, but otherwise it will be more of an issue in the summer months.
I'm obviously not going to let her start shaving yet, but what age is it a good time to start do you think?

Exactly we are all different some girls/woman want to shave thier legs and some don't. You literally said it yourself we are all different

these are small children

I was teased horribly at age 9 about my leg hair. As a consequence i wore tights in summer until i got fed up and hacked my legs with my mums razor one night in the bath.

As soon as Dd shows any embarrassment about her hair I'll be showing her the safe way to remove and she can maintain with silkymits.

My mum used to wax my brother's monobrow at his request when he was quite young. So it's not just about patriarchal expectations. No one bats an eyelid when a boy wants to shave their face so why is it treated like such a bit deal when girls want to shave unwanted hair?

Why are you obviously not going to let her start shaving? I remember having dark hair at that age and the mortification and embarrassment is a strong memory. I used to shave in secret and I wish I had a parent who taught me how to do it properly.

boys don't start shaving at 10 years old

As soon as she felt self conscious

So if our primary aged children are teased or feel self conscious about freckles do you let them cover them with make-up?
Do you let your red heads dye their hair if teased at school.

What if they have glasses or a wonky nose, sticky out ears?
Do you encourage surgery as soon as you think they're old enough too?

If they feel self conscious or teased because of their virginity, would you encourage them to lose it so they feel better and 'fit in'?

Whenever they wanted, it isn't unusual and there's plenty of methods that may suit her. I wouldn't be adding to her discomfort.

I could hardly be telling her she has body autonomy then controlling her preferences. I may offer her different methods but if she wants rid of the hair I would support her choice.

Why can't people accept that we are all different and lovely for it?

Exactly. So accept that while you didn't want to remove hair as a preteen/teenager, some do.

The problem here lies with the children that are teasing and bullying. That's what needs addressing - not the slightly hairy legs of a 9 year old.

Not the point I was making. It was more aimed at those saying girls wanting to remove hair feeds into patriarchal expectations when boys remove hair as well and no one says anything.

Yes I would allow her to have an electric shaver especially if she self conscious already

This thread isn't talking about teens removing hair - it's focusing on primary school children.
At primary, children should not be being encouraged to bow to the teasers and bullies by changing how they physically look.

It's bonkers.

It's wrong.

It's setting a precedent that they must alter how they look to get rid of anxiety to conform to the 'norm' inflicted upon them by society.

I wouldn't allow or not allow, it would depend if she wants to and how important it is. I'd buy her a decent razor that does not lacerate her legs and tell her to use it when lathered up in the bath or shower, then rinse off. I am in my seventies and starting shaving when I was ten.

It's not always about teasing and bullying, it's often just the desire to fit in and be like everyone else. My DD started shaving her legs at 11. I didn't allow it or disallow it. She simply bought a razor and started doing it! I wish she didn't feel the need to do it but I'm certainly not going to ban it. All her friends shave their legs and I can understand why she doesn't want to be the only one with u shaved legs. At that age most kids don't want to be different.

My mum waxed my legs from when I was a teenager, I was definitely at secondary school when we started.
I've never shaved but as I've gotten older I'm less bothered by a bit of growth. I can't wax my own legs so I use an epilator and my sister helps me wax my legs sometimes too.
I agree 8 seems so young but its not something you want her to be bullied for. Kids can be so cruel.
I'm a firm believer in not caring what others think of you but even in summer I often wear trousers as epilating is painful and time consuming and I don't care about having hair free legs but I know others might judge so I just cover them up to make life easier.

Speaking as someone who was once that 8 year old, please let her if that's what she wants. I had dark leg hair and very pale skin and it was very noticeable. None of my friends had it to anywhere near the same extent. My mum refused to allow me until I started secondary and it meant I was massively self conscious, hated sports and swimming and tended to wear long trousers rather than the shorts or skirts/dresses that I would have chosen otherwise when the weather was warmer.

I get what PP are saying that an 8 year old (or indeed any female of any age) SHOULDN'T feel pressure to conform, but I don't think a self conscious kid should be the one to make a stand on this, particularly when that stand isn't even coming from her but rather her mum.

I wasn't bullied or teased btw, I just wanted to fit in!

There’s no age for me. As soon as she wanted to.

I started shaving in junior school because other girls commented. No harm done. DD also asked about shaving when other girls made comments. For her it was around 12.

There was no deep shame involved, just couldn’t be arsed with the comments.