(Note: I am unable to reach most of the blogs on my blogroll today due to a blogger error. I will try again later. For now, it's just too frustrating to constantly get "We're sorry. We can not complete your request." Maybe it's time to change sites?)
~*
Yesterday, I was reading a poll on the Internet about shaving and women. It was interesting because there are such strong opinions about it, pro- and con.
One of the things I noticed in parts of Thailand, outside the large cities which have become somewhat (and some would say "too") westernized, women didn't shave. I don't think it was bohemianism. It is a practical consideration since shaving opens up the skin to infection. The act of scraping a razor over the skin opens up pores and becomes an open port for any bacteria that happens to be floating around.
Eve Ensler, in her show "The Vagina Monologues", presents the idea of shaving as being another way women are juvenilized, theory being that to shave off perfectly natural body hair returns women to pre-pubescence. That has also been mentioned by several other feminist writers as well.
Other women, feminist and not, consider it to be an act of vanity and a silly preoccupation with an out-moded standard of beauty.
I suspect the truth is somewhere in the middle.
Personally, I've always thought it is a rather bizarre practice but am very "Bohemian" with hair wild and free. I don't recall the last time I ever used make-up. I'm more of a natural, back-to-the-earth, gauze-skirt and Birks-wearing old hippie. That hasn't changed.
How about you? What do you feel or think about this topic? (It would be interesting to hear from both men and women.)
Peace,
~Chani
(I will answer the questions from yesterday tonight or tomorrow. I'm finding there's actually something to be said about all of it.... why I chose the lies and why I included the truth. :)
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Hair and there... an unscientific poll...
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21 comments:
Depends on shaving what: lip, armpit, groin, legs? Asians don't have much" hair", and you seem pretty blonde. If you were a Spanish or a Portuguese, maybe you would think different, anyway, I think it is all cultural.
This blogger thing is a PITA today!
I like female pubes (trust a man to zero right in on the 'fun zone,' to be at least closely cropped, or even completely bare. It has nothing to do with pre-pubescence, just aesthetics and access. Even men can use some cultivation in the area, especially if they like close personal attention, if you know what I mean, to their privates. Aesthetics? Yep -- look at a nude picture of a completely natural male or female. There is this jarring and very incongruous tangle of hair right on the playground. It's in the way. Unless your playmate(s) have a hair fetish, it is unnecessary.
I do agree with the two opinions before me, I like women shaved. It has nothing to do with juvenilizing them, but it is a matter of taste and touch preferences. Some people like wool and some like silk; I am allergic to wool. ;-p
it's a cultural thing. I admit that I prefer shaved pits & legs. As for pubic hair, I like full better, but I do understand what Mr. Atavist is saying - people who are sexually active and participate in oral sex have a strong preference for trimmed or shaved pubic hair because the impediment it can cause.
Just as I learned to prefer women who shave, I believe I could learn the opposite too. In a culture such as ours where there isn't a health issue involved (as you note is an issue in some places in your post) hair vs. no hair is a purely aesthetic decision. (although I do think that pits sans hair develop less b.o.)
Reminds me of the old joke..."How can you tell an Alitalia plane from the ground? By the hair under the wings."
Yes, sometimes I think too much meaning is attached to simple grooming habits. I remove some hair, and then there is other hair where I think to myself "If someone doesn't like me because they think my arms are too hairy, well, then I don't need to hang out with that person."
Society is changing, and men and women seem to be pretty free to do what they wish "down there" - I know many men that talk about shaving the whole shebang with a razorblade! That was previously something that was perceived as being the sole province of homosexuality. Not anymore.
Unless you can afford to have it done for you regularly or have someone you trust to be near your pubes with a sharp instrument or aren't allergic to the cream stuff or are willing to go thru the pain of waxing or ingrown hairs or the misery of grow back......I see no reason to go there except for bathing suit trim.
And as far as the rest of the bodily hair removal is concerned,I'm all for it.
Atavist made me spit out my coffee.
I shave - and then I don't. It depends on the occasion (whatever, Atavist) and also, well, the weather.
I like qt's response. Shaving, plucking, waxing-any kind of grooming that makes a person feel good about themself is ok. I don't look for too much meaning into grooming-I definitely don't see shaving as 'juvenilizing'. I consider myself a proud feminist but my choice to wear makeup or 'groom' my body has absolutely zero to do with men/society or whether or not my husband likes me that way. Maybe I'm wrong but I always thought that that was one of the things feminism was about.-choices and not living one's life according to men's or society's expectations-oh and also the whole equal rights thing:o)
I don't wear make-up because I prefer the just scrubbed look, and I'm not at all talented when it comes to applying it.
I do shave and wax. Personal preference there as well.
I have shaved since puberty, when bearded (for shaping), goatee (cause if I didn't it wouldn't be one), or no facial growth. It's personal and cultural, and I see no reason for it to become part of a debate on sexism It's just what some or most of us do, and what some of us (or them) don't do.
Reading all this has been interesting and fun. I thinks it's more cultural and personal than sexist. And age can make it moot.
Ginnie made me laugh out loud, the Atavist drew a momentay jaw drop.
I am not very hairy, but i do shave my legs and pits. Also so some weed whacking in the bush area, but only so it doesn't hang out the side of the bathing suit.
I don't like it when a man shaves his balls. prickly.
I shave my pits and legs, and I have a male partner who would much MUCH prefer I didn't.
I prefer the feel of shaved legs and armpits on myself. I have tried both, and just like it better. I can't stand the feeling when one leg touches the other and I feel hair. Maybe I am insane. But then you DO have to keep up with it---stubble is weven worse than full hair growth, surely.
I shave - everything. Legs, pits, cookie. But by choice, cause I just like myself "clean". Hubby really doesnt mind either way, cause he just loves me - hairy and all.
Shaving or waxing, as in the Brazillian Wax definitely could be seen as returning a woman to prepubescence. I think that considering we are biologically predisposed to select mates that are young and able to handle child birth, etc.. we will inevitably continue to be attracted to tall men with good physiques and men will be attracted to women with bouncing breasts, unchartered abdomens, and fresh young punanis.
But, overall, I'm with Atavist; I think it's just a pain in the ass ('scuze the pun). Hair gets into the mouth. Hair-in-mouth ruins the moment. To me, it makes more sense that shaving legs or armpits.
And, I am sure that pedophiles prefere their females clean shaven; having said that, I don't think that if a man prefers that it makes him a pedophile.
My two cents.
Ps.. Meno! ~ LOL! Love seeing 'balls' in comments. lol!
Just to comment, I hold a contrary opinion on the balls thing, if anyone is polling. Again, a mouth full of daddy-long-legs isn't as sexy as nice soft marshmallows. ;)
Sorry.. third comment in a row.
I have a teeth fetish. Well, it's almost a fetish. But, it's close to being a fetish. Atavist mentioned fetishes and now I'm all thinking about cake and everything, again... *sigh*
I like waxing best. It's fleeting pain and then weeks of relatively hair free zones and a softer, less dense regrowth. Since I've lived in Asia where they don't know much about body hair, let alone how to remove it, I've gone back to shaving. I hate shaving. High maintenance.
As far as reasons why, cleaner feeling, more exposed skin = more sensativity to whatever's goin on in the pleasure department. I don't feel a whole bunch of pressure from the male populous to keep trim and tidy, though I used to. I wouldn't have sex with unkept legs or pubic region. Now, I've realized that for the most part, they are just happy to be getting in there at all ;)
As for shaved ballz, I'm with you, Pen. I prefer trim or shaved rather than a tangled mess in my teeth...
A woman's hair, smell, and taste are very erotic when left natural. When a woman is in her natural state she is more free and wild... and very very sexy. i'm a hairy goddess worshiper :^)
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