posted January 23, 2001 03:48 PM            

so, i was wondering, what do y'all think about shaving? do you think it's gross if a woman doesnt?

for myself, unless i have a reason to shave, im probably not going to bother. which is to say, i feel weird being dressed up in a skirt with hairy legs. but i dont really care if im hanging about in shorts and i havent shaved in a week.

as for facial hair on guys, i dont care either way as long as existant facial hair is well groomed. stubble is scratchy and hurts. and, although some guys can pull it off, usually just looks sloppy (although there's a time and a place for that).

so, anyhow, im not sure that this belongs in wi, but hey, i think it does. maybe.

posted January 23, 2001 05:05 PM         

As for girls and shaving, I couldn't, honestly, care less. I'm flattered if a girl shaves her legs for me, but I won't ask for it and it certainly doesn't enter my mind the rest of the time. Maybe it's just me, but I think a certain amount of body hair looks good on most people.

-Hisao

posted January 23, 2001 05:10 PM            

However it's kind of a lie. All women appear to have zero body hair on their legs, armpits and upper lip and stuff, despite what their bodies actually produce. This lends to a kind of "genetic drift" towards the evolution of that gene in the human body, which is always bad.

All in all though, my lizard brian takes over. Not that women must be shaved. There are women with very little, very fine hairs which hardly detract at all, but exessive hair only makes me think of her as being more manly, which turns me off.

posted January 23, 2001 05:58 PM            

But... my legs are extremely hairy, and I don't like they way they feel at all. One day I'm just gonna wax the whole works, arms and everything... maybe even my face... partly for perverse asceticism, but also because I'd be more fun to touch for a while. ^_^

posted January 23, 2001 06:10 PM            

Besides the underarm hair thing I don't like, I see nothing wrong with women not shaving, and think it is a personal decision, even the underarms, even if I don't like it.

posted January 23, 2001 08:00 PM            

I'm too out of it right now to expand that at all.

I hate being sick.

posted January 23, 2001 11:59 PM            

as for now...i wear jeans all year. for most of high school i didn't bother much with shaving, unless i was going swimming or dressing up. i didn't have a boy to keep shorn for, either, so it didn't matter. but then in senior year i had to take gym, which i'd been avoiding for a long time. i was not fond of the shorts at all, but i figured i'd better start shaving again. it was bad enough being all ghosty and pasty...i didn't need to be hairy as well. after graduation, i just kept it up as a matter of habit. then i started going out with cowman, and while it seems that he could care less, i just feel less gross with smoother legs. i don't bother too much w/my pits, though...i usually do those when they start getting too long and interfering with the effectiveness of my deodorant. i don't like shaving them...they feel so vulnerable!

as for male shaving...i don't mind cowman's stubble, much. his tends to grow out kind of quick, and i always joke that if he can comb my hair with his chin, then it's definitely time to shave. even though i always scoffed at those stupid shaver commercials where the girls are all huffy about their guys being stubbly...i must admit i'm a sucker for a smooth cheek. (but the stubble can have its advantages, too...)

posted January 24, 2001 12:36 AM            

My ex-husband was totally ambivalent about whether I shaved or not. Jamaican women (and many women of color in general) do not shave, so he was really bemused when we got together and he saw how often I shaved various areas. Oh, yeah, and I get rid of all my pubic hair, using a depilatory called Magic Shaving Powder. Good stuff; I highly recommend it. One of these days when I have the cheddar, I'm gonna get that stuff lasered off completely.

I have a cousin who is a total granola/hippie woman, and she doesn't shave anything. She's blonde, but she has VERY hairy legs ... they look like a man's legs, 'cause the hair is all thick and curly. Her husband doesn't care, so whatever. For her sister's wedding, the bridesmaids' dresses were sleeveless, and Janelle *promised* her sister that she would shave her armpits for the occasion. She either forgot, or purposely didn't do it, so when it was really obvious that her pits were really hairy, she used hair gel to slick her pit hair up. Yuck.

I do have to say that I love a man's hairy legs. I'm not fond of a really hairy chest, normally, but a guy's gotta have hairy legs, in my opinion. I just think it feels nice against my smooth legs.

Jesse: Waxing your legs HURTS LIKE HELL! I've had it done about 4 times, and while I'm not a wuss by any means, I yelped each time the waxer pulled off one of the cloth strips. I will say, however, that a lot of my hair didn't grow back, so the growth is much lighter. Maybe I'll go get it done a few more times someday.

Scintillating subject. Thanks, Rabi'a

posted January 24, 2001 05:17 AM            

as for the pubes. well, this is probably way too much info, but er. i feel like i already have to shave such a large percentage of my body that, well, it just seems wrong. and annoying. i have a few times, but the day after, i always get this razor-burn rash sort of thing that lasts for like 5 days and is itchy and painful. yet another reason to remain o'natural. of course, were i to have a boy to shave for, i might make more of an effort in that area. or, perhaps be lucky enough to find a boy that didnt care. im not much in bathing suits anyhow.

posted January 24, 2001 09:12 AM            

And since I don't believe in the likelihood of "too much information" (except when someone places themselves on a need-to-know basis voluntarily, I suppose), I will frankly state that the matter of pubic shaving is one upon which I will not front - I do not demand bald privates, I do not expect them, but my GOD do I love 'em. In my experience (and I do realize that I am speaking as the party not responsible for any of the actual WORK exfoliating), it's made for a better time had by all. Who doesn't hate spitting hair? I mean if you're really going to work... and I suppose not everyone DOES... at the very least trimming the hedges makes everything run SO much smoother. I guess the dense jungle is easy enough to cut a swathe through if you're eager to skip to the last page (yowch... bad mixed metaphor, bad), but if you're actually exploring the hidden temple (yes! good metaphor save!), it'd be nice to get the undergrowth machete'd. It's unfair to rely upon the natives, I realize... (the metaphor has become stretched exactly... NOW)

posted January 24, 2001 09:32 AM            

quote:

---

Oh, yeah, and I get rid of all my pubic hair, using a depilatory called Magic Shaving Powder. Good stuff; I highly recommend it. One of these days when I have the cheddar, I'm gonna get that stuff lasered off completely.

---

Grrr, it has ALWAYS been my goal to get enough money have my legs, arms, pubic hair removed with a laser, than I was reading a bridal magazine, and found out hair has to have color for it to work, my hair has no color... Grrr

posted January 24, 2001 10:08 AM            

Okay, so here's my hang-up: arm hair. Thick, dark arm hair against pale skin is something I can't get over, for some reason.

I profess inexperience with shaving of the pubic region. Sure, I understand the appeal of smooth skin against smooth skin, and not having to stop to pick hairs from your teeth, but it seems to me that the itchiness of new growth would be too much. As for men, the bald penis is just ugly. I'm sure some of you will disagree with that, but I think the ideal situation is to trim the pubic hairs short, but not completely bare.

Facial hair on men: eh. If you must, then a full beard is best. Some men can pull of a goatee, but most can't. If the growth is patchy, forget it.

all that typing, and i forgot the nipples. In my experience, stimulation of the nipples is much more satisfying when there is no hair to contend with. Stubble I can deal with. Huh, I thought I had a lot more to say on that topic, but I guess I don't.

[Edited because you can't forget the nipples.]

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Don't want to be first,
I just want to last.

posted January 24, 2001 11:23 AM            

And once again Toon is going to bring Jewish tradition into the topic ... damn I'm predictable. But trust me, it's relevant.

So there's this deal in Jewish law wherein a married couple abstains from sex while the woman is menstruating. And at the end of the period, the woman performs a ritual immersion/purification thingy. And in accordance with family tradition (which varies pretty widely), before immersing, I shave just about everything besides eyebrows, eyelashes, and head hair. (And except arms, because I really don't have enough hair there to be worth shaving off.)

I think I can say with some authority that razor burn on one's private bits is not fun at all -- but not really much worse than razor burn on one's armpits or upper lip. And yes, shaving more regularly does help reduce the itchy ouchy unpleasantness.

I've used a depilatory exactly once. Never doing that again. Damn stuff hurts, a lot worse than razor burn. And I doubt I'll ever do the wax thing, for the same reason.

------------------
-=> Toon

posted January 24, 2001 11:48 AM            

Shaving legs is such a pain though. It takes me ages (partly because I don't do it often), so I do avoid it. I do it when I'm going to swim, occassionally for going out, and when it's particually hot in summer. Not that it's something I'm bothered about, but if I don't shave in a while I don't really feel confortable exposing my legs.

The concept of a bikini wax is so icky.... for swiming I shave just as much as I need to. Yuk. Of course I don't have to worry what would be preferable to anyone else there....

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DO NOT PUT YODA IN THE WASHING MACHINE

posted January 24, 2001 12:38 PM            

Magic Shaving Powder is actually made for black men to use on their faces, to prevent those nasty ingrown whisker bumps that those poor sods get when shaving with a blade.

I use the powder, which you mix into a thick paste with water, but it does come pre-mixed. I'll have to try that the next time I'm out. You can find it in most drugstores, either with the shaving cream or with the "ethnic" hair care products. It's pretty gentle, since it's made for faces. I use the kind in the silver can, with aloe. It smells pretty good.

Here's what I do: I mix the stuff up in a plastic bowl with a little rubber-scraper spatula. You gotta make it a THICK paste. Then I sit on the edge of the tub, scoop it into my hands, and spread it on the areas I want to denude. Rinse off hands, wait about 5 minutes (be conservative the first few times you try it), then I turn on the shower. I take an old washcloth, wet it w/ warm water, then firmly wipe off the paste and hair.

The resulting smoothness and hairlessness feels soooooo good! The skin feels extra-sensitive, and "exploring the hidden temple" is just that much sweeter for both parties involved. It lasts quite a while, and when the hair starts to grow back in, it's not poky like shaving stubble. Just be sure you take off all jewelry before doing this -- this stuff is hell on silver especially -- learned that the hard way!

~~~~~~~~~~~
Jeanine

posted January 24, 2001 01:03 PM            

I am in favor of me shaving my legs, but not for asthetic reasons, and I could care less if anyone else shaves theirs. I like to do it. I do it once a week no matter the season, and it just feels good. Helps if I'm shaving in a scalding hot bath, too. And I use soap, not shaving cream. Armpits I prefer to have smooth, and as a result I shave those far more often than my legs. I also tend to get a little bit squidged if I see a girl with really hairy armpits. Stubble is all well and good, but for some reason that I don't understand, long silky armpit hair on women seems ucky to me. I used to dislike it on guys, too, but I got over that eventually.

Speaking of guys . . . smooth cheeks are good. I really dislike full beards, and mustaches by themselves (on a face, you know, not completely by themselves) are one of the least attractive things I've ever seen in my life. I think my favoritist facial hair look, though, is one that only Sloppydarling can pull off. His stubble grows pretty fast, but there is one part of his chin, in a stripe right down the center from his lower lip down to his neck, that grows no hair whatsoever. After two days without shaving, he has a face full of stubble, and a bare strip right down the middle. I think it's one of the most endearing things I've ever seen.

Other than facial hair on guys, I have no strong opinion on male body hair. I prefer bald chests, but I don't really know why. I just really really like smooth skin. I like to touch it. I rub my own legs incessantly for a while after I shave, just because they feel so smooth and nice.

I also think guys look sexy with shaved heads.

posted January 24, 2001 01:17 PM            

And I love a shaved head, too. *nod*

posted January 24, 2001 03:17 PM            

other than that. i really like facial hair. guys who can pull off goatees...merowr. and beards, if they're trimmed neatly, are really nice too.
not that i dont like the clean shaven thing too. but there's something about a goatee. hmm...

posted January 24, 2001 04:19 PM            

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I just know there's a voodoo doll somewhere writhing in pain.
-Spifferito

posted January 24, 2001 04:49 PM         

I think hairy legs look GREAT on women! I find it really attractive. However if a woman chooses to shave, I won't necessarily find it unattractive, either. I will say that I find really pale shaved legs disturbing--they look like they are made of wax.

I don't shave anything. I haven't shaved my legs in almost four years. I will never shave my pubic area again--it itches, it itches, it feels horrible, and, in my opinion, it looks weird. My armpits hardly have any hair in them. I like a little bit of armpit hair; I think it's cute.

I do, however, pluck my eyebrows.

posted January 25, 2001 01:43 AM            

MsChile: I followed the advice you gave to Cheatara and shaved my legs with hair conditioner last night. These legs are now smoooooth! Thank you for the tip.

posted January 25, 2001 07:14 AM            

Ohhhh I got two legs, from my hips to the ground
And when I move 'em, they walk A-round
And when I lift 'em, they climb the stairs
And when I shave 'em, they ain't got hairs!

Magic Shaving Powder sounds like it sould be called Magic Personal Godsend. We're going shopping, kids!

posted January 25, 2001 09:35 AM            

When I get feet massages, I always end up saying "ow, I don't like the hairs on the tops of my feet"...

posted January 25, 2001 12:15 PM            

Ahem! Yes, where was I? Oh, right. At work. Anyhow.

On my side of the hair growth fence (HA) I shave quite infrequently. Once every week and a half or so, on average. The face hair just don't come in that fast and it took me like two months to have any kind of chin hair that you could pull on. (That was fun, though, being able to pull on your chin hair when lost in thought.) And even then it was a pitiful amount, one that garnered woosha-woosha cute comments from friends. "Oh, how adorable, look!" said one of my friends who has a 5:00 shadow around 9:30 in the morning. "FACIAL HAIR!" So we've given up on that venture forever after.

I'd like to shave more often, because I really do enjoy the process. There's just something wonderfully masculine about the ritual, which I guess stems from generations of kids watching dads shave. I remember being 4 or 5 and Dad would give me the outside case of his razor (safe, thick plastic) and a bit of shaving cream and I'd pretend to shave, too. Then he'd say "no, don't shave your eyebrows" and stuff.

Anyway, I have one of them Mach 3 razors, and I like it a lot, and I never nick myself anymore. The combination of all the senses here -- the smell of the shaving cream and aftershave, the feel of the razor up your chin, the water in the sink splashing around, er, something to do with sight like the odd color of the shaving cream gel stuff -- it really does something to me. I rather like it.

posted January 25, 2001 01:06 PM            

I have to admit I did the eschewing-shaving-as-a-social-statement thing in high school, because a guy in my class was picking on a girl with hairy legs and I thought he should see more hairy legs as punishment. or something. I have pretty fair hair so people didn't really notice much. whatever. I do like the reaction I get from guys after a fresh shave... one of the pluses of having very sensitive skin is that it's also very smooth and soft, and even I like the way it feels.

posted January 26, 2001 10:58 AM            

When a clean shaven face meets a clean shaven leg. . . mmmm.

I've had a few wonderful experiences with some women's clean-shaven Deeply Personal areas, and a couple of really bad experiences with Sharkskin Fishhook Stubble down there, so I don't have a strong opinion on that particular grooming ritual.

All through college I did the Don Johnson Lazy, and the statute of limitations has just barely run out on that particular brutality to girls' faces. But, yes, a tiny amount of hair will cut the wind to an amazing extent. Montreal winter winds on the face. . . clean shaven was bad.

The only time an unshaven leg really bothered me was a friend who was black irish and let 'em grow long. And wore shorts. I don't have a good explanation,but it icked me.

And a last thing- for Ogre- the first girl I ever seriously messed around with had a Mohican- sides shaved, or in this case about a week from shaved- and it was great to rub your hands over. Crew cut length. MMMmmmmmmohawk.

Something to consider if you're planning on becoming pleasurable to touch. . . it might work .

posted January 26, 2001 12:35 PM            

Once you've shaved, whatever it is, take a rag and *soak* it in either alcohol or witch hazel. Then rub the area and let it dry. The witch hazel just kind of tingles a little, and the alcohol burns like hell, but they're both astringents, they stop the bleeding (something else I'm prone to) and prevent the clogging of the pores that contributes to both problems. Actually, alcohol is cheaper and works better, and believe it or not, you get used to it. Fun, huh?