Hairy Cis Women

[mothwing]

During which one of them is left by her boyfriend, apparently because he couldn't stand the sight of her hair, all experience drastic decrease in self-confidence ("I feel so ashamed!" "I feel so disgusting", etc.), have to listen to scepticism from both male ("I like my women smooth") and female ("How can you stand it? I would die of shame!") friends, and even though they're sceptic ("It does hurt, but you have to do it"), they keep doing it ("It's just the way it is", "I never knew why, I've done it since I was 11, probably because my mother shaved").

The best sentence ever: "I think that most women don't even know what their body hair looks like, because they have never let it grow that long."

I can't believe so many things about this report. The unreflected actions. The cheery acceptance of pain because OMG! someone might catch a glimpse of leg hair when swimming. I can't believe what not shaving does to their self-confidence. And I can't stand the arrogant entitlement with which their male partners in the documentary demand their women to be completely smooth without ever offering any insight into their own hairiness.

Why is this ever acceptable behaviour? How can you not accept someone solely because of their fucking hair? It's just hair. It doesn't do anything. It's just there. I shave because I like my skin smooth, but while I don't find extreme hairiness in other people attractive, I wouldn't dream of rejecting them so completely just because of that.

Comments

[utter-pirate.livejournal.com]

I read a while ago that women did not commonly shave their arm-pits or legs until a major razor-producing company (possibly Wilkinson?) decided that supplying men with razors was not a big enough market.

They then started advertising razors for women with posters featuring 'shaved' women. Eventually, this marketing ploy became common practice.

I have no idea whether it's true or not, but I would not be surprised if it is true.

The pressure on us as women to conform to generic 'types' and 'looks' is disgusting.