If it was not for society and the attraction boys have towards girls seeing them hairless, I would not have to feel this way today.

Boys should understand that no human being is hairless, girls going through puberty have pubic hair and that even applies to women who are at the age of 20 or older until the age of 50. 

I am not even planning to shave my leg hair ever but I don’t know how long that will last as society always has a judgement over this issue, especially with girls like me who like to preserve the nature of their legs.

The most shock and awe moment in my life was a day at the beach when I saw a feminist in a bikini with hairy legs, arms, pubic area, long happy trail, pits, the works. No make up, light tan, and clearly such strong confidence. I was only still in my teens, and she was clearly over 25, so I had no chance. I didn’t have the guts to say what a beautiful woman she was as I was in swim trunks and I was having a hard enough time hiding my “excitement.”

Sad though, even rebel girls trying to gain some confidence slather on more gunk than the average one. Hippy chicks can be cool, but remind me too much of hippy guys. Too many drugs, too little care for themselves which results in not shaving just from being lazy, not because they want to. I have a large amount of hair on the top of my head, and I keep it clean despite my inner hippy. A vinegar rinse in the shower is amazing for the hair, and is completely natural.

I just need to find another white collar hippy I guess. They are hard to find, as one wouldn’t know I am. One wouldn’t know how much I love heavy metal either, so I will keep searching.

I applaud any woman who forgos the pressure of shavings and fragrance. Natural is not just sexier/more beautiful, it makes life easier. Guys and other women need to stop judging women who take the natural path.

I stopped because I realized that I didn’t like shaving. To me, it was a waste of time because I hardly ever (at that time) wore anything shorter than knee-length or short sleeves, because I’m a little bit curvier and have never been one to show off my body – another thing society has brainwashed me with; fat people can’t show skin.
It’s funny that when I stopped shaving I started to feel a lot more confident in my body, because if I didn’t do the one thing women are “supposed” to do, there was nothing I couldn’t feel confident about.
Since then I’ve taken to wearing whatever I like, with or without tights, in public. I love my body hair, and I actually find body hair very sexy on men. On women, I think it says that a woman has learned to love herself.

People need to understand that not shaving ≠ not showering. Yes, you can not shave and be clean at the same time.

Surprisingly enough, body hair is only as unhygienic as society makes it out to be by brainwashing us by telling us that it is something to be ashamed of, and it is something to spend money on.

As for the case of deodorant, because I’m fairly health-conscious, I stopped using antiperspirants because of the ingredients involved and the fact that they didn’t even work in the first place.

Fact is, the body HAS to sweat. You don’t sweat, you die from toxic buildup in your system. However, I’m sure many women who take themselves too seriously would rather die than (heaven forbid) to show the world that they are humans.

I use crystal body deodorant that works by using natural minerals that fight against odor-producing bacteria. You still sweat but don’t smell (unless you don’t apply it to CLEAN skin, post-shower). I also use it on my feet because my feet sweat a lot when I don’t wear socks with shoes, and it’s amazing how well it eliminates odor.

I was about to applaud Dove for caring about “real beauty” and not using the same tactics that other beauty product companies do to pressure women into buying their product. Then I saw this commercial, and I scoffed.

But then again, if Dove didn’t have deodorant to sell, all they’d have is their formaldehyde-laden hair products that caused my skin to break out in bumps.

Love yourself.

Two words: wetsuit shorts. I highly recommend the 1mm O’Neills (no affiliation, that’s just what I own).

Why they’re awesome:
1. They offer full bum coverage.
2. The fabric is thicker, so stays in place without “creeping.”
3. Nobody looks at you funny, because they look like exactly like plain old boyshort bottoms (also a good solution, but beware: a lot of them don’t have full bum coverage, so they creep like mad).
4. No more razor burn! EVER!
5. You can go swimming whenever you want— no advance warning necessary!
6. The material is waaay more durable than the usual lycra (am I the only one whose swimsuits always end up with fuzzy bums from sitting on pool edges??). In fact, it seems to last practically forever; no fading or anything.
7. They’re not skintight like swimsuit bottoms, and they don’t usually have elastic at the legs (so a model’s body is not required).

(Oh, and if you want more coverage up above, try a tankini top.)

There are social conventions we have to apply somewhere. In this context, it was not sexist, because a male violinist would not be able to do so either.

Sure the social convention that dictates women to shave their arm pits is ridiculous. I would not mind to see a female athlete with hair there. But this is not the same context.
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Your comment prompted me think about how sports is one of the few public rituals where there has been a much more vivid shift for acceptance for women’s aggressive behavior (which consequently is tied into current concepts of femininity and masculinity). To a large extent, this also includes accepting more “masculine” looks for women in sports, given that the same looks would be completely deplored elsewhere.

I don’t argue that femininity is bad in its essence, or that it should be done away with, but that it has often been defined in partially harmful ways and has messed up a lot of women’s psyches. And it’s these aspects of definitions of femininity that need changing. Since, from a moral perspective, I see aggressiveness just like a knife (it can be used to kill some innocent victim or to make a sandwich for someone who is hungry), not every exercise of aggressiveness in sports is a good thing, for men or for women. Thus, as many women become more and more a photocopy of men, there is a mix of good and bad in that process just as well.

Totally agree that sweat smells vary in all kinds of directions, and they can vary enormously whether fresh or stale.

What I find intriguing is the extremely opposite reactions that people can have to the “bad” smells. Some people don’t care at all and are not bothered, others feel like they are going to die. I would venture both are the result of different mixes of social conditioning, even though there is a part to smelling many odors that is physical and innate.

As it was also pointed out somewhere else that if you look at Western paintings of women throughout the ages, you don’t see body hair for older paintings.

If the info on this page is correct, there is a lot of interesting cultural developments throughout the ages. Examples:

http://www.quikshave.com/timeline.htm

300 B.C. -

During this same time in ROME, young men about age twenty-one are required to have their first shave. They kick this off by celebrating their official entry into manhood with an elaborate party-like ritual. Other guy friends are invited to watch and give the novice shavee a bunch of nice gifts. Only soldiers and those training to become philosophers are excused from participating in this cultural ordeal.

292 B.C. -

The renowned SCIPIO AFRICANUS MAJOR (236-183 B.C.), conqueror of Hannibal in 202 B.C. also affirms the mode for being clean-shaven. He is admired and copied by men throughout Rome and by neighbors.

50 B.C. -

In ROME, many men are following the grooming example of JULIUS CAESAR (101-44 B.C.), who has his facial hairs individually plucked out with tweezers every day. He also writes this same year that “the Britons shave every part of their body except their head and upper lip.”

54 – 68 A.D. -

In early Rome, POPPAEA, wife of the notorious EMPEROR NERO, uses depilatory creams to remove unwanted body hair on a daily basis.

THE MIDDLE AGES: 476 – 1270 A.D. -

Because women in Europe wear very large and outrageous headdresses, the bizarre beauty secret of removing all hair from the eyebrows, eyelashes, temples, and necks becomes tress chic. This is masochistically accomplished by plucking and shaving every day, but a real lady who wants to represent herself in the ideal image of contemporary female beauty, knows this is a must. Sure, this makes a woman seem practically bald and somewhat extraterrestrial looking, but it is The Look to die for!

1100 – 1199 -

The Twelfth Century radically changes the way many societies dress and groom. In the beginning, FRENCH MEN are wearing non-stop beards, but by the close of the century, almost all chins were clean-shaven.

MID to LATE 1700s -

Both men and women remove all hair from the forehead to wear artificial press-on mouseskin eyebrows.

EARLY 1800s -

European women are still concocting homemade depilatories in the kitchen.

1830 -

American men have stopped going out in public with only their shaved, baldheads. They now wear hairpieces or hats.

1903 -

GILLETTE begins his legendary climb to the top as king of the U.S. shaving market, thanks to his shaver’s high quality, low price affordability, and his keen approach to marketing. In 1903, his total sales were 51 razors and 168 blades.

1904 -

GILLETTE’S total sales for the new state-of-the-art safety razor reach 90,000 razors and 123,000 blades.