When and where women shave is a completely personal choice. Contrary to what some people – read: many – might believe, we have no responsibility to society to ensure we’re fuzz-free. Yep, that means walking around in summer with unshaven armpits and legs if we so wish – and we’re sorry if that offends anyone.
Wait, actually, we’re not.
So we cheered a bit when we read an EPIC reply to a (quite frankly) ridiculous question asking why women don’t shave their arms.
The question was submitted to advice columnist Amy Dickinson in the Chicago Tribune, who was quick to set ‘Curious’ to rights.
Dear Amy
Why don’t women typically remove the hair on their arms, elbow to wrist?
Not all women have hairy arms, but I’ve seen many women who have a decent amount of noticeable hair on their forearms. Some women have dark hair on their arms, which is noticeable when wearing short sleeves. Even blond hair is very noticeable in the sunlight.
I’m just curious as to why women would shave their legs but walk around with hairy arms. I’m not hating on it, I’m just curious.
Amy’s reply was suitably brilliant:
Dear Curious
Maybe women don’t shave their forearms because they have to work an extra 60 days a year in order to earn the same pay as a man in the same job.
That extra time spent trying to make a living really cuts into a typical woman’s primping time.
As much as women enjoy shaving their legs and underarms in order to look smooth and tidy for men, there are just so many hours in a day, my friend. But thank you for noticing and scrutinizing our arm hair. I’m sure the women of the world are relieved you’re not a hater.
As a hairy-armed woman, I am intrigued by the idea, however. Maybe there are some men out there who would like to try out this trend. I’ll pull together a committee of women and we’ll decide if it’s attractive — without hating on it, of course.
This puts in mind the high heel debacle recently, where a London woman was turned away from the first day of her temp job because she was wearing flats. Madness.
The next time we’re asked why we don’t shave or wear high heels by a man we’re going to have to wryly ask him why on earth he doesn’t either.
Props to Amy for shutting down this silliness, because while Curious may not have been ‘hating on it’, his attitude represents a culture of sexism and sexualisation of women – and to that we say, “Sod off, your time is up”.
