Hairy Legs

[struggle4progress]

Poll question: Hairy Legs

Poll result (39 votes)
eh ... Harry retired years ago ... moved away ... Motley or some such place	(0 votes, 0%)	Vote
I prefer a partner who looks a bit like a goat	(12 votes, 31%)	Vote
ewwww!	(2 votes, 5%)	Vote
Well, I guess that's okay --- if they're clean and combed	(4 votes, 10%)	Vote
At least shave the back of your knees, please	(1 votes, 3%)	Vote
I dunno ... it's so ... uh ... so unnatural	(1 votes, 3%)	Vote
Why isn't this poll about nose hair? Or back hair?	(1 votes, 3%)	Vote
You really need to vacuum underneath the table more often	(2 votes, 5%)	Vote
Life is better when everything is waxed and shining	(16 votes, 41%)	Vote

[Radical Activist]

1. I dated a woman for a while

who would only shave her legs once every few months. Or so she told me. She shaved them once when we were dating and we didn't last long enough for another shave. I really do not care for hairy legs. At all.

[MikeH]

24. You said in response to criticism of the appearance of a couple of women on a video

You mean the blog format? The cussing? I think those are your own hang ups. The fact that they don't wear suits doesn't weaken their points. I don't like the implication that we should reject someone's ideas because they don't look serious, professional and old enough. Leave that to the chamber of commerce crowd.

and

hah So what? They make good points. What they look like is a superficial concern.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...


RA, would you have said the same thing if the women had hairy legs, and showed their hairy legs?

And even if you yourself personally don't like hairy legs on women, wouldn't you agree that what you said applies as much to hairy legs as it does to the women not wearing suits and otherwise not looking "professional"?

[Gormy Cuss]

2. Hairy legs are gross.

I wish that more men would shave them. For that matter, I wish that more men would shave their pits. It's pretty gross seeing all that hair when a guy wears a tank. They ought to braid it or something.

[struggle4progress]

7. Meanwhile, here I am wishing fewer women would shave their limbs and axillae

[dana_b]

23. I have more of a problem with ear hair.

I know it happens with age but when a man has it, I have a hard time not staring at it.

[Skittles]

37. worse is the wad of pit hair with caked on deodorant

[DarkTirade]

41. Pfft. Braiding is temporary.

Dreadlocks last.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

50. I'm Indian -- I can't get rid of it.

Then again, I stay warm in winter.

[Writer]

3. LASER, DAWGS!

WORTH. EVERY. PENNY.

They even did my bikini line. Wicked nice. Wicked nice, I say.

[underpants]

4. A buddy of mine is a cyclist

he shaves.

[NYC_SKP]

5. Shaved legs, makeup, artificial scents, SUVs and McMansions.

All items of cultural indoctrination designed to sell shit by making us feel inadequate unless we have them or do them.

And none of them work to bring us to self-actualization; none really make us happy.

And all have negative consequences, too long to list here except that I'll mention that there's an environmental impact for each.

[Kali]

8. indoctrinated - that is the word

and aside the possible practical use of an SUV for a person living and working on gawdawful dirt roads, the shaving is the only one that "worked" on me beyond teenage years.

[NYC_SKP]

12. atta girl.

I'm glad there are some real folks among the excuse-makers.

These threads alway entertain me.

[Radical Activist]

9. One of those things is not like the other.

A woman with smooth, sexy legs makes me happy. Yes, part of that is cultural and no amount of ideological indoctrination is going to make me suddenly enjoy hairy legs.

[NYC_SKP]

14. Generally, the indoctrination is what makes us this way.

And it's not necessarily indoctrination, just cultural norm.

Had you lived among any number of indigenous people without leg shaving technology, you might not or might not have the preference for smooth legs.

My point is the same, we've been acculturated to expect and prefer shaved legs.

This has been perpetuated by the marketplace and, for that part of it, we are indoctrinated to buy these tools and/or services.

[Radical Activist]

15. I acknowledged

the role of cultural norms in my post, and yet no amount of theorizing about that is likely to change my preferences. What I find physically attractive is not a question that's influenced by political debate.

And leg shaving is not contributing to global warming like SUV's or McMansions. The trivial negative impacts of leg shaving make the comparison ridiculous.

[NYC_SKP]

17. I acknowledge your acknowledgement.

And wish just to clarify that I was responding to "no ideological indoctrination is going to make me suddenly enjoy hairy legs."

I don't there's much effort to counter-indoctrinate anyone with respect to their hairy leg feelings.

And when it comes to climate change and behaviors toward consumerism and it's consequences, I submit that no impact is so small as to not deserve identification as a factor.

Every little bit matters. But we all get to keep our pet preferences, can't change that.

[Kali]

6. gotta go with

I dunno ... it's so ... uh ... so unnatural

Because that one got imprinted early. I hate being a slave to a stupid grooming behavior like shaving, but I am embarrassed to leave 'em furry in public.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

10. i wish all people would shave their legs. i like to see the legs minus the hair

as opposite to pits, i dont care about pits, so dont care about hair on pits

[BarenakedLady]

11. Are you trying to tell me something?

I'll shave when I damn well feel like it!

[struggle4progress]

13. Yes. I wondered all week, "How can I offend BNL?" And then it came to me, all of sudden ---

I'll just ask about hairy legs

I won't even have to mention BNL by name, because just about everybody in the Lounge has tripped over BNL's leg hair at least once when trying to get to the bar for final call -- and they're all sick of it!

[rebecca_herman]

16. I'm glad to be single

I'm female and I'm happy I don't have to deal with some guy telling me when to shave... I shave if I'm wearing something that shows my legs or every so often in the winter so it doesn't get out of control.... but otherwise... forget it... my legs get SO irritated when I have to shave them regularly, it doesn't matter what products I use. Ugggh I hate summer.

[HopeHoops]

18. Dye them green and curl them.

[redqueen]

19. Eh...

I don't really care about it... I only do it myself cause it's expected. I've always been resentful of the fact that women are expected to shave so much more surface area daily, and men get to do only the face. If that.

I'd love to live someplace where nobody cared. It's the very definition of a non-issue to me.

It's just hair.

[MikeH]

20. I have always liked unshaven/hairy legs on women

I am a heterosexual male, and have had an attraction to unshaven/hairy legs and other body hair on women since I was an adolescent in the 1960's.

I saw a few women with hairy legs as a college student in the early 1970's. It was one of my disappointments that that never became more common since; if anything the trend since then has been more to removing body hair.

It has always bothered me that just about everything else has been or has become acceptable in our society, at least at some time since the 1960's, except for natural body hair on women. I have never been able to understand why that is the case.

I respect that some people do not like and are not going to like hairy legs on women, and in some cases on men. I would like to remind such people that homosexuality and homosexual attraction were once looked on as being deviant and "icky". It has now become mainstream to accept homosexuality as normal, and to be in favor of gay and lesbian rights. In fact anyone who posts on this board and who is allowed to stay on this board is expected to not be homophobic, but to be pretty much in favor of gay and lesbian rights.

There is absolutely no sane or logical reason that the same respect that is given to gays and lesbians ought not to be given to women who might grow out or want to grow out their body hair, and to men (or women) who like or are attracted to body hair on women.

I have always wished that women in non-trivial numbers would let their body hair grow out. However I understand and respect how hard it is to do something which goes against a cultural norm, and to be conspicuous in doing so.

For myself I find a woman who by other standards is attractive, and who has hairy legs or body hair, and who likes and is happy with her natural state and her natural hair, to be very sexy.

I answered on the poll that I prefer a partner who looks a bit like a goat (for me a woman partner). It is interesting to see that more people have preferred that choice than the other choices; however I would not know how many of the answers refer to a male partner and how many to a female partner.

[redqueen]

42. Interesting points.

I don't like big bushy beards, but I'm not 'disgusted' by them.

The strong negative reactions to it are puzzling.

[MikeH]

54. Thanks very much for your nice response

I consider the strong negative reactions, such as "gross" or "disgusting", to be very thoughtless and small-minded, and not at all becoming on a progressive message board. I expect such reactions on a place like Free Republic or any conservative web site, where people are not known to be tolerant of deviations from the cultural norm.

I have a personal liking for body hair on women. I respect that other people do not like it. However I do not at all appreciate comments like "gross" or "disgusting", which imply that there is something wrong with me for liking what I like, or with anyone else who happens to like the same thing. Such comments are no different from similar comments when they are made, for instance, about homosexuality.

[redqueen]

56. I agree, and I think it's for the same reason.

We're conditioned to think it's bad / wrong... so we learn to react with disgust.

It's the same for ear hair, nose hair and unibrows, though. But geez, that's just a little trim.

[sakabatou]

21. My fiance likes them on me

I don't like hairy legs on a woman though.

[ReliantJ]

22. I've watched many pornos

with disgustingly hairy legs

[MikeH]

25. Do you feel the same disgust

Do you feel the same disgust with the idea of homosexual attraction?

[ReliantJ]

27. Nope.

Not my cup of tea at all. But I'd enjoy the Lily Thai/Cytherea combo
Anyways its Just hairy legs that ughh

[seaker]

26. So disgust is what rocks your world?

Or just your rocks?

[ReliantJ]

28. I just ignore the legs

and focus on the chick... why am I typing this

[seaker]

29. Splendid!

[mainegreen]

40. this post deserves some award.

[Roon]

30. I hate hair and I am thankful I don't have much of it

I have a friend who shaves his body all the time.(yes,even in those two delicate places)

[ReliantJ]

31. Nothing wrong with that

[Lucian]

32. Gross!

[MikeH]

33. Do you feel

Do you feel homosexual attraction and gay or lesbian sex are also gross?

[Lucian]

35. What the hell does that have to do with hairy legs?

[Skittles]

38. I want to know that too

my leg hair is blond and you have to get close to see it but I still shave 'em because I think it looks better. And gay folk do not disgust me in any way.

[MikeH]

49. I am glad you asked

Let me try to answer your question.

Hairy legs, on women, are out of the mainstream in this society, and many people, such as yourself, find them distasteful.

Homosexuality, for a long time, was out of the mainstream in this society. The initial reaction of many (though I am certain not all) "straight" people to the idea of homosexuality, or to gay or lesbian sex, is one at least of distaste. Before it became well known that people do not choose to be attracted to people of the same sex, and before homosexuality came to be accepted as normal, the unthinking reaction of most "straight" people to homosexuality was one of disgust. And that is still the case among conservatives and people in the Religious Right.

It is now very uncool to express intolerance and disgust of homosexuality or homosexual behavior, and such intolerance of homosexuality is not tolerated here on DU. I think most of society, and especially people here at a progressive board such as DU, have come to get over whatever disgust they might have had for homosexuality.

Hairy legs, on women in particular, along with other body hair, are in a similar position to homosexuality before it became widely accepted. I would think most "straight" people find distasteful the idea of having sex with another person of the same sex; I know I do. However there are a number of people who, for whatever reason, are attracted to and prefer having sex with people of the same sex.

In the same way many people, at least in this present culture and society, find the idea of hairy legs or other body hair on women to be distasteful. That is a personal preference. However there are some people, including myself, who are actually turned on by hairy legs and other body hair on women (at least on women who would otherwise be considered to be attractive). I know for a fact that there are other people, including other men, who are so turned on; I post on a message board for people who appreciate female body hair.

Even if somebody personally dislikes body hair, particularly on women, that does not make it OK to refer to it as being "gross" or "disgusting", any more than it is or ever was OK to refer to homosexuality as being something disgusting. When somebody, such as yourself, refers to hairy legs or other body hair on women as being "gross" or "disgusting", it implies that there is something "wrong" with me or anybody else for liking such. I consider such comments by you and others to be very thoughtless and small-minded, just like similar comments about people who are gay or lesbian before being gay or lesbian became acceptable in this society.

Such thoughtlessness and small-mindedness I would expect at a place like Free Republic, or any other conservative web site, where people are not known for being tolerant of people who deviate from the cultural norm. I find very disturbing such thoughtlessness and small-mindedness at a place like DU where people, for the most part, celebrate diversity and take pride in accepting a wide variety of personal preferences and behavior (as long as such do not do harm to others).

[Withywindle]

34. OTHER.

Fine on all mammals, including people.

Horrifying on spiders.

[960]

36. EEEEEEEEK!

[Sky Masterson]

39. Not for me.

I'm a guy and my legs are naturally not very hairy.I have little on my chest or other parts of my body.
The hair on my head is thick and full though.
I like a smooth shaved lady. (well I do like hair down there)

[AlCzervik]

43. i shave mine, i could give a shit less about other people's hair in general.

[lightningandsnow]

44. I like my partners to have slightly fuzzy legs.

[davsand]

45. Can I just ask the men if THEY shave their legs?

I would never presume to tell Kev how to wear his hair even if he's my husband. I figure he gets to make that call all by hmself--ya know? He shows me the same level of respect and that is probably yet another reason why we are married to each other...

I guess maybe my bigest question is directed at all the men who say they like women minus body hair--do you shave your body hair off too? Is this just a thing you personally have against body hair is it an expectation you have for women only?

I also want to point out that hair removal is very much an American esthetic. If you reall have issues with furry women you may not be too happy in several European countries.


Just saying...


Laura

[Strong Atheist]

46. I love hairy...

[MikeH]

52. Good for you

I also love hair, specifically on women (I am a heterosexual male), including head hair and body hair. I take it that that is what you are referring to. If so I am glad that somebody also else feels that way.

Some people have different preferences, and there is nothing wrong with that. However I find very saddening the thoughtless and small-minded comments such as "gross" or "disgusting" to something that is just a matter of taste which happens to be different from their own. Such reactions are very unbecoming of people on a progressive message board where one would expect people to be tolerant of different personal preferences.

[supernova]

47. Smooth for me thanks.

I feel better, and yeah even with the cultural norms, there's MUCH MORE sensation without the hair.

It's almost spring and time for shorts and skirts, so time to break out the depilatories. They work much better and are quicker than shaving. No chance of cutting myself, either.

[ghostsofgiants]

48. I don't mind hair, but smooth is so much nicer to the touch.

[supernova]

51. I love a hairy chest on a man

But back hair?

Dang!


Wax or cream out that forrest.

[Lyric]

53. I prefer the natural look.

And I don't shave my legs (or anything else) often, because I have VERY sensitive skin that gets horribly irritated and breaks out no matter how sharp the razor or how long I soak first or what kind of shaving gel/cream I use. Having hairless legs is not worth the rash I get afterward, especially since I have psoriasis and any skin irritation can cause a new breakout.

[KamaAina]

55. They work for me

four at a time.