A. What does feminism have to do with shaving?
B. What's wrong with CHOOSING not to shave?
Sorry, I'm a little frustrated that feminists are associated with CHOOSING not to wear a bra and CHOOSING not to shave one's legs. And that is apparently bad or gross...
Feminism is about choice, after all. If you truly support choice, then you accept it when someone chooses something different than you would. That's what it's all about.
Personally, I ONLY wear a bra in public - because I HATE wearing it. When I walk in the door, it comes off. It's binding and uncomfortable. But everyone should be aware that bra-burning in the sixties is pretty much a myth.
The Myth of Bra-Burning
Also, I haven't shaved for probably 30 years. I (and my husband) find uber-smooth legs kind of gross to the touch. It's all a matter of culture. In modern history, (the US, basically), shaving started as a marketing campaign to sell razors:
It started with an article released May, 1915, in Harper's Bazaar. Words expressed in the article such as "objectionable hair" led women to begin shaving under their arms. Fashion did play a role in this transition because the style at the time was sleeveless tops.
Razor sales quickly doubled and the campaign was a tremendous success. Over the next several decades as skirt lines began to inch upward, the practice of shaving the legs became more widespread.
Read more: http://www.ehow.com/facts_5340337_history-behind-women-shaving-legs.html#ixzz2bBxUTQK3
Our culture raises us to think that women are supposed to do all these unnatural things to our bodies to be more attractive. We color, curl or straighten our hair (because what we have naturally isn't good enough or pretty enough), we tan and wear colorful products on our face (because our natural color isn't good enough or pretty enough), we have plastic inserted into our bodies (because our natural shape isn't good enough or pretty enough), we pluck hair from our faces and shave the hair off of our bodies, (because we are, naturally, not good enough or pretty enough).
I support a woman's right to CHOOSE to do any of the above and I won't put them down because of it. But I do NONE of it. Because naturally, I am good enough and pretty enough. I don't live this way because I'm a feminist or as some kind of rebellion. I simply prefer the more natural approach and don't make my choices based on societal pressure... And it's sad to see that my choices are thought of as something terrible.
I'm not mad or anything, just getting my thoughts out there.
Oh, one more thing... I've wanted to slap my husband MANY times. My dogs, too! There's a WORLD of difference between the feeling of frustration and the ACT.
That is all.