Let's stop a minute and look back at the whole idea of women shaving their armpits and why we do it. Do you know why we do it? I sure as hell didn't so I googled it (what did we do before Google? I don't think my Encyclopaedia Britannica would have helped me with this query). According to my research (aka Wikipedia) women's armpits began going bare after several magazines had ads with models sans armpit hair circa 1915. This coupled with the invention on the safety razor apparently sparked a trend throughout the English speaking world.
So I only lasted a week with my fuzzy pits and if I'm honest I'm blonde and not very hairy so it's not even like very much was there. So why did I shave? Well I was going for afternoon tea at a very fancy hotel to celebrate Blondie Boy's Great Grandma's 80th Birthday in a sleeveless dress and I didn't want to do anything that could irk BB's GG on her big day.
Personally I do normally shave my armpits but not so much because I'm worried other people will see my hairy pits, but just I don't like the feeling of hair there. If I want to get all analytical I could say if I never once shaved my armpits to begin with maybe I wouldn't feel that way and you'd probably be right. I think if you want to shave your pits or if you don't that should be your decision, but I do think women shaving their armpits is patriarchally influenced.
Why? Well do men shave their armpits? No. Do men get called dirty or gross for having hairy armpits? No. Do you see the inequality here? I could take this argument even further and say that society's current infatuation with hair removal is patriarchy's attempt to make us all powerless little girls, but I won't digress. I think there is a fine line between hair removal for hygienic purposes and hair removal to adhere to cultural "standards." Don't even get me started on vajazzling or I'll be here all week.
So to shave or not to shave?
Feminist Friday XII
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