It wouldn't bother me to do it in January when I'm not going out sleeveless or bare legged. I don't even think that I'd get much growth in just a month.

I’ve always been a big supporter of women’s rights. But, seriously? Heck, if it makes you happy to go hairy, go for it! But really, for what ultimately? Honestly, to me it just sounds trite and silly. Do you remember several years ago when there was a big to-do about how much bathroom tissue you use at any one time might be too much? And then, how much is the ideal amount? Sometimes I just have to step away, shaking my head. Too, too ridiculous and so not worth the time!

I think it's weird that we've accepted as "normal" shaving certain body areas. Why is hair on women's legs or underarms considered offensive when hair in the same areas on men is not? And don't get me started about women shaving their more private areas. For who? So men can fantasize they are with prepubescent girls? I think it's sick.

I have no problem if someone wants to grow body hair and it’s not even my place to have a problem or not. But to make something of a movement of it or even a point of it by encouraging women to do it?! And if the goal is to convince people to feel good about themselves just the way they are, why do they have to grow body hair to do it? Senseless on so many levels, to me at least.

Once upon a time the most celebrated and glamorous women had armpit hair

Not going to that link. The entire idea is very off putting to me. I am certainly ok with people doing what they want but please lets remember not all our personal choices need to be front page news!!!

I think it’s good to question societal double standards of beauty. And bring attention to them. Although it seems instead of relaxing, we’re generally just imposing more beauty standards on men :(

I was always encouraged, as a child, to be a leader and not a follower! I think that people should stop listening to what everyone else is doing and do what they want to do. Heck, now it's become the norm for MEN to shave they entire body. Chest hair used to be considered sexy on a man, now it's gross with the new generation.

There is a great scene in one of the Outlander books. Claire spends a day with a French countess and comes back fully depiliated and Jamie freaks out. Claire says how it feels “nice to be clean again”. Jamie replies, “you weren’t dirty, hairs not dirt, am I dirty I have ten times the hair you ever had”

It really highlights that this desire to be hairless is a societal invention.

But we have accepted as normal injecting fillers and Botox in to our faces because we are not allowed to age naturally. Although it’s cheaper to not shave then visit the dermatologist.

I have not accepted this ^^^^^^^

Well, men have "No Shave November", so why not?

This doesn't seem newsworthy. If women don't already know that this is up to them, then I don't think an article is going to convince them that it is their choice.

I didn't shave for most of the 70s when I had a fair amount of body hair. When I finally went back to shaving, my legs felt like hard-boiled eggs. I say do whatever you like.

Why does a news piece have to remind women of something they can/cannot do that is ‘empowering’? It’s a choice. Not something I care to do (let hair grow), but thankfully at my age Mother Nature has taken care of those things mostly now too.

I was really surprised when I read that the majority of women shave all or some of their pubic hair. The article went on to list all the good reasons not to do that, mostly having to do with odor control and protection of delicate skin.

I know European women used to not shave under their arms. When my sister went to France during her college years, the French students thought shaving was hilarious.

Ive never had noticeable hair on my arms or legs but I’ve always shaved my pits. Guess I was long ago indoctrinated into the idea that it is the tidy thing to do.

One thing that would drive me nuts, is having to roll deodorant onto hairy armpits. I sometimes see males with tiny clumps of it attached to their armpit hair. I don't use it, but for those women who use deodorant and want to grow their armpit hair, hopefully they can avoid the 'clumps.'

Also, it seems kind of hypocritical that the women pictured with the most body hair growth, all have perfectly groomed eyebrows and no trace of a moustache. So apparently the movement to not feel the need to remove hair, only applies to body hair.

Bravo IdaClaire!! Who cares? I personally prefer to shave my armpits and my legs. I loathe the feeling of stubbly legs, but that's my personal preference. Each should do as they wish. Can't imagine we need a "movement".

Um, yeah, no. Lol! I like to be all tidy. :) And that deodorant comment about clumps made me a little nauseous.

VERY WELL SAID, Ida!

I also say bravo IdaClaire. It's a bit insulting to imply that my husband is 'fantasizing about prepubescent girls' because of how *I* chose to groom myself.

I thought the thread was going to be about massive amounts of dog hair. It's shedding season!

I am all for something that encourages women/people to get outside of their comfort zone, experiment and determine what works best for them. Many young women in our country have not had much exposure to alternative beauty standards. Just being made aware of the fact that there is another way could open some minds and give women a chance to explore what is truly best for them. Many will be happy with sticking with the norms of shaving and some might find that not shaving as much suits them well. I appreciate such articles as an opportunity to contemplate where we are but it hardly constitutes a movement. I think though that we also have to be honest about the other double standard, how much of our culture would look askance at a man who wishes to say, wax his chest or whatever. It is amazing the weird hangups we have about body hair, where it shows up, what color it is and how we decide to remove or leave it, both male and female.

"...how much of our culture would look askance at a man who wishes to say, wax his chest or whatever."

Lots of men do this already... I frequent 2 different salon/spas in my small home town, and they both have a waxing menu for men. Back/chest waxing is common. Especially for swimmers, body builders, etc.

Yeah, I know a number of men who are actually less hairy than I am. They certainly have better hair and brows than I do (I remain a bit envious). I've given up on having perfectly groomed brows after many years of plucking. How I wish I had the brows of my youth back again. When I was 12 years old, my aunt pulled me into the bathroom one Christmas Eve and shaved them. Not completely off, but she definitely changed the look of my brows, and I thought my parents - Dad especially - were going to come unglued. But thus began my plucking routine. My aunt was young and obviously naive, but what she did by shaving my brows informed me that they were unacceptable, and must be dealt with. So I did so for many years. In my teens I had thin lines for brows. They grew in a bit in my 20s, but they were never again the full eye-framing features I used to have.

I suppose we're all shaped by our own experiences when it comes to how we choose to groom ourselves. There are myriad reasons for preferences and probably for revulsions as well. I'm not disgusted by hair -- I simply don't want a lot of it on my body. That holds true especially for facial hair, and I pluck stray chin hairs on a daily basis. My friend and I made a pact, promising to reach right over and yank out any scraggly hairs we see growing on the other's chin, should we happen to miss one. I refuse to be an aging woman with a goatee.

Being of Italian descent I was very hairy right after puberty, but as I got older the hair on my body started thinning out. I used to have a lot of hair on my forearms but it's gone now. I had a unibrow and plucked my eyebrows thin, as was the trend in the 70's and it just never grew back.

I used to shave in my 20's and early 30's but since my hair got more sparse I didn't even bother any more and in some parts of my body there is just no hair any more. Except under my chin...why is that?

I don't think this is going to be a trend that catches on. As long as womens bodies are portrayed as hairless, lumpless and sinewy with ginormous boobs, women aren't going to jump on the no shave trend. A few girls will try it-it comes up every once in a while, but quietly fades away again.

At thanksgiving, I broke both wrists and the day I could hold a tweezer again was monumental. Those chin hairs! Yep, that was what I was focused on, lol

Bumble! You broke both wrists??? What happened, a fall?

Tina I fell when my dog lunged while we were on a walk. I drove again today for the first time. A lot of healing ahead though.

Ida, just an FYI in case you don't know: the time will come when you won't need to shave below your bikini line. It just disappears over time after menopause. My grandma told me when I was young! ;-) Older women in the Middle Ages wore false 'beards' there. Yikes.

I have very sparse hair in most places and tend not to do much shaving anyway I do make sure any facial hair is gone though. Below the bikini line there is no such thing as thinning in my family... There also is no thinning on my head since my menopause at 50.

So sorry that you broke your wrists bumblebeez. Some dogs are such pains whom we love anyway. Mine tends to lunge sometimes too when he is surprised by other dogs. :-(

Bumblebeez, I’m so sorry! I wish that you would have let us here know earlier. I, for one, might have been able to give you some ideas on how to get through it, having gone through something quite similar a couple of years ago. I feel for you as you continue your recouperation!

Bumble, how awful. I hope you're all healed soon.

If women want to shave their pubes, I don't care. I am no longer flexible enough to do that safely. Back in the day, they shaved you before childbirth and I remember the awful itching as the hair grew back. I guess if you keep up with it, it doesn't itch. I have to clean up a little if I'm going to be wearing a bathing suit. I'm sure you wanted to know that.

Lots of men have laser procedures to get rid of body hair. If I were a guy with a really hairy back or chest, I'd do it, too.

Well, I enjoy a hairy chest...not on me, of course.

And I'm also a victim of migratory hair...what's with that? What's so awful about living on my head that makes them want to take up residence elsewhere? Do I have a dictator-hair up there? Is the economy so bad? Idk..

I think the thing with this is that if we're encouraging youth to be themselves...then should we do so by starting a movement in which they're all doing the same thing??? It's seems like saying "we love you the way you are, but grow your hair out"...

I am no longer flexible enough to do that safely.

I haven't actually 'shaved' much for many many years - just found a good esthetician. :)

I hear what you're saying, Penny. The body positivity movement is something I'm seeing more of in my social media feed, and to be honest I have rather conflicted feelings about much of it. There seems to be a push, particularly among younger women, to bare it and show it off. One account that I follow in particular features a young woman in various stages of undress (some if it is quite racy), with "body positive" language about how she is embracing her large, very curvy body while railing against the double standard that allows thin, supermodel types to show off their bodies without criticism. (I continue to follow her because I like her as a person, but I've had thoughts of unfollowing due to some of the content where body parts are like RIGHT THERE on display. There are just certain things I don't care to look at.) On the one hand, I agree that our bodies are wonderful things, and no matter the size or shape, we should ALL be thankful for what they are capable of and for how they function to carry us through this life. On the other hand, I personally have a difficult time embracing my own "curves" (code word for flab and cellulite), and don't consider my flaws to necessarily be things of beauty. And I fully recognize that we are conditioned from early on to appreciate a woman's body of a certain "acceptable" shape and size while averting our eyes from others that are outside this standard, but I really don't want to see provocative photos of someone else's undressed "flaws" in an effort to try to goad me (and the masses) into acceptance. Must it be so "in your face"? What if I don't WANT to embrace cellulite? Am I wrong for thinking it's unattractive?

I'm using this as an example, because I think it speaks to how women are being urged to be themselves and celebrate uniqueness, but only if we hold certain opinions and are willing to assert that it ALL looks good, no matter how flabby or jiggly or skinny or whatever. And that seems to be an attempt to squelch our own inherent sense of what constitutes beauty and what does not.

Idaclaire, you are singing my tune. I 100% understand exactly what you are saying and the ways in which you are conflicted.

Now that I am starting my 5th decade on this earth, I am completely comfortable with my ability to decide - for myself - what I want. Shave a body part or not, have cosmetic surgery if I want to (or not!), dress like I'm going to the Academy Awards or throw on a pair of ratty jeans to run to the store. That, to me, the the beauty of living in this country where women have most/all of the freedoms we need to be the captain of our own ships. (Whenever I'm having a bad day, all I need to do is think about trying to live my life in a place like Saudi Arabia, where women are still legally and socially second class citizens.)

So I bristle when someone thinks they need to save me from myself.

I try to remember that not all women are at the same place, so perhaps the messaging is being directed to a different audience or something.

However, then someone else will come along and provide their "input" on how or who shaves where, or roll their eyes at someone else's fashion choices, or try to make someone else feel like they need counseling for wanting cosmetic surgery - and I realize we still have a long way to go.

I think trying to argue that everyone and everything is beautiful makes no sense and fools no one.

Is everyone brilliant, too?

The inescapable fact is that we are all blessed, or not, in different ways.

The obsession with beauty is driven by the military/industrial/cosmetic complex. It behooves them to insist that beauty is in reach for all who are simply willing to buy the right products and follow the right regime. That is not going to be true for everyone.

As always, it is about choice. I like to play around with beauty products and I like to look good, but that should be a choice for women, not a standard. Social media and advertising send the message that you have to look like a supermodel to be valued and loved. Parents and other role models need to be sure to send a message that women are valued and loved for many other reasons, too.

When I was a grad student, a friend had his 14 year old sister visiting. He introduced her to me and my friends. She was a vision of loveliness, perfect face, perfect body, even her name was perfect. At that time I realized that no amount of makeup would ever make me look even close to her looks. I later found out that she was a top teenage model. Some people are just born beautiful.

Flashback to the 70s, as far as I'm concerned. We did not shave and it was partially as a protest that males didn't shave their body hair, so why should we? Being natural was the thing. What goes around, comes around again, seemingly.

And I thought it was a thing that started some years ago...?

And as far as shaven privates go, calls to mind porno stars or prepubescent girls, IMO.

Carol, That is no longer really a mainstream view of the practice.

https://slate.com/human-interest/2016/06/a-new-survey-shows-most-women-groom-their-pubic-hair-should-we-be-concerned.html

It's funny because when I was young, in my twenties, the exact opposite of this entire article was true....So bizarre how things have switched to 180 degrees!