(no subject)

[dafadddu.livejournal.com]

I hate shaving.

I really do.

My skin is so sensitive that shaving hurts and itches and dries out my skin horribly. Luckily hubby doesn't mind too much, but still.

I hate the way society makes me feel like I should be embarrassed for being what I naturally am. I have hair. It is not nasty, ugly, or dirty. It's. Just. Hair. Get over it.

Well, that's what I tell myself anyway!

Still, I feel extremely embarrassed about is sometimes. Such as the day I twisted my knee at work and had to have a first aid person look at it. Pull up pant's leg, reveal hair! I even appologized for gods' sakes!

Really, how many women out there refuse to shave? And how many people out there look down on a woman who doesn't? Why are men allowed to have hair but women aren't?

I like to keep things tidy around my vulva, but the fullblown shave legs every 2 days just do not appeal to me. Plus, I wear jeans 99.99999% of the time so no one but hubby sees.

Why is it socially unnacceptable for a woman not to shave? And why must society make those women feel inferior for not being "real women"?

I mean, who REALLY cares about who has how much hair? Can we really get away with wearing dresses, or should be just hide in the house?

Grr. I am all woman no matter how much hair I have or don't have. Why does everyone have an issue with that?

(Pardon the ranting, this is just something that really pisses me off sometimes.)


edit: LJ won't let me post replies for some reason, so i wanna say thanks for the hair support! As soon as LJ lets me post replies again I'll get back to you individually

Comments

[jigglyqueen.livejournal.com]

I hardly ever shave, and my boyfriend doesn't mind! Out of the 2 serious boyfriends I have had neither of them has been bothered by me letting a bit of hair grow on my legs and under my arms and whatever. I'm not THAT hairy anyway though.

Even if they did care, I wouldn't shave especially for them!

[tabayoichi.livejournal.com]

It's very much like a male not shaving his face, only less acceptable than that socially. I don't believe in following social pressure though, and I shave my face when I damn well want to so if anyone wants to shave their legs on the same schedule, go for it. Don't let society bring you down--it's not that important

[harpseal.livejournal.com]

I only shave my legs on special occasions. Like if I feel being all girly. Mostly on v-day, birthdays, anniversarys. If i'm going to be going somewhere where it might "cause a fuss" (like family fuctions with my old aunts that won't leave the house without makeup) I'll do it just not to make an issue.

I shave my armpits twice a week or so becasue I find deorderant works better for me. (I sweat and stink alot). Now my Vulva, i trim it down so i can work better down there. I find if i don't trim it, it seriously get tangled and pulled and it just hurts to do anything down there.

I think people should jsut do what htey are comfortable with, I do.

[alitaorg.livejournal.com]

i'm exactly the same way (re: shaving only on special occasions or when i feel particularly girly, which is rare).

the good part is that i'm starting to learn that most people really don't care, especially if they're from another culture. the chick who gave me a pedicure (i KNOW, me getting a pedicure) also gave me a great oil calf massage free of charge, and i know if she had a problem with leg hair she wouldn't have offered it.

i really do think america's the only society that cares about such things, though i might be very wrong. anyway, my boyfriend preferred hairy legs over the two-day stubble any day!

[harpseal.livejournal.com]

yeah.. that is another thing, my boyfriend pick on me the days after about how i'm "sharp" and "cuddly like a porkupine". I find most people I hangwith don't care too much, jsut my family is the kind of people where you have to be "put together" and i'm allready am a slob of the family.

It's a novelty for me:)

[crushdmb.livejournal.com]

There is new lotion..I forget what it's called..but it's supposed to make your hair lighter, and less noticable. I'm not sure if it works, but I thought I'd mention it.

I shave regularly, mostly because I like the feel of smooth skin, and I don't happen to have sensative skin. I shave my vagina, too, but only once a week. I don't mind fuzziness, at all, down there. But, as I said, I don't have sensative skin, so I'm able to shave completely down there with little problems, as long as I do it right.

I just like the feel of it.

But, like..you shouldn't have to shave unless you want to, and you shouldn't have to feel badly about it. Who cares? As you said, it's just HAIR. It's just society, as usual, being lame!

[jaclyn.livejournal.com]

my bush is trim, my legs may get shaved once every couple of months or so.

the pits may get attention twice a month.

[faith.livejournal.com]

I'm about the same. My vulva and underarms get raw and irritated if I try to shave them every few days, so I just don't.

What I find silly is when people notice my armpit hair and they either A) think it's gross or B) think i'm extra cool for "making a statement."

I'm not making a statement. I just have armpit hair!

:)

[jaclyn.livejournal.com]

I haven't gotten the "it's cool" thing, yet. I get a lot of dirty looks though.

the best are the second glances.

I love those.

[faith.livejournal.com]

I get those a lot from, oh, EVERYONE at the gym (since I go to kind of a yuppie gym).

[jaclyn.livejournal.com]

next time they look, give it a good sniff.

[faith.livejournal.com]

hahahaha, i will!

[fridgedicebunny.livejournal.com]

I don't shave. At all. I sometimes trim my pubes for comfort, but that's it.

Shaving's a waste of time and it enforces the idea that what's natural isn't attractive. Plus, it's a really shitty double standard. Plus, it kind of goes with the whole Lolita logic... ADULT WOMEN HAVE HAIR. That's why they started shaving to begin with- to look younger. Except then they would stop when it became too obvious. Not anymore.

[resilientpewter.livejournal.com]

I keep my armpits shaved, because I like the way it looks & feels better. I hate when my deodorant gets all caked in my armpits and keeping them shaved helps with that. By shaved, I mean at least once a week I shave there.

My legs are entirely another story. I don't feel that it is necessary to shave that frequently. During the winter I wear pants almost always and I don't feel like shaving.

During the summer I shave sometimes. Sporadically. I really like the smooth feel of just-shaved legs, but I don't have the patience for it, really, so i tend to shave for special occasions only (I also shave any time I have to wear nylons, cuz I HATE hair-through-the-holes-in-nylons).

I am not bothered by women who don't shave :o)

[belladonnalin.livejournal.com]

*shrug* I dunno. I don't shave my legs, rarely shave my armpits, and only trim my vulva.

I've recieved some semi-disgusted looks, mostly from my elderly grandmother, but I just decided not to let it phase me.

I don't have to buy into other people's ideas of beauty EVER, but especially when I DON'T buy it and it's so damn time-consuming!

Go hairy sisters!

[krasota.livejournal.com]

I shave my legs once or twice a year, mostly out of boredom. Sometimes I do it because I want to wear white pantyhose for a costume and hair + hose just don't mesh. ;)

I shave my armpits twice a week because my deo stone works better.

I rarely shave my vulva as I'm not terribly hairy. Sometimes I do, for kicks.

My husband doesn't mind. When my relatives (aunt and mom, mostly) give me hell about having hairy legs, I just grin and ask if they're not getting enough and have to take it out on me.

[star-drifter.livejournal.com]

I shave my legs when I remember to, or have the extra time in the morning to do it. My arm pits I shave regularly just because I don't like having hair there. And as for my pubic hair, I keep it trimmed. I don't shave, and there's no way I would. No way. I shaved a bit of it once, like an inch or so along the top and wouldn't do it again. The irritation I got from that small bit was enough to make me never go back. My boyfriend doesn't have a problem with my shaving (or lack of). As long as my legs aren't stubbly and sharp he doesn't care. It's great to have someone like that. I wouldn't let society dictate any of my behaviors. I do what makes me comfortable, and I think everyone should as well. :)

[angelrain.livejournal.com]

I've never looked at anything as a feminist, because I'm not one.
I don't think you should bring society and their views into anything you do. You should never feel ashamed about who you are, or what's on your body. If you're married and confident, then you already have two people who know how beautiful you are.
But is growing leg hair really what you want, or do you just want to contest that you think you have to? Hubby doesn't mind, I doubt the paramedics guy minded, so society doesn't seem to have a problem with it.
If growing leg hair is your goal, go for it! It's original, it's ballsy, and very female-pride oriented, but if not, simply cool down your bath water and soak for at least 15 minutes first, always use a shaving lotion, and when you get out, before you even dry off, put some veggie oil on your legs, especially the knees, and follow up with a moisturizer that has vitamin E.

[r0achie76.livejournal.com]

like just any old vegetable oil? applied with a cotton pad? and is that to help things like razor burn? i didn't shave at all from when i was 16-23 probably, just because i thought it was rediculous to do, and in the years since then it's been just an on and off again thing. something i couldn't do more than twice a month for my legs due to razor burn mainly, and that it's just damn annoying and time consuming secondly! and my pits i shave whenever i think they need it. in the past 2 months though, i've been shaving every other day (i think i found a shaving cream-aveno-that works better than ones in the past, and a razor too-gillette mach 3) but i'm STILL getting razor burn. i also use a deoderant that doesn't contain aluminum after showering because i heard that helps. i'm open for any suggestions! i like the look and feel of shaved legs-on myself-better than hairy. and i am VERY HAIRY-i'm italian! hehe but to each her own i think. if you'd rather not shave because it's the way you feel more comfortable, then it shouldn't matter what society says. someday society has got to get with the times and realize they are changing and everyone likes things done differently.

[angelrain.livejournal.com]

Applied with your hands, and yes, ANY vegetable oil. But the key is cooler water and leting yourself soak a bit. The hair softens the longer it's in the water, so you should always shave at the very end of a shower or bath. Also, pure vitamin e oil in the bath water (after washing your hair, of course) can help too. Now, this won't effect it right away, but after 3 or 4 times, it should make a remarkable difference.
I also find that repetitive lotioning of the knees throughout the day and once before bed is a godsent for razor burn.

[balmofgilead.livejournal.com]

are you sure about the veggie oil? once, in an inspired post-shaving moment, i tried some canola oil on my legs, and it stung like hell. they're not usually sensitive, either. anyhoo a warning to ppl who try it--try on a small area first, as i had covered my whole leg before it began stinging. but maybe i'm just *special* :)

[r0achie76.livejournal.com]

thanks for the warning. i still may try it-on a small patch of skin first of course. but i was wondering about it's greasyness. does it soon absorb into your skin, or does it stay all slimy like?

[alitaorg.livejournal.com]

if having smooth legs is enough of an issue for you to constantly give yourself razor burn, perhaps alternatives could be in order? though waxing is painful at the time, it lasts for a very long time after that, and if you get it professionally done you can tell them you've got sensitive skin and they'll usually help you out. the difference between waxing/nair and shaving is that every time you shave you take off a small layer of the skin on your legs. so it's like getting one huge scrape. which sucks. so, perhaps other options?

[angelrain.livejournal.com]

I don't get razor burn anymore.

[alitaorg.livejournal.com]

i was directing that towards the writer of the post. sorry if i confused.

[oddofferings.livejournal.com]

ohh thank you for this post!

i stopped shaving altogether a year and a half ago. before that, i pretty much looked down on hairy girls, like it was gross or something, but then i met my now ex-gf, and i didn't think it was gross at all :)
i do feel self conscious a lot, but try to keep myself in the mindset that it is natural and people should get used to seeing it more in public. i've started trimming my underarm hair recently, though, and began to view men's facial hair in the same respect. when men shave, same as women, to me it just looks pre-pubescent and unattractive.

as for socially unacceptable- over in europe it IS acceptable and celebrated! so it's just the freaky americans ;)

[rano-kwiatek.livejournal.com]

The hair on my legs is very light, fine, and soft... so I only shave them every one or two weeks. My bf really doesn't care. But I HAVE to shave my pits every day. Pit hair really grosses me out. I can barely handle it on guys, never mind on myself.

[jadesramblings.livejournal.com]

I have shaving myself. I have found when the hair gets too much for me to feel comfy after a couple months I take my husband's clippers over it all. That way I am trimming it within reason. My hair grows like wildfire. This is the best method for me. If I could find a inexpensive way to keep it growing lighter and more sparingly, I certainly would. I just wish that I had listened to my mother when she told me not to shave. Instead I listened to my friend's who joked that I didn't shave yet.

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

I hate the way society makes me feel like I should be embarrassed for being what I naturally am. I have hair. It is not nasty, ugly, or dirty. It's. Just. Hair. Get over it.

I guess I'm lucky to have grown up mostly around people who consider it optional.

Really, how many women out there refuse to shave? And how many people out there look down on a woman who doesn't? Why are men allowed to have hair but women aren't?

I don't refuse per se, but I have sensitive skin and very fast-growing hair, so I tend not to shave anyplace, though I do trim the hair around the lowest parts of my lips from time to time, when it seems to be in the way of cunnlingus, or to collect too much goo from my period or regular fluids.

Why is it socially unnacceptable for a woman not to shave? And why must society make those women feel inferior for not being "real women"?

It depends on where you are. Around folks I hang out with and where I work, it doesn't matter whether one shaves. Society does what it does -- there are some places where men would never consider wearing two matching earrings, in the US, and some where it wouldn't matter.

[galacticat.livejournal.com]

I never shave, never have. If people don't like the look of my body hair, I consider it their problem. :)

[kazoogrrl.livejournal.com]

Maybe give an electric razor a try (they make them for women)- it doesn't cut as close, so less razor burn.

My roommate tried the Magic Powder depilatory (you can get it in the men's shaving section of the drug store) and said it worked great (though it stinks like sulfur). Maybe try a patch test of that.

fat girl with PHAT hair

[grandmanip.livejournal.com]

i started shaving my legs daily when i was about
8 or ten (i have older sisters and i wanted to
fit in). then freshman year of HS i joined the
swim team. the first thing the coaches say is
DO NOT SHAVE until the FINALS at the end of the
season (4 months or so). well, i had never felt
more liberated. and now i find that i dont shave
for months on end, EVEN for special occasions.

but sometimes, the hair just gets too long or
actually becomes uncomfortable and so i have to
trim down. otherwise, you'll see me walking
about town with my hair hanging out even in a
short skirt!

[balmofgilead.livejournal.com]

just out of curiosity, to all the people who don't shave much or at all--how dark/thick is your leg hair?

i like the idea of going unshaven, but i have really dark, fairly thick (quite scratchy when it's growning back in--another reason not to shave...) leg hair and pale skin, so it shows up really awfully. i'm no fashion plate and i don't like the idea of being a slave to societal norms, but when i haven't shaved my legs look kinda awful. knowing that other ppl go unshaven makes me feel more comfortable with the idea, but i'm wondering if they're all people who don't really need to shave as badly as i do to begin with.

annoyingly, my father's side of my family has NO leg hair. seriously--my 57-year old uncle has smooth, bare legs, and i'm stuck looking like godzilla. sigh. couldn't we just switch genes or something, uncle joe? please?

[oddofferings.livejournal.com]

heh...yeah my family's actually pretty hairy. must be the german thing :)
my body hair is dark brown and pretty thick, but i've seen much thicker. especially my underarms though, it's a jungle if i don't trim. all my guy friends have said i have more underarm hair than anyone else they've ever seen!! eeek :)

love yourself!
besides, the more people see it, the more comfortable they'll be.

[tree]

my body hair is almost black. i've found that the less i shave, the nicer it is. it's still dark, and there's still a lot of it, but it's not bushy and scratchy. and it's almost as though my body knows i'm not getting rid of it, so there's no need to grow so much.

[crankygirlie.livejournal.com]

ME TOO! To everything!

I don't shave my legs, trying to make me love them, love my hair, love my hairy legs, and yet I still feel embarassed and wish I didn't. WISH WISH WISH.

So I keep them hairy and I'm still trying to convince myself. LOVE ME AS I AM MEANT TO BE!

[tree]

i'm hairy all over. what's more, the my body hair is longer than the hair on my head. i get taken for different things by different people. it's funny.

when i have money i like to have my legs waxed sometimes. for some reason my skin doesn't dry out so much when i wax periodically.

you should try hairypits for some positive thinking :)

[dafadddu.livejournal.com]

Oh, thanks!

Hair love!

[ex-shimmersh103.livejournal.com]

my legs get shaved whenever i feel like it. once a month, once every 3 months, twice a week, whatever. i hate shaving but Nair has given me chemical burns every single time i've tried to use it and now i'm afraid to try anything else. i do my pits almost every night -- every other night at the most. it itches like crazy when it's trying to grow in so i just do my best to keep it gone.

[bellavita.livejournal.com]

i've more or less stopped shaving entirely. (and i've never shaved my vulva.) if i do shave, and this is rare, it's only my legs, and it's because i like the feel of smooth legs now and then. it doesn't sit well with me to think how many women shave out of habit, or for the men in their lives, or to be 'normal'.

i've heard stories (and i can't vouch for the accuracy of this, but think it's plausible enough to share) that women started shaving because razor companies started marketing to women around the 1920s to increase the number of consumers, and thus make more money.

it's interesting how there haven't been any responses saying "i love shaving, i shave every day, and i think women who don't shave are disgusting." i know there are women who feel that way. but most of the responses have been in favor of not shaving. i wonder, if your post had been about loving shaving, would the tone of the comments have been different? just a thought.

p.s., check out she_bears.

[dafadddu.livejournal.com]

I've heard about the early 1900's thing too. i heard that when they introduced dresses that didn't go to the ankle and sleeveless tops, it was "decided" that hair protruding from the clothing was "uanattractive".

Interesting question about the "love shaving" comment. Maybe the women who hate hairy legs just don't feel like commenting?

[rkt.livejournal.com]

i havent shaved my legs in years. the hair is light. and the growth is enomrously slow and painful and itchy. i've been told the pain and itchiness goes away the more i shave, but then that's more work for nothing.
i'll shave my pits every now and then when they start to stink a lot.
sometimes i just trim them.
if my vulva starts getting hairy, i trim that too. makes keeping everything clean easier. otherwise things get sticky at times. which can be painful.

there was a point where i tried burning my leg hair with a cigarette lighter. it's fascinating, watching it sizzle, though it stinks.

[pebele.livejournal.com]

I only shave when I feel like it. before last week, I hadn't shaved my vulva or my legs in... erm.... 4 or 5 months. my fiance doesn't care. the only timeit bothers him is when it first starts growing in and is prickly, but after a week it's long enough that it isn't a big deal.

I shave my armpits slightly more often, but only when it starts to annoy me. so maybe... every 2 or 3 weeks.

and I wear shorts, bathing suits, whatever. if someone's going to get an attitude about it, that's not my problem.

though it was funny when my mom looked at me kinda weird and said "ew. that's unsanitary." at which point I looked directly at her and said "mom, dad could qualify as the Missing Link, how in the hell could my leg or armpit hair compare to him? seriously?" then she laughed and said "yeah... I know. it's just odd is all." which I didn't get pissed about, she's my mom, as open as she is, she's had 45 years of being conditioned, you know?

oh, and my hair growns fast and is dark. I even have a "passion line" which is a line of long, darkish hair running from my belly-button to my pubic hair. it's called a passion line in many American Indian cultures. a woman who has one is supposed to be more of a passionate and free spirit. part of what I really love about my ancestory. :)

[ex-caramella369.livejournal.com]