babies bein' babies. shaving. metaphorical monkeys.
A while ago, Christine posted in her blog about how they asked their son Sly, then not yet two, if he remembered being a baby (answer: nod) and if he liked being a baby (answer: no).
For some reason today I was thinking about that and when I was putting a diaper on Pip after a shower, I asked her, "Do you remember being a baby?" She smiled at me but didn't say anything. Then I said, "Did you like being a baby?" She said "No" right away. I was a little surprised.
So after a few minutes I asked again, "Pippa, did you like being a baby?" She immediately said "No," again.
So I tried to test her out. "Pippa, do you like cheese?" "Cheese!" She said, her face lighting up. "Do you like milk?" She signed MILK and said "Mo!" with the same enthusiasm. "Did you like being a baby?" "No! *shakes head*"
Conclusion: babies don't like being babies. That's probably why they cry all the time!
---
A few months ago there was a post on one of the BabyCenter blogs about bikini area shaving, and the comments really surprised me. I guess maybe I don't pay that much attention on beaches/at pools/in locker rooms or discuss this kind of thing, but I was under the impression that this was not rare but not common either. But out of over 100 comments, every. single. one. said they either shaved or trimmed, and only two comments were in any way neutral over other women NOT shaving or trimming. The overwhelming theme was that women who don't shave are disgusting and shouldn't subject their hideous natural bodies to the gaze of unsuspecting people at the pool.
Now I wear a skirted swimsuit so I guess I'm safe from this particular form of body image police, but the unanimity of the disdain kind of stunned me. You will never find that kind of unanimity in the comments section on any issue that is, oh, actually important, like breastfeeding. Apparently it's alright to mock another woman for having hair on her thighs but not alright to mock her for not attempting to breastfeed. Good to know. (FWIW, I do not believe it is alright to mock either.)
I found body hair shaving cool for about two weeks when I was in middle school, and since then I have hated it. It takes too much time, I always cut myself, and the alternatives (waxing and depilatories) hurt a lot. I've had four serious boyfriends including my husband, and when asked, all four of them have indicated they couldn't care less whether I shave or not, so over the past five or six years, I have probably shaved my legs on an average of three or four times a summer and not at all the rest of the year.
A good portion of this also was the liberal/progressive/rebellious part of me. What a ridiculous waste of time, energy, landfill space, water... Throwing away razors, water running as we shave, chemical contamination from mostly empty bottles of Nair... All to take away something that's going to be back in less than a week, and do it all again... All for something that is supposed to indicate that we're adults and sexually mature, and yet to be sexually attractive we take it away! What BS!
Until now, until reading that post. That was when I gave up. I give in. You win, society. Apparently this really matters to you. I am trying to make friends locally, and having someone think I'm disgusting because they can see leg hair when I'm wearing shorts might get in the way of that. I don't have the energy to be a feminist/environmentalist recluse, especially because all of the hardcore feminists/environmentalists I know shave their legs.
So now I shave my legs two to three times a week.
And I hate it.
At least with fall coming I can go into leg shaving hibernation again. That will be nice.
For some reason today I was thinking about that and when I was putting a diaper on Pip after a shower, I asked her, "Do you remember being a baby?" She smiled at me but didn't say anything. Then I said, "Did you like being a baby?" She said "No" right away. I was a little surprised.
So after a few minutes I asked again, "Pippa, did you like being a baby?" She immediately said "No," again.
So I tried to test her out. "Pippa, do you like cheese?" "Cheese!" She said, her face lighting up. "Do you like milk?" She signed MILK and said "Mo!" with the same enthusiasm. "Did you like being a baby?" "No! *shakes head*"
Conclusion: babies don't like being babies. That's probably why they cry all the time!
---
A few months ago there was a post on one of the BabyCenter blogs about bikini area shaving, and the comments really surprised me. I guess maybe I don't pay that much attention on beaches/at pools/in locker rooms or discuss this kind of thing, but I was under the impression that this was not rare but not common either. But out of over 100 comments, every. single. one. said they either shaved or trimmed, and only two comments were in any way neutral over other women NOT shaving or trimming. The overwhelming theme was that women who don't shave are disgusting and shouldn't subject their hideous natural bodies to the gaze of unsuspecting people at the pool.
Now I wear a skirted swimsuit so I guess I'm safe from this particular form of body image police, but the unanimity of the disdain kind of stunned me. You will never find that kind of unanimity in the comments section on any issue that is, oh, actually important, like breastfeeding. Apparently it's alright to mock another woman for having hair on her thighs but not alright to mock her for not attempting to breastfeed. Good to know. (FWIW, I do not believe it is alright to mock either.)
I found body hair shaving cool for about two weeks when I was in middle school, and since then I have hated it. It takes too much time, I always cut myself, and the alternatives (waxing and depilatories) hurt a lot. I've had four serious boyfriends including my husband, and when asked, all four of them have indicated they couldn't care less whether I shave or not, so over the past five or six years, I have probably shaved my legs on an average of three or four times a summer and not at all the rest of the year.
A good portion of this also was the liberal/progressive/rebellious part of me. What a ridiculous waste of time, energy, landfill space, water... Throwing away razors, water running as we shave, chemical contamination from mostly empty bottles of Nair... All to take away something that's going to be back in less than a week, and do it all again... All for something that is supposed to indicate that we're adults and sexually mature, and yet to be sexually attractive we take it away! What BS!
Until now, until reading that post. That was when I gave up. I give in. You win, society. Apparently this really matters to you. I am trying to make friends locally, and having someone think I'm disgusting because they can see leg hair when I'm wearing shorts might get in the way of that. I don't have the energy to be a feminist/environmentalist recluse, especially because all of the hardcore feminists/environmentalists I know shave their legs.
So now I shave my legs two to three times a week.
And I hate it.
At least with fall coming I can go into leg shaving hibernation again. That will be nice.