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Women and body hair
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
I am considering letting my body hair grow, as I have always removed it religiously since my early teens and am curious about how it feels and also how people will react.
I talked about this to a Norwegian friend and she said that in Sweden, a lot of women don't shave their armpits. I kind of found this concept interesting, in that it is a social obligation of how a woman should look and how 'beauty' is a social construct (to shorten down a huge argument).
So a question to the women, or the people who love women...
What is your opinion on female body hair?
If you're a woman/female identified then how do you manage your own body hair?
If you like women, do you find it a turn on or turn off?
I talked about this to a Norwegian friend and she said that in Sweden, a lot of women don't shave their armpits. I kind of found this concept interesting, in that it is a social obligation of how a woman should look and how 'beauty' is a social construct (to shorten down a huge argument).
So a question to the women, or the people who love women...
What is your opinion on female body hair?
If you're a woman/female identified then how do you manage your own body hair?
If you like women, do you find it a turn on or turn off?
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Comments
I once seen a woman dance in a pub and she had hairy armpits, to no surprise, half the bar was staring and sniggering.
Moral of the story, if you plan to do this try not to expose your pits to drunk people
To be honest, In my opinion armpit hair is disguiting. As are hairy legs on a woman. I could never just, let it grow. Not just for fear of other people seeing, but also for me and how it feels.
Just na na na na.
true, but as you say, the society predetermines the 'flow' and you try to swim against it. Very honorable, but not an easy thing to do as you are quite dependent on other people's opinions.
Of course body hair are "something natural", but so are fingernails and you don't let them grow 2 ft. long.
A very controversial topic, but I have to say I prefer body hair to be maintained as well.
didnt think it looked too great.
personally, i dont think i could ever let mine grow. theres the odd occasion when ive gone out and forgotten to shave so i have a bit of growth, but i always promptly get rid of it afterwards!
saying that i WOULD love to have the confidence to let it grow and not give a dam about waht people think
At the moment, no one sees my legs because it's freezing cold, and my boyfriend's hundreds of miles away, so I haven't been shaving my legs regularly.
Also, my cousins are Spanish, and they don't always shave their armpits. The first time you see it, it's a bit strange, but you just get used to it. It's only a bit of hair. I do shave my armpits because I think it's more hygenic, and besides, I have black hair so it would be very obvious.
But I think it's a personal choice. I don't like my body hair to be on show, I even remove the hairs from my arms, because my hair is so dark. But I don't judge other people on what they want to do.
No, I'm absolutely beautiful thanks, with or without hair, which is currently at about its longest state.
I always remember my mum's reaction when I first shaved my legs (at quite a late age, relatively speaking, I think) she was so disappointed and I remember at the time suddenly feeling regret. Why did I do that? I've started off this neverending cycle of obligation or alternatively feeling shame at my body's natural state. She [my mum] has never shaved her legs and to be honest the hair is barely there, I always remember her legs being very smooth when I would cling to them as a little kid. She doesn't shave her armpits either, though I think she used to. I still do, I'd like to stop at some point. She's a very strong woman, and has never been a social outcast as a result, though by some people [women as frequently as men] it is seen as a very aggressive, radical statement.
I care about how my legs look, maybe if my hair was very coarse and thick I would feel differently. Who knows? What I will say is that it's very liberating to just not bother, and no one has ever commented negatively. On the contrary
I pine for all the time I spent shaving my legs. I could've been learning a new language, reading a book, pressing flowers or unicycling. Life's too short (and my pockets are too shallow, the sheer cost of hair removal is another issue) :thumb:
There have been a couple of times at the gym where I've had a bit of regrowth and I wonder if anyone can notice, but most people don't care.
On other women, I've never really known many women to allow their hair to grow (bar one friend, her son's favourite colour is pink, oh the horror(!) ) but I have no opinion on it. Women's bodies are under the spotlight enough, it's a shame that women get a lot of stick about stuff like this (especially from other women) but as long as insecurity breeds insecurity, it won't stop. Especially now as they're starting to advertise hair removal products at children... (I think Nair advertised a 'Pretty' range for 'first-time hair removers)
Not the nicest few hours I've spent in my life, maybe she just didn't have a wash though?
The only way to balance out the negative opinions of others' (ie, the lazy/hygiene thing) would be to over compensate in other areas of physical appearance, but that somewhat defeats the point.
My mother never shaved her legs or her armpits, and i remember getting quite picked on at school because i didnt shave mine. I eventually got peer pressured into doing it though and have just kept up the habit, although there have been times when i havent done it, and tbh, no boyfriend ive had has been that bothered, although most have had a slight preference for it being shaved, ive never experienced repulsion by it.
my boyfriends opinion when i asked him, was that hed be more put off by lots of leg hair, than by armpit hair.
I think people assume armpit hair is smelly in itself, when it isnt. Its totally down to cleanliness
I personally find men with very hairy armpits a bit disgusting, and would prefer if they shaved it. I had a boyfriend who removed his underarm hair and although at first I found it strange, I started to appreciate it and now I see that as the norm, and am somewhat repulsed by men with big hairy bushes under their arms. But I have to accept that the majority of men in England are not going to shave their armpits. It's just a social and cultural thing.
Well yeah, that was my point :razz: You're going to get the odd guy (and girl) that like hairy women, but you'll be hard pushed finding them. With things such as shaving armpits, there's no real reason to break from the social norm unless you really prefer yourself the other way seeing as there's no real advantage or disadvantage for either. Unless maybe it taking more effort to keep clean in summer due to sweat and body odour, but that's kind of a moot point given that there's several ways for that to be avoided. (Which I guess is a moot point in itself if letting hair grow was a time factor issue in the first place...)
Think long and hard about it whatever you do. This isn't the same as dressing a certain way that's different from the norm of society, or holding different ideas. This is something which very few people are going to understand and accept.
I'm a lot lazy when it comes to my legs, when I'm not in a realtionship it tends to be every month or so, normally when I decided to wear a skirt for something. I dont even shave in the summer that much more but then I wear trousers 99% of the time anyway.
Why should women do it and not men?
I don't find hairy women disgusting. I find all women beautiful, even the size 18 women in 'skimpy clothes'... It really doesn't bother me at all.
I do find muscles on women sexy, I have a thing for blondes, I like body mods but that doesn't mean I am repulsed by people who do not possess what arouses me.
Yeah I can imagine.
Just because you leave yourself to grow does not mean you have to walk around naked with your arms thrust behind your head.
I remember being at a bar and a woman on stage took her top off because it got hot and to fix her guitar (she was a very cute Chinese German/Germasian? lol) and she was hardly stick thin, but cuddly and didn't shave.
I wasn't really disgusted by it, nor did it make a big deal.
It's actually surprising what high standards people must hold women to if they are as offended by body hair as some people on this thread. Personally, I have no issue with women dressing and grooming how they want. I don't get what the fuss is.
I could never leave my armpit hair though, that's just dirty.
The same way women "should" wear skirts and not men. The same way women "should" wear high heels and not men. The same way women "should" wear bra's and not men.
Need I go on?
EDIT: Also, you shouldn't need us to tell you that not everyone is as accepting of the human body in all its forms as you are. Just because you don't find it repulsive doesn't mean other people are going to be cool with it.