On 2006-06-09, penned:
Monique Y. Mudama wrote:

That's because that's what our culture tells everyone, of course.
Men wear tank tops all the time and don't worry about their body
hair sticking out (plus clumps of deoderant! ewwww!).

What kills me is when people talk about shaving legs, etc, as an
important part of a woman's hygiene. If that's true, then men must
not be very hygienic! (Which may be true of some guys, but isn't
true of men as a group.)

It's all cultural. I guess I should be happy that our culture merely
requires the cutting of body hair, rather than the removal of rather
important bundles of nerves that some cultures require.

Ha - lots of guys like women with leg and armpit hair. In many parts
of the world, that is the norm, and I don't just mean in countries
where most people are too poor to worry about such things.

I don't think anyone I've dated has explicitly *liked* it, but it
certainly didn't stop them from finding me attractive. I just don't
see any point in doing something like that exclusively for someone
else's benefit.

I'll admit, though, I'm "lucky" in that I can "pass" -- especially my
legs. I wear shorts or skirts all the time, and most people assume I
shave until told otherwise. I think it's a combination of naturally
sparse and light hair, softness because they haven't had to grow back
in 15ish years, and the "sand paper" effect of pants that rub against
my legs.

I think a lot of it comes down to expectations -- if someone expects
that every woman shaves her armpits, and then they see something dark,
their brain interprets it as a shadow, or stubble. (By the way,
stubble -- ewww! To me that is so much yuckier than just having the
hair there in the first place. When I shaved as a teenager, I did it
*every day* because stubble bothered me so much.)

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca