OT (sorta): The Leg Shaving Thread

[susiej]

I wear makeup less and less often each year because I think my face looks fine without it, and heavy or badly applied makeup looks worse and worse the older the wearer is. Because I don't wear it so often, my makeup application skills grow weaker every year.

I shave only because of societal expectations. 1/week in the winter, 2/week in the summer, only up to the knees. If I wear a bathing suit, I'll do the bikini area, but my thigh hair is pretty light, and, really, at my age, no one looks at them any more.

The facial wax and bleach (and electrolysis for the next big birthday) is because I don't think I look good with a goatee. Stupid genetics. :P

[GreenLady]

Doesn't waxing hurt? I can manage pulling a hair or two with tweezers, but a whole strip of hair?? How do people tolerate it?

[rocknrollgirl]

No make-up
Care free hair
down in the dirt, mt biking, camping, paddling

Shave every day....I will skip if I am backpacking, but if I am on a paddle trip, still shave.

Can't stand the way stubble feels....

[Lise]

I love having smooth legs. They finally make razors I can use and hardly ever cut myself. I went years without shaving my legs for some notion I had of feminism. Then I remembered how much *I* like smooth legs, and I haven't gone back. I think I'm a pretty stinky sweater, too, and it's worse when I have hair. So I shave my armpits.

I shave off the little hairs that would poke out of my bathing suit, but otherwise leave things alone "down there". Keep in mind that I see lots and lots of "woman parts" in my job as a midwife. I don't think mine are all that great looking, and a little hair blurring things is not a bad idea! Plus I hate the itchiness of hair growing back in, and I'm prone to folliculitis (infections in the follicles). If I had some guy ask me to wax or something, I'd try it out of curiousity.

This reminds me of something a lesbian folk-singer once said, "In the '70s we were living separate from men and shaving our heads so we wouldn't look like the idealized woman...but then we realized that we liked our girlfriends to have hair, too!"

Do whatever you like, what brings you and your partner pleasure. There are much bigger problems in the world!

(I'm a big fan of makeup. I'm pale and it makes me look much more lively. When I lived in Jamaica for two months, I didn't wear a lick of makeup ever. Too hot, too sweaty, too dirty, just silly)

[RoadRaven]

I love having smooth legs. They finally make razors I can use and hardly ever cut myself. I went years without shaving my legs for some notion I had of feminism. Then I remembered how much *I* like smooth legs, and I haven't gone back.

This was the ideal of the whole feminism movement - for women to be able to choose what they wanted... that women do something - like shaving your legs Lise - because they like it, not cause they feel they have to!

The feminism of the 60s/70s had that whole anti-male thing going

Post-modernist feminism says that we choose what we want - if we want to make-up our faces, shave our legs/pits, we should - but it should be our choice - not societal pressure.

If we want to choose to study, to work or to stay at home to raise our babies... then we should be able to choose any of those as a valid option and feel no guilt or recrimination from others in our communities.

I am def a post-modernist feminist. I like to dress pretty, I like to look like a slob, sometimes I do my hair nice, other times I dont use a brush for several days. I wear makeup to work, sometimes (takes me ten minutes though).

I bite people who tell me I should or shouldn't do something cause I am a girl!

[Bad JuJu]

Right on, RoadRaven--it's all about having choices and being able to make our own choices.

[JoyfulGirl]

Uhm.. After reading the comments about how freaking long people take to get ready. I felt the need to clarify.

it takes me 5-10 minutes to do my makeup. Maybe 15 if I'm going to the symphony or something I really want to be dolled up for.
3-10 minutes to do my hair normally. 15-20 if I need to dry it or I'm whipping out the curling iron and being fancy schmancy.
My average shower is under 10 minutes.

If I don't have access to a bathroom with running hot and cold water it probably means I'm in the woods somewhere or out on the water and there's no way my lazy sorry self is packing makeup or razors or anything not necessary to keep me warm and my belly filled and safe.. I'll scrub, scrape and brush myself off when I get home.

still trying to imagine 2 hours a day to get ready. I'm not that imaginative.

[Shimpie]

I absolutely HATE shaving. Hate it! Hate it! Hate it!

But I still like having hairless legs. (The lotion and sunblock apply just a bit easier without hair. Also, bikinis and leg hair don't mix.) I've gone whole winters without shaving, which was easier to do when I lived in northern CA as opposed to where I live now in southern CA.

My leg hair doesn't shave cleanly on a daily basis. When I did shave, I needed to do it every other day. But then, I hated the stubble. I found I got a better shave if a soaked in a bath and then shaved. However, the tub would end up having a soap scum ring decorated with little bitty hairs. Ewww!

Now I WAX and I'm never going back. I deal with my leg hair and girly parts for only 45 minutes every 5-6 weeks. I wax from my ankles up to knees. The hairs on my thighs are very fine, so I don't bother dealing with it. I also get a brazilian with a little upside down triangle in in the front. The pre-pubescent look isn't appealing to me. No more trouble with razor burn, nicks, bumps, cuts, and in my case fewer ingrown hairs. I don't need to think about public hair sneaking out from under my swim suit.

The fiance doesn't mind whether or not I have leg hair. He's seen winters when my leg hair might have been denser than his own hair. What he notices is that I no longer take 30 minute showers to shave. What I've noticed with brazialians is...well...more oral sex.

Oh, for those who think waxing looks increadibly painful, there are numbing creams that are a blessing for first timers.

[residentgeek]

Put me down in the "no makeup, no shaving" crowd.

I don't shave because there's no point. I have a little 2 inch band of weird little dark hairs under my socks, and the rest of my legs are nothing but peach fuzz. I do have underarm hair, but since I'm always wearing shirts that cover it, I don't bother caring about it. I will occasionally trim pubic hair when it gets insanely long and starts getting in the way, but I'm not one for the shaved look (too much itching!). When I go swimming, I'm most comfortable in a bathing suit with swim trunks, so I don't ever worry about bikini lines. I honestly can't remember the last time I actually shaved anything. My partner shaves, and it doesn't bother me. It's her body.

As for makeup, I always felt like it was more of a burden on time than a help to appearance, so I avoided it. My mom would spend forever getting ready to go anywhere. "Okay, give me a minute to put my face on." I just thought it was silly, because I thought she looked fine without the makeup. Some friends in middle school got me all gussied up one night, but as soon as they were done I took it all off because it just didn't feel right.

I do wear hair gel now, though, because my hair is short, but it's long enough that if I don't gel it at least a little, I'll just end up with a big ol' afro-looking thing that looks like I didn't even try to comb it. But that's about all I sacrifice for appearances at this point.

[Kimmyt]

Residentgeek your avatar cracks me up! Every time I see it I just about laugh out loud! Thanks for making me smile!