In the interest of transparency, this actually started as a mock post, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked the topic. So, there.
Shaving, along with the myriad of other hair removal options, has become the norm in our western society. In spite of what a handful of feminists or body-positive activists (whatever that means) might tell you, removing hair that's considered offensive continues to be the custom. And I wanna know why.
To keep this brief, let's leave out the "obvious" reasons -- big date, big interview, Christmas office party, dinner with the in-laws, and so on and so forth. Obviously, you're going to want to look spiffy for those. And while there's much to say about the "spiffy" concept itself, it falls outside of today's topic, I feel.
"Why are you shaving?"
"I've got a big date."
... is a finite conversation.
But these are the odd ones out. More often, we don't shave for a big event. By the way, I mean any and every type of hair deemed offensive by you, at your own discretion. Still, razor blades, hot wax, and hair removal devices and creams are part of most households, to be used on a regular basis. Why?
One obvious answer there is to be attractive to potential mates. Hence the date scenario. But often, we will eliminate any trace of errant hair even when we are decidedly not looking for a mate, either because we're already with one, or because we're not really, well, looking.
The hair still goes.
Now, a lot of people, a lot of women mainly, will say "I do it for myself". Fair enough, as someone who abhors body hair for the most part, I can understand that. But even in those instances, we all have a threshold of what's deemed acceptable and not. While you might be repulsed by a massively hair woman's leg, you might not bat an eye at a few emerging hairs. The threshold differs, but most of us, when we say we prefer a clean-shaved look, aren't really including those under the threshold instances.
And yet, we shave them off. I may consider it perfectly fine in the privacy of my own home, but you certainly won't catch me out in a dress looking like that. (well mostly not, anyway) And yet, in such instances, I am not doing it for myself, as we've already determined I do not actually mind the "under the threshold" hair. Nor do I do it as part of a big event, nor am I expressly trying to attract male attention.
Best I could come up with is, we do it because society. Namely, a woman with somewhat hairy legs that are visible is considered disgraceful. A man with a few days' worth of stubble, similarly, is considered unkempt. But what do these ideas mean, and where did they come from? Obviously, they weren't always the case, especially since, at a large, planetary scale, the concept of taking care of yourself has only been part of our culture briefly. As far as we know, at least. You'll say Vikings were famous for looking their best while slaughtering monks, but 2,000 years is nothing. Then again, that might fall under the "big events" bracket, so might explain their self-care.
Getting back to modern times, the reason why it's interesting is that this is a society-made concept, and a fairly recent one, if you think about it. It's not "fire kills you" kind of instinct. It's quite modern. And yet, while being man-made, it has become an impulse. More often than not, you're not actively thinking about shaving. You do it because you have to. But who says you have to? You see what I mean?
And if we can reprogram our minds so swiftly, to incorporate new social customs at the drop of a hat, what else might we incorporate in there?
Doing a slight bit of research for this, I came upon something rather interesting. Understandably, shaving was first and foremost a hygienic choice back in the day, as it eliminated the possibility of lice. (I do assume they mean beards. Imagine lice-ridden legs.)
Alexander the Great told his soldiers to shave because it was easier to fight and avoid beard grabbing. Men who did not shave were considered barbarian.
I like that. Because it begins to answer the question why do we think unshaven people are unkempt? Well, there might be a possible origin to it. And if you think about it, Alexander the Great was yesterday, when we consider how long the world has been here, so it's interesting that so quickly, we've incorporated this practice as social norm.
The article did also offer up the "fun fact" that men spend roughly 3,000 hours shaving, while women spend double. Which if you think about it, is incredible slight of hand on women's part, considering how much more they cover. That's 125 days for men and 250 for women. Almost a year of a woman's life goes by shaving. That's incredible.
At the end of the day, I don't believe in all this normalizing not shaving. I think you're free to do as you like in this life, and that's amazing, but I think society should also be free to think as they will about that. By telling you you need to accept and approve of my choice, I'm inherently stamping out your personal freedom.
Besides, I don't think it's gonna be so easy to rewrite the way our society thinks. It's so deeply ingrained to consider a clean-shave elegant, while a stubble of any kind is messy and unkempt. Then again, apparently we haven't been thinking like that for quite so long, so who knows?
