Sunday, February 1, 2015

Shaving has become an expectation, not a choice

Hair removal in the body is a common practice that has become more of an expectation rather than a choice (or at least for the case of most girls). Girls start shaving at such a young age that it is becomes uncommon to see body hair in most girls as we (guys) grow up with them. From my years in high school, I’ve talked to some girls who truly believe that they are not beautiful and nobody will find them attractive unless they shave their bodies, put makeup on, and follow all the beauty tips and advice that is really just questioning their natural beauty. I don’t think girls have to follow the all the stereotypes or “norms” in order to feel beautiful, when they already are.
Although I have always been an open-minded person, I do admit that before the readings and class discussions, I found it a little unusual when a girl didn’t shave. Like I said before, shaving is becoming more of an expectation than a choice for girls, thus I was simply expecting them to do what they have done for so many years and shave. However; after the very female-dominant class discussions in class, I realized that girls should have the choice of shaving or not and not feel judged or ashamed from whichever decision they make. It also sounded like shaving is expensive, time consuming, and simply a pain in the ass. I think I heard more complaints from shaving than reasons to justify it. As a man, I have never felt the pressure of needing to shave body parts like my legs, chest, etc., so I don’t think I am in the position to argue whether girls shaving should be part of the norm or not. However,  I am more than interested to see if there will be any major changes in a near future, maybe girls won’t be expected to have a shaved body all the time, or they could feel pressured to do even more body modifications to feel truly beautiful.

1 comment:

  1. When 98% of women shave their legs and arm pits the question as you noted becomes do women really have a choice? I would suggest not. This is culturally bound in Western Society.

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