In regard to shaving........
Hi everybody---I am brand new here, and I am not even a mother (although I live with my 80 year-old mother who can sometimes rival a child....), but I have been reading posts for a few months now, and I like to read and look at people's websites and blogs for recipes and gardening tips, etc. I know it sounds kind of weird, but mothers really are the best source of domestic stuff like that!! And I love looking at everybody's pictures of their families and houses and gardens, and I love it when I find some good recipes for things!!! So, thanks for that!! I'll continue to read and look at pictures and stuff....
BUT--I had to join to take part in the "shaving" discussion......because I was honestly outright LAUGHING reading some of the posts!! Too funny.....And here's my two cents (which isn't worth much).....
I started sahving when I was young, because I got my period when I was 9, I think, and of course, I started getting hair which I was VERY self-conscious about. It started with my arm pits and gradually moved down to my legs----I remember "stealing" those Flicker razors from the bathroom of my friend's mother, and we'd go in the woods in the back of her house to dry shave our legs....LMAO!!
I shave because I feel cleaner when I do. I have blonde hair, and it is very fine, so it probably wouldn't matter if I didn't---you can't really see it anyway. I just like the feel of SKIN----and when I am touched, my skin is so much more sensitive to touch without the hair there (not that anyone touches my armpits....LOL) I don't really sweat that much, but I do wear deoderant because I just have this fear that one day I will smell like a barn in the wrong environment......in the summer, I get a little "hotter" than usual, so I smell a little "gamier" than when it isn't so hot out----but then again, I do A LOT of stuff outside like gardening, cutting hedges and bushes, running, biking, boating, etc., and I do sweat while doing that. But, I never really have a "Oh God, you smell like a locker room" kind of smell. I have noticed that if I don't wear deoderant, though, I can smell a little "gamey".......and I offend myself!! But that is when I lift my arm up and sniff my own armpits---I don't think anyone would be able to smell it unless their nose was into my pit. I pluck stray eyebrow hairs, but I don't even have enough hair to justify getting them waxed.....however, I have noted 2 crazy hairs growing out of my face recently-----one out of my forehead and one out of my right cheek. Very strange. I promptly yanked those buggers out.........LOL.
As far as my "privates" go, the same holds true for there, too. I just FEEL cleaner without hair there. Plus, it doesn't stick out of the bottom of my bathing suit!!
Some people like to feel hair, some people like to feel skin. I happen to love a hairy chest, hairy legs and arms on a man---and I like goatees too!! But I like to feel a man's hair on my skin. I just prefer not to have a goatee myself!! Thank God I don't have to pull out whiskers quite yet like my mother does.........
If I had a daughter, I would leave the choice up to her. I don't think that women shaving is something that has been endorsed by men to infantalize women or make them submissive or anything---no matter whether you don't have a single hair on your person or if you are a bear, you are who you are. Men liking big boobs or small boobs happens to be a personal preference---just like some people are hippie-types, some people are metro-types, some are in-between. Doesn't make us bad, doesn't make us good. It makes us US. I honestly couldn't care less if my friends shaved or if they didn't----but, I don't think that I would tell my daughter that shaving has been "forced" upon women by men. People used to be covered with hair when they were cavemen---over time, most of the hair has fallen off, because we no longer need hair for warmth because we wear clothing. I don't see how my armpit hair or pubic hair would keep me warm in the winter months.......
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I will have to say, though, that as far as "odors", body odor is something that my nose is extremely sensitive to, and that I find offensive. I am not saying that you have to go around smelling like a fruit salad, but a good shower with soap never hurt anybody. You don't have to powerwash or scrub yourself with a wire brush.....but get the odor-causing bacteria off your body!! That is what is causing the odor---it is bacteria from sweating and the sloughing of skin. Bacteria LOVE to live in a warm, moist environment---they thrive there. If you were just planting in the dirt, I am sure you wouldn't go prepare dinner without washing your hands first, right? Same idea as far as showering goes.
Just like our preferences, men have their preferences as well, so it is hard to go along with the "men are the cause of why women shave" theory. Some guys like short women, some like tall women. Some like blonde hair, some like red hair. Some like big boobs, some like small boobs. Some like their women "natural", some like their women "groomed". Not ALL men like the same things, and I don't feel like less of a woman or "submissive" to men because I like to look like a woman who wears makeup, who shaves and wears perfume---I feel that I am being a strong woman for wearing what I want and being who I am. Some women like to be girly-girls, some like to be sporty, some like the more natural approach. I think what we all "like" is to be happy and healthy. I do not pass judgment on anybody---the fact that we are all different makes the world a very enjoyable place to explore!! I hate to think that women are categorized by whether they shave or not, and I don't think that I have to look a certain way to be a feminist. I am a strong woman not because of my pubic hair or how I smell----I am a strong woman because I hold my head high, have an excellent education and am successful, have lots of hobbies that I enjoy, a great family---and I do think that women don't get the credit they deserve. However, it seems that once a woman has a child, their husband sees them in a new light and I think that is awesome.
And---to AverysMom---your post was the best!! However---I am pretty impressed with my vag too, and I never gave birth! A guy once told me that my "parts" were "organized", like a roast beef sandwich....LOL!! I always thought that was funny.
WOW--What a long post for the very first one...........I just wanted to participate. Thanks.
I did have visual and tactile preferences for a really long time, but DH's scent kind of overrode all of those for me (well, and of course his personality and character, but to be totally honest, our intial meeting it was not either of those things--I've never experienced such a world-and-time-stopping visceral attraction to someone ever before or since!). I have heard stories of people who suddenly fell in love and paired up with people who weren't their "type", I wonder if something similar happened?
: You crack me up!
. Thank you all!!!
that has got to be some kind of record for longest first post! 
I understand what you mean, about flippant attitudes. It hurts me too, sometimes...but I try to remember that we're all on different paths, with different experiences and that people just don't know.
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