I saw this in the Sydney Morning Herald and found it provoked a bit of thought. So how do you feel? Better for taking the effort to be smooth or is it all a bunch of cr**.
-Andee
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Hairy legs and all

If you've ever waxed or shaved your legs, armpits or bikini line you'll know it's not a whole lot of fun.

Firstly it's time consuming. If you visit a beautician it's also expensive and, after it's all over, you can suffer anything from rashes to ingrown hairs to unsightly sweat pimples, which pretty much negate the argument the shaved area "looks better". (And then you can treat these flare-ups with more costly "beauty" products.)

Fair enough, some women (and men) have the process down to a fine art and can whisk off the fur in moments and suffer no obvious adverse consequences but I still have to wonder why, as a society, we deem it necessary for women to have to go through these regimes.

More to the point, in terms of this blog's raison d'etre*, do men understand or even care why we tell our mothers, daughters, wives and lovers they are less than perfect in their natural state ... ?

A friend of mine, Bucket, gave me an extremely confronting and informative book a few weeks ago called Beauty and Misogyny by Sheila Jeffreys, an associate professor at the University of Melbourne.

The book, released in 2005, has been very well received and widely debated overseas but all but ignored here in Australia.

Jeffreys, who speaks worldwide on gender issues and sexual politics, deconstructs harmful beauty practices, prostitution, fashion and pornography in an extremely clear-thinking manner; and, while I might not agree with all of her assumptions or conclusions, I've lost a lot of sleep this week because of her writing.

The refusal by women to shave their armpit and leg hair as an ideological or feminist response to patriarchal society has rolled in and out of fashion. However, I'd be hard-pressed to find one female among my friends - many of whom would deem themselves informed feminists - who doesn't shave her armpits or legs.

"I just feel better about myself," they'll say when I ask them about it.

"Of course they do," said Jeffreys when I spoke to her yesterday, "because they're told by society that they're dirty, ugly and worth less, if they don't do it."

In Beauty and Misogyny Jeffreys argues that "the suggestion that women will not acquire male partners without shaving resembles the reasons given for the carrying out of harmful beauty practices in other cultures, such as female genital mutilation and the reconstructing of hymens; that is, girls have no chance of marrying without them."

And while women shaving their legs is nowhere near as invasive as those practices, some argue its mute enforcement in the West has just as profound an effect.

How many guys would shrink from taking their girlfriend to the beach if she didn't shave or wax? How many of you reading this would tire of the ridicule from other males and use it as a reason to break up with a girl?

Kinda pathetic don't you think?

I know all this stuff is Women's Studies 101 but I wonder why we don't hear more about it from female commentators? Is it old hat? Are they exhausted by the argument? Do they even care?

The more I read about it, the more it freaks me out that we, especially men, just accept this stuff unquestioningly.

All of which raises the question: why? Why do women have to wear make-up? Why do they have to stilt around on high heels, shave, depilate and mutilate themselves to appease male sexuality? And why don't more blokes talk about it?

The answer's becoming clearer to me every day; what about you?

*Raison d'etre: Another wanky French phrase meaning "reason for being". Sorry.

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Andee is the Transgenderzone US moderator

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The Daily Turnout - King of the Throne Room

*shrug*

As with any article that generalises, it doesn't capture the whole scope of the argument it tries to put across.

For example, appeasing male sexuality obviously doesn't factor into the equation if you're a lesbian. Does if you're vain though. it also doesn't encapsulate the ever increasing number of men who remove far more hair than a woman will, (arms, pits, back, bum, legs) in order to appease female sexuality.


Infact, maybe the entire argument only matters to people who desire to take care of their appearance, a line which will wave back and forth from now til forever. And then, who can say that it's a bad thing?

That and leg hair catches on finer fabrics, sticks through tights and generally looks a bit gross. Don't get me started on lack of bikini waxes and bathing suits !

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Hellfrozeover be a pirate and a Transgenderzone moderator.

I don't stand under the TG umbrella anymore, it's way too bitchy and crowded in there but it's sunny out here

I can understand shaving armpits and legs if you want to go around showing them off, but seriously bikini waxing? 'ooohnooooo there's some hair sticking out of the side of my bikini'. So what? There's supposed to be hair down there. And don't even mention Brazilians etc. It just looks so wrong.

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We could argue about a lot of hair bieng around that is not deemed acceptable to just be allowed to be, seeing as though that's the way that mother nature gave it to you. But, lets be honest, Mother Nature does NOT know best and the fact that I have to shave my FACE every day proves it.
Hair removal is going to happen and if you dont remove hair from places where it's not accepted then dont be suprised when people shrivel thier faces up a little when they see tufts of pubic hair sticking out a bikini.

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I look back at most of my life and think "WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING?!??"

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Hellfrozeover be a pirate and a Transgenderzone moderator.

I don't stand under the TG umbrella anymore, it's way too bitchy and crowded in there but it's sunny out here

Aha, but would it still be annoying if society hadn't made you feel like hair on a woman's body is embarassing and even abnormal? Do you really think it's an entirely personal and independent choice you've made to wax off that bit of hair?

I'm not saying people shouldn't wax or shave or whatever. I just think it should be a choice and people who choose not to, including trans people, should be free of ridicule.

I'll admit, I do shave my armpits but at least I'm not fooling myself that I'm doing it for me. I'm doing it because people would stare at me and say things. Which wouldn't stop me dying my hair green or walking around Glasgow in a PVC dress at noon or dating a strangely young-looking, short Chinese guy (which does sometimes attract attention especially when we lived in Wick). So why does it stop me growing my armpit hair?

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Check out the Tzone team bios (including mine!) at: http://www.transgenderzone.com/bio.htm

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If you are struggling we will support you
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I have to say I dont know why but I prefer a woman with no body hair. I like a woman to have shaved pits, legs and downstairs bits. Downstairs bits hasnt got to be totally shaved off a brazillian or 'landing strip' as its known is ok too. Although the downstairs bits is dependant on the person, on some people totally bald just looks gross. One of my exs im thinkin of here

If I was with a woman who never shaved anythin I have to say id be put off. I dont mind if they let it slide for a week or so but when it gets to the stage were her legs are pricklin me at night then its gotta go

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Noooo TDP I dont like it for that reason.

**Turns green at the gills at the very thought**

I just dont like alot of body hair on women. The way I think is like men are hairy (well most, if only slightly) and women are not. I dunno, I guess that way of thinkin is down to the way we are brought up.

maybe it's more disturbing that YOU think it implies preference to a prepubescent look

I didn't meant psychologically uncomfortable, I meant plain damn uncomfortable ! Then again the 100% gone look is disturbing in my opinion too so I'd never go that far.

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Hellfrozeover be a pirate and a Transgenderzone moderator.

I don't stand under the TG umbrella anymore, it's way too bitchy and crowded in there but it's sunny out here

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Check out the Tzone team bios (including mine!) at: http://www.transgenderzone.com/bio.htm

Supporting the family, friends and partners of trans people in the UK: http://www.depend.org.uk/support.html
If you are struggling we will support you
If you are celebrating we will join you