Can it ever be socially acceptable to have hairy armpits?

[redqueen]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2139473/Emer-OToole-This-Morning-Can-EVER-socially-acceptable-hairy-armpits.html

Like it or not, there are few sights more arresting than a woman with a hairy armpit. The unfettered growth of female underarm and leg hair is considered one of the ultimate social taboos, dismissed as the kind of eccentric behaviour that should only adopted by hippies.

But while as a society we are used to removing all our body hair, one woman has decided to challenge the notion that women must be hair-free to be happy.

Graduate student Emer O'Toole from Dublin decided to stop shaving for good 18 months ago when she came to the conclusion that too much pressure is put upon women to conform to what she calls 'artificial gender norms'.

Appearing on This Morning to debate the prickly subject, Ms O'Toole admitted that she started shaving at the age of 14, simply because it was expected of her. But now she hopes to challenge -and change - such expectations.

(more at link)

It's odd that body hair is such an issue for women. It's interesting to me that she says most of the policing is done by other women.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Non-metropolitan areas of France, Italy, Germany don't have strict standards on armpit shaving.

It's conventional to have furry airpits, no big deal.

[redqueen]

3. Yeah, there seem to be some areas where it's no big deal,

and others where it's so strangely taboo.

It's just bizarre.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

5. And other parts of Europe and the Middle East as well

Doesn't bother me one way or another

[rurallib]

2. I love body hair on women

and wish Ms. O'Toole the best in her quest quest to change the norm of shaving.
I remember reading that getting women to shave was basically a promotion by King Gillette to sell more razors.

[yesphan]

4. I went to Moscow in the early '90s

I noted that the women there did shave their armpits, but not their legs. Didn't bother me one little bit.
Just looked a little odd, a woman wearing hose with mats of hair under.

[enough]

6. Totally depends on what crowd you're hanging out with. (nt)

[rox63]

7. I've seen some European women who don't shave

It was a while ago, so I'm not sure if that if that is still common or not.

[One_Life_To_Give]

8. Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses

Yearning to be compelled to look and do like everybody else.

Is that why millions came here and millions more worked to build. A place where everyone has a right to expect everyone else to be just like them? Can't let no woman forget to shave the appropriate parts nor allow a man to mix up which parts to shave/leave. Can't have none of the Individualism. Must be exactly like everyone else.

[redqueen]

10. Well that show is Irish,

so we know the inflexibility is here and in Ireland, and in Australia I have learned from other discussions about this. I bet its probably the same in the UK. I wonder about Canada. And Mexico.

[thelordofhell]

9. I shave my pits during the summer, and I'm a guy

Never understood how people get all weird about female armpit hair

[no_hypocrisy]

11. Gilette Razors

I read in a book about the history of hygiene and sanitation that the Gilette Razor Company came up with the idea of women shaving their underarms and legs to double their sales. The company had come up with a lightweight straight-edge razor with disposable blades and they looked beyond five o'clock shadows on men.

[redqueen]

12. Makes me think of all the claims about how what appears in advertising and media

couldn't possibly have any effect on anything. It's all just fantasy and only weak minded people could ever be affected by it.

[seabeyond]

13. and then we get older. and cant see. so the hair under the arms, and eyebrows

are no longer a problem, lol.

it is a matter of memory telling me to pluck eyebrows. 6 months i am sure they need it. and there is this wedding, lol. i am going all out and that means plucky those eyebrows.... oooops. forgot. so between memory and not being able to see, it is what it is.

i like women challenging these norms. am all for it. i prefer shaved legs. i like the feel and look. but i am all for any woman that ignores expectation.

[BlueIris]

14. Most women in my neck of the woods don't do it.

Primarily because of razor-irritation issues. Yes, many are "hippies." Some aren't.

[BlueIris]

15. Self-delete. nt