As I started to read the NYTimes article about female stars who have appeared in public with hairy legs and armpits, I got a flashback of the first time I was exposed to hairy legs and pits. I transferred to a magnet school my senior year of high school. Coming from a white, suburban, straight-laced environment to one that had a much more cosmopolitan feel, it shocked the hell out of me to look up at my English teacher one day, only to notice that the hippie-chick who sat in front of me had pit hair as long as any man I knew. Not only that, but a couple of the chicks in my TV production class didn't shave their legs. I had heard about European women not shaving, but American women not shaving - what was the deal?
I soon got over it, and in college - after hearing from another hippie-girlfriend that shaving was giving into the man - I tried going all-natural myself. Honestly, once the pit hair grew beyond the prickly phase, it didn't bother me that much. The leg hair though - ugh. Lily-white legs topped with almost jet black hair is not attractive. It's ghastly.
I know tons of women who do go hairy in the winter though, seeing no need to shave when nothing will show, and I know a few women who don't shave in the summer, even. So are those of us who shave year round just vain bitches giving into the oppressive men who want to keep us looking like children, or is there something else that compels us to shave?
Pervs aside, I couldn't really buy the keeping-women-childlike theory. I did a little looking into it and found a couple of interesting tidbits about women and shaving. From Cecil Adams' , it appears that the trend started around 1915, as sleeveless dresses became popular. It seems that Betty Grable is to blame/thank for leg-shaving becoming de rigueur - that plus shorter skirts and sheer stockings. Yo, to the older Euro woman I saw in Prague with hairy legs and nude stockings - come on...if you're gonna go natural, just go all the way. Leg hair squished underneath see-through stockings is double yuck.
The other interesting tidbit I found is that there really aren't any facts, besides what Adams offers. Just a bunch of opinions on whether it's hot or not.
What do y'all think? Hairy=hot? Enlightened? Gross?
I think Hairy=personal preference. I like the way my legs look when smooth... I personally feel a little grosser when I'm not shaven. But that doesn't mean I even care if another women chooses not to shave - it won't make me like her more/less. I also don't feel it's giving into the man at all by wanting to shave your legs, armpits (and other areas). Men actually get haircuts, shave/trim their facial hair, and ahem, trim down there to feel more sexy for the ladies too. Some men even get their chest hair waxed off! So again, to me it's personal preference, and that's my opinion :)
I agree with Eva. It doesn't bother me to see unshaven women, but I like the way I look with as little hair as possible.