Feminism and Hair. Is Shaving For Suckers?

"Shaving is for suckers" as my friend Aimee would say. Us women are hairy beings and many forget this....even women. Isn't that bizarre? Us women who shave are the ones who go through the process of hair removal however, we often forget that we have as much hair as we do.

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Women do a lot of landscaping and it takes a lot of maintenance. We tweeze our eyebrows, we shave or bleach our mustaches, we shave or wax our legs --- underarms and bikini areas.

Yesterday I was shopping at Trader Joe's Market and overheard a woman detail her process of shaving the hair on her toes and plucking stray hairs from her nipples. She also waxes the tops of her arms and the hair on her stomach. I'm surprised this woman didn't catch me eavesdropping. I just pretended to be particularly choosy about the decision to purchase whole or cut mushrooms. Her conversation sparked the idea for this post. So, thank you, mystery lady.

During my junior and senior years of college I transferred to a hippie liberal arts college (The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington) where many of the women didn't shave, wear bras, and often didn't bathe as much as I thought they should.

A lot of the men wore scruffy beards that ran all down their necks. Some men and women wore dreadlocks; eventually I did too. One of my dormitory roommates offered to dread my hair. It was apparent that concealing hair was not an issue in this environment and it was a freeing feeling.

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I didn't stop shaving but I knew that if I ever decided to, I would not be viewed as obscene or abnormal.

What's interesting is that a lot of women I've come to know do not enjoy shaving and will not do so if they can get away with it. I've done the same. If I'm wearing pants I might not shave but if I end up wearing a skirt or a dress then I'll pull out the razor. The same goes for my underarms. When it comes time to wear a tank top or a sleeveless dress then I shave.

Though mainstream societal norms tell us that women are horrific with too much hair, not all women or men appreciate men with "too much" hair either. Too much hair on a man's chest, back, thighs, and butt has been up for critique by women and men alike. My question is this; if patriarchy didn't insist that women present themselves as pre-pubescent girls, would we be as concerned as we are with landscaping and "manscaping"? Probably not.

Can we women, be considered feminists if we shave? Can men be considered feminists if they have a problem with female hair? Can women consider themselves feminists if they have a problem with male hair?

I enjoy the look and feel of smooth legs. That being said I think women who choose not to shave are rock stars. I recognize that my intense admiration for women who do not shave is unfortunate as the state of a natural women should be considered normal and not a rarity.

I've been with men who have told me that they didn't mind when my leg hair got to be a little stubby. It was a refreshing feeling however, I knew I'd be reaching for that annoying pink colored shaver the next day. It would be so easy for me to say that I shave simply because I enjoy the texture and appearance of smooth legs -- but I can't help but think that I am seeing things through patriarchal goggles.

When I attended that hippie college, I didn't stop shaving even though there were plenty of hairy women around me. I wondered if I would continue to shave even if the world suddenly went hairy. Being that I've been exposed to the concept of shaving and I have found that I like it, I might keep on, keepin' on. This begs another question. Would this decision stem from the fact that I have been raised in a sexist society for so long? Probably.

I'd like to add that although shaving can be a royal pain, it can also be fun. Sometimes I like shaving with a nice smelling liquid bath soap that leaves my legs smelling nice and feeling nice. I enjoy the feeling of smooth legs against my sheets or against another person.

I plan to continue shaving. This has its pluses and minuses. There are aspects about shaving that I enjoy and aspects that are cumbersome. I also understand that the idea that, "it's my choice and as long as it feels good I'm going to do it", argument is somewhat disingenuous. The fact of the matter is, we women are rewarded for cleanly shaven legs, underarms and crotches.

To be a woman who opposes many sexist beauty standards, but accept others, is truly an uncomfortable place to be. Guilt arises even though I tell myself that I can still keep my feminist cred. I do believe that I remain a feminist; however, there are no convenient or comforting conclusions about how much I have given up. It's not as simple as telling myself that I'm a feminist but a wuss or a wuss who is a feminist.