What is the Purpose of Feminism?

[thornythalia]

So I've been thinking.

Comments

[lady_borg]

Keep in mind that not everybody shaves their legs because of the ideal that hairy is not femenine...I picked up the razor and chose myself. I understand what you are saying and for the most part I agree please accept that not everyone does it because they saw it in a magazine

[seasontoseason]

I think it is legitimate to say that you chose to shave but NOT legitimate to say that you chose freely. Any women who shave (unless they have some random medical problem that requires them to shave-- if that's even possible) do it because of the influence of the dominant culture, i.e. "what they saw in a magazine." (except it isn't ONE magazine or JUST magazines, obviously)

[lady_borg]

nope...I did because I dont like the feeling of body hair. Aside from whats on my head...I dislike the feeling. I also wear pants and tights and with my skin I get rashes from long hair rubbing up against the fabric...I also get massive ingrowns. No one told me to shave and I have never read girly mags and I never watched much tv. I always read computer mags.
Before I started shaving I got major red rashes all over my legs. The moment I started shaivng they ceased almost immediantly. (The then I found out that the rest was a different rash and in fact ezcema)

I really dont like it when other people tell me I did something for whatever reason when I know I did not.

[feanelwa]

I stopped because I do like the feeling of hair. I wear loose trousers or long skirts and am always comfortable. Good to meet another aesthete.

[girl_narcissus]

Me too! :)

[drummerlotte]

Although I understand where you're coming from, as I believed the same thing for a long time, you have to realise that however little tv we watch, however little magazines we read, we don't live in a vacuum. From the moment we are born we deduct 'rules' from society and have 'rules' implemented in us. It is not necessarily a conscious decision to shave for society or because people tell me to. It is more an idea implemented as a result of living in this world and realising that is a really scary thing, which is why its especially important to realise that it does happen, in order to somewhat lessen the effect.

[seasontoseason]

Although I don't agree that you chose whether or not you "like the feeling of body hair", though I do agree that you chose to shave (or not) as a result of that feeling