What's with the "No Body Hair" thing?
The_Face_of_Boo
Veteran
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Joined: 16 Jun 2010
Age: 42
Gender: Non-binary
Posts: 33,126
Location: Beirut, Lebanon.
this exactly
Like you, I've also read that the relatively recent Western obsession with hair body removal started because of porn. However, body hair removal per se is not a new idea at all. It was a part of many ancient cultures, such as ancient Egypt, where sugaring was popular.
Also, body hair removal has long been a religious requirement in the Muslim faith. Islam has been around for a pretty long time, so in Arab culture at least, body hair removal cannot be referred to as a recent or passing trend, but rather it's something that's been going on for centuries (or perhaps millenia? I'm not really sure how old Islam is exactly, nor am I sure how long the "fatwa" on hair removal has been in existence).
As to why some people like to remove body hair: shaved or waxed skin looks and feels cleaner than hairy skin. It also feels smoother to the touch. The skin is exposed, meaning you're able to stroke it. If it's covered in prickly hair, the genitalia of your partner doesn't feel nearly as nice to the touch.
I am from the Middle East, and I assure you that only in the Muslim Gulf countries, the real Arab countries, (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Qatar, Oman, Yemen, Bahrain) where hair removal is often seen as a religious requirement, and among some of the fundamental groups such as the brotherhood in Egypt. But total hair removal isn't popular at all among men elsewhere in the Arabized world (which commonly called Arab world for linguistic reasons), shaving everything and especially legs is considered gay in the Arabized Levant countries and North Africa, the more devout individuals might trim and manage it at certain length but they usually don't shave body hair - I personally trim some place (I am atheist tho) because it feels more clear and I don't get this nasty ingrown effect. There's a some slow growing trend of removing chest hair especially among the gym junkies but this is entirely a western influence.
For women, removing all legs and arms hair and mustaches was always the norm, they were so obsessed about it to the extent they were used to apply bat's blood for newborns, especially female newborn's legs and arms. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Culture/Lif ... z2vsalIGtY, pubic hair removal for women varies from one country to another, almost like men, what I am sure of that they don't shave it in the Levant and North Africa (but often trim) and I am quasi-sure they remove it all in the Gulf states.
Islam been around 1435 years but this custom, like a lot of customs, might goes back to the pre-islamic Arabia and other pre-islamic extinct civilizations.
That's entirely a matter of personal taste.
I second the thumbs-up to MissLizard!
Also, my hypersensitivities absolutely can NOT handle stubble, razor burn, or razor bumps. It drives me stark staring mad to have any of those things going on down there.

Do you know how I know I really am autistic? Because at this moment I am really struggling against the impulse to post all about the details of my 'personal' area and have to keep saying to myself, NO, that's NOT a socially acceptable thing to say.
*sigh*
That's entirely a matter of personal taste.
I second the thumbs-up to MissLizard!
Also, my hypersensitivities absolutely can NOT handle stubble, razor burn, or razor bumps. It drives me stark staring mad to have any of those things going on down there.

Do you know how I know I really am autistic? Because at this moment I am really struggling against the impulse to post all about the details of my 'personal' area and have to keep saying to myself, NO, that's NOT a socially acceptable thing to say.
*sigh*
Hey, why not? All the rest of us have! LOL
The_Face_of_Boo
Veteran
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Joined: 16 Jun 2010
Age: 42
Gender: Non-binary
Posts: 33,126
Location: Beirut, Lebanon.
A lot of fashion trends today is from porn or reinforced by porn, like the high stiletto heel for example.
That's entirely a matter of personal taste.
I second the thumbs-up to MissLizard!
Also, my hypersensitivities absolutely can NOT handle stubble, razor burn, or razor bumps. It drives me stark staring mad to have any of those things going on down there.

Do you know how I know I really am autistic? Because at this moment I am really struggling against the impulse to post all about the details of my 'personal' area and have to keep saying to myself, NO, that's NOT a socially acceptable thing to say.
*sigh*
Hey, why not? All the rest of us have! LOL
Maybe I should have done this as a 'poll' ?

A lot of fashion trends today is from porn or reinforced by porn, like the high stiletto heel for example.
Another one of my pet hates -Stilleto Heels OW!!
Thanks for your input on the Middle East, Boo! That was very interesting.
this exactly
Like you, I've also read that the relatively recent Western obsession with hair body removal started because of porn. However, body hair removal per se is not a new idea at all. It was a part of many ancient cultures, such as ancient Egypt, where sugaring was popular.
Also, body hair removal has long been a religious requirement in the Muslim faith. Islam has been around for a pretty long time, so in Arab culture at least, body hair removal cannot be referred to as a recent or passing trend, but rather it's something that's been going on for centuries (or perhaps millenia? I'm not really sure how old Islam is exactly, nor am I sure how long the "fatwa" on hair removal has been in existence).
As to why some people like to remove body hair: shaved or waxed skin looks and feels cleaner than hairy skin. It also feels smoother to the touch. The skin is exposed, meaning you're able to stroke it. If it's covered in prickly hair, the genitalia of your partner doesn't feel nearly as nice to the touch.
1 ) personal preference
B ) I have never experienced anyone shaved who was not far more prickly - there is stubble VERY soon after any shaving type method which I don't like on my cheeks or lips.
on the other hand after my hormones messed I did need a little electrolysis on my lip which was fairly fast and healed quickly. Not a problem now since I am on replacement therapy.
_________________
?The first duty of a human being is to assume the right functional relationship to society--more briefly, to find your real job, and do it.? - Charlotte Perkins Gilman
"There never was a good war, or a bad peace." - Benjamin Franklin
A friend sent this to my FB page, (talk about co-incidences)
****************************************
My night began as any other normal weeknight. Come home, fix dinner, and play with the kids. I then had the thought that would ring painfully in my mind for the next few hours: 'Maybe I should pull the waxing kit out of the medicine cabinet.'
So I headed to the site of my demise: the bathroom. It was one of those 'cold wax' kits. No melting a clump of hot wax, you just rub the strips together in your hand, they get warm and you peel them apart and press them to your leg (or wherever else) and you pull the hair right off.
No mess, no fuss. How hard can it be? I mean, I'm not a genius, but I am mechanically inclined enough to figure this out. (YA THINK!?!)
So I pull one of the thin strips out. Its two strips facing each other stuck together. Instead of rubbing them together, my genius kicks in so I get out the hair dryer and heat it to 1000 degrees. ('Cold wax,' yeah...right!) I lay the strip across my thigh. Hold the skin around it tight and pull. It works!
OK, so it wasn't the best feeling, but it wasn't too bad. I can do this! Hair removal no longer eludes me! I am She-rah, fighter of all wayward body hair and maker of smooth skin extraordinaire.
With my next wax strip I move north after checking on the kids, I sneak back into the bathroom, for the ultimate hair fighting championship. I drop my panties and place one foot on the toilet.
Using the same procedure, I apply the wax strip across the right side of my bikini line, covering the right half of my hoo-ha and stretching down to the inside of my butt cheek (it was a long strip) ..
I inhale deeply and brace myself...RRRRIIIPPP!! !!
I'm blind!! ! Blinded from pain!! !!....OH MY GAWD!! !! !! !! !
Vision returning, I notice that I've only managed to pull off half the strip. CRAP! Another deep breath and RIPP! Everything is spinning and spotted.
I think I may pass out...must stay conscious...must stay conscious. Do I hear crashing drums??? Breathe, breathe...OK, back to normal.
I want to see my trophy - a wax covered strip, the one that has caused me so much pain, with my hairy pelt sticking to it. I want to revel in the glory that is my triumph over body hair. I hold up the strip!
There's no hair on it.
Where is the hair??? WHERE IS THE WAX???
Slowly I ease my head down, foot still perched on the toilet. I see the hair. The hair that should be on the strip...it's not! I touch. .. I am touching wax!!
I run my fingers over the most sensitive part of my body, which is now covered in cold wax and matted hair. Then I make the next BIG mistake...remember my foot is still propped upon the toilet? I know I need to do something. So I put my foot down.
Sealed shut! My butt is sealed shut. Sealed shut!
I penguin walk around the bathroom trying to figure out what to do and think to myself 'Please don't let me get the urge to poop. My head may pop off!'
What can I do to melt the wax?
Hot water!! Hot water melts wax!! I'll run the hottest water I can stand into the bathtub, get in, immerse the wax-covered bits and the wax should melt and I can gently wipe it off, right???
*WRONG!! !! !! !*
I get in the tub - the water is slightly hotter than that used to torture prisoners of war or sterilize surgical equipment - I sit.
Now, the only thing worse than having your nether regions glued together, is having them glued together and then glued to the bottom of the tub...in scalding hot water. Which, by the way, doesn't melt cold wax.
So, now I'm stuck to the bottom of the tub as though I had cemented myself to the porcelain!! God bless the man who had convinced me a few months ago to have a phone put in the bathroom!! !! !
I call my friend, thinking surely she has waxed before and has some secret of how to get me undone. It's a very good conversation starter 'So, my butt and hoo-ha are glued together to the bottom of the tub!'
There is a slight pause. She doesn't know any secret tricks for removal but she does try to hide her laughter from me. She wants to know exactly where the wax is located, 'Are we talking cheeks or hole or hoo-ha?'
She's laughing out loud by now...I can hear her. I give her the rundown and she suggests I call the number on the side of the box.
YEAH!! !! ! Right!! I should be the joke of someone else's night. While we go through various solutions. I resort to trying to scrape the wax off with a razor. Nothing feels better than to have your girlie goodies covered in hot wax, glued shut, stuck to the tub in super hot water and then dry-shaving the sticky wax off!! By now the brain is not working, dignity has taken a major hike and I'm pretty sure I'm going to need Post-Traumatic Stress counseling for this event.
My friend is still talking with me when I finally see my saving grace....the lotion they give you to remove the excess wax.
What do I really have to lose at this point? I rub some on and ... OH MY GAWD!! !! !! ! The scream probably woke the kids and scared the dickens out of my friend. Its sooo painful, but I really don't care.
'IT WORKS!!
It works!!' I get a hearty congratulation from my friend and she hangs up. I successfully remove the remainder of the wax and then notice to my grief and despair...?
THE HAIR IS STILL HERE.......ALL OF IT!
So I recklessly shave it off. Heck, I'm numb by now. Nothing hurts.
I could have amputated my own leg at this point.
Next week I'm going to try hair color......
I like men with hair on the chest,not really big into beards,it's humid here in the summer and it seems like the sweat would run down into them,and tobacco juice.I would understand if a man living in the Yukon wanted a beard,it would be practical.The twelve o'clock shadow is always sexy looking.I don't know why men want to shave their legs,maybe if you were a swimmer or some sort of athlete.I guess that's because most of my life I've seen men with hairy legs,the first time I saw shaved legs on a man was in a swimsuit catalog.They looked sort of funny to me.
_________________
I am the dust that dances in the light. - Rumi
I have so much chest and back hair I cannot even go in public swimming pools. Well, I could but kids point at me and people stare. I have never in my life felt comfortable enough to go outside without a shirt. I have been called monkey and ape many times in my life. I would love to be hairless in those areas, but constant shaving is not the solution.

****************************************
My night began as any other normal weeknight. Come home, fix dinner, and play with the kids. I then had the thought that would ring painfully in my mind for the next few hours: 'Maybe I should pull the waxing kit out of the medicine cabinet.'
So I headed to the site of my demise: the bathroom. It was one of those 'cold wax' kits. No melting a clump of hot wax, you just rub the strips together in your hand, they get warm and you peel them apart and press them to your leg (or wherever else) and you pull the hair right off.
No mess, no fuss. How hard can it be? I mean, I'm not a genius, but I am mechanically inclined enough to figure this out. (YA THINK!?!)
So I pull one of the thin strips out. Its two strips facing each other stuck together. Instead of rubbing them together, my genius kicks in so I get out the hair dryer and heat it to 1000 degrees. ('Cold wax,' yeah...right!) I lay the strip across my thigh. Hold the skin around it tight and pull. It works!
OK, so it wasn't the best feeling, but it wasn't too bad. I can do this! Hair removal no longer eludes me! I am She-rah, fighter of all wayward body hair and maker of smooth skin extraordinaire.
With my next wax strip I move north after checking on the kids, I sneak back into the bathroom, for the ultimate hair fighting championship. I drop my panties and place one foot on the toilet.
Using the same procedure, I apply the wax strip across the right side of my bikini line, covering the right half of my hoo-ha and stretching down to the inside of my butt cheek (it was a long strip) ..
I inhale deeply and brace myself...RRRRIIIPPP!! !!
I'm blind!! ! Blinded from pain!! !!....OH MY GAWD!! !! !! !! !
Vision returning, I notice that I've only managed to pull off half the strip. CRAP! Another deep breath and RIPP! Everything is spinning and spotted.
I think I may pass out...must stay conscious...must stay conscious. Do I hear crashing drums??? Breathe, breathe...OK, back to normal.
I want to see my trophy - a wax covered strip, the one that has caused me so much pain, with my hairy pelt sticking to it. I want to revel in the glory that is my triumph over body hair. I hold up the strip!
There's no hair on it.
Where is the hair??? WHERE IS THE WAX???
Slowly I ease my head down, foot still perched on the toilet. I see the hair. The hair that should be on the strip...it's not! I touch. .. I am touching wax!!
I run my fingers over the most sensitive part of my body, which is now covered in cold wax and matted hair. Then I make the next BIG mistake...remember my foot is still propped upon the toilet? I know I need to do something. So I put my foot down.
Sealed shut! My butt is sealed shut. Sealed shut!
I penguin walk around the bathroom trying to figure out what to do and think to myself 'Please don't let me get the urge to poop. My head may pop off!'
What can I do to melt the wax?
Hot water!! Hot water melts wax!! I'll run the hottest water I can stand into the bathtub, get in, immerse the wax-covered bits and the wax should melt and I can gently wipe it off, right???
*WRONG!! !! !! !*
I get in the tub - the water is slightly hotter than that used to torture prisoners of war or sterilize surgical equipment - I sit.
Now, the only thing worse than having your nether regions glued together, is having them glued together and then glued to the bottom of the tub...in scalding hot water. Which, by the way, doesn't melt cold wax.
So, now I'm stuck to the bottom of the tub as though I had cemented myself to the porcelain!! God bless the man who had convinced me a few months ago to have a phone put in the bathroom!! !! !
I call my friend, thinking surely she has waxed before and has some secret of how to get me undone. It's a very good conversation starter 'So, my butt and hoo-ha are glued together to the bottom of the tub!'
There is a slight pause. She doesn't know any secret tricks for removal but she does try to hide her laughter from me. She wants to know exactly where the wax is located, 'Are we talking cheeks or hole or hoo-ha?'
She's laughing out loud by now...I can hear her. I give her the rundown and she suggests I call the number on the side of the box.
YEAH!! !! ! Right!! I should be the joke of someone else's night. While we go through various solutions. I resort to trying to scrape the wax off with a razor. Nothing feels better than to have your girlie goodies covered in hot wax, glued shut, stuck to the tub in super hot water and then dry-shaving the sticky wax off!! By now the brain is not working, dignity has taken a major hike and I'm pretty sure I'm going to need Post-Traumatic Stress counseling for this event.
My friend is still talking with me when I finally see my saving grace....the lotion they give you to remove the excess wax.
What do I really have to lose at this point? I rub some on and ... OH MY GAWD!! !! !! ! The scream probably woke the kids and scared the dickens out of my friend. Its sooo painful, but I really don't care.
'IT WORKS!!
It works!!' I get a hearty congratulation from my friend and she hangs up. I successfully remove the remainder of the wax and then notice to my grief and despair...?
THE HAIR IS STILL HERE.......ALL OF IT!
So I recklessly shave it off. Heck, I'm numb by now. Nothing hurts.
I could have amputated my own leg at this point.
Next week I'm going to try hair color......

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I was howling
_________________
?The first duty of a human being is to assume the right functional relationship to society--more briefly, to find your real job, and do it.? - Charlotte Perkins Gilman
"There never was a good war, or a bad peace." - Benjamin Franklin
1 ) personal preference
B ) I have never experienced anyone shaved who was not far more prickly - there is stubble VERY soon after any shaving type method which I don't like on my cheeks or lips.
I agree that it's a matter of personal preference. I also agree with you that the "sandpaper" feeling is awful. I also agree with all the people complaining that shaving causes them razor bumps, bleeding, ingrowing hairs, etc.
I wasn't stating my own opinion or preference in the part that you quoted. I don't shave. I just trim. I was merely answering the thread's title question literally, and trying to come up with some ideas about why body hair removal has become so popular.
The_Face_of_Boo
Veteran

Joined: 16 Jun 2010
Age: 42
Gender: Non-binary
Posts: 33,126
Location: Beirut, Lebanon.

****************************************
My night began as any other normal weeknight. Come home, fix dinner, and play with the kids. I then had the thought that would ring painfully in my mind for the next few hours: 'Maybe I should pull the waxing kit out of the medicine cabinet.'
So I headed to the site of my demise: the bathroom. It was one of those 'cold wax' kits. No melting a clump of hot wax, you just rub the strips together in your hand, they get warm and you peel them apart and press them to your leg (or wherever else) and you pull the hair right off.
No mess, no fuss. How hard can it be? I mean, I'm not a genius, but I am mechanically inclined enough to figure this out. (YA THINK!?!)
So I pull one of the thin strips out. Its two strips facing each other stuck together. Instead of rubbing them together, my genius kicks in so I get out the hair dryer and heat it to 1000 degrees. ('Cold wax,' yeah...right!) I lay the strip across my thigh. Hold the skin around it tight and pull. It works!
OK, so it wasn't the best feeling, but it wasn't too bad. I can do this! Hair removal no longer eludes me! I am She-rah, fighter of all wayward body hair and maker of smooth skin extraordinaire.
With my next wax strip I move north after checking on the kids, I sneak back into the bathroom, for the ultimate hair fighting championship. I drop my panties and place one foot on the toilet.
Using the same procedure, I apply the wax strip across the right side of my bikini line, covering the right half of my hoo-ha and stretching down to the inside of my butt cheek (it was a long strip) ..
I inhale deeply and brace myself...RRRRIIIPPP!! !!
I'm blind!! ! Blinded from pain!! !!....OH MY GAWD!! !! !! !! !
Vision returning, I notice that I've only managed to pull off half the strip. CRAP! Another deep breath and RIPP! Everything is spinning and spotted.
I think I may pass out...must stay conscious...must stay conscious. Do I hear crashing drums??? Breathe, breathe...OK, back to normal.
I want to see my trophy - a wax covered strip, the one that has caused me so much pain, with my hairy pelt sticking to it. I want to revel in the glory that is my triumph over body hair. I hold up the strip!
There's no hair on it.
Where is the hair??? WHERE IS THE WAX???
Slowly I ease my head down, foot still perched on the toilet. I see the hair. The hair that should be on the strip...it's not! I touch. .. I am touching wax!!
I run my fingers over the most sensitive part of my body, which is now covered in cold wax and matted hair. Then I make the next BIG mistake...remember my foot is still propped upon the toilet? I know I need to do something. So I put my foot down.
Sealed shut! My butt is sealed shut. Sealed shut!
I penguin walk around the bathroom trying to figure out what to do and think to myself 'Please don't let me get the urge to poop. My head may pop off!'
What can I do to melt the wax?
Hot water!! Hot water melts wax!! I'll run the hottest water I can stand into the bathtub, get in, immerse the wax-covered bits and the wax should melt and I can gently wipe it off, right???
*WRONG!! !! !! !*
I get in the tub - the water is slightly hotter than that used to torture prisoners of war or sterilize surgical equipment - I sit.
Now, the only thing worse than having your nether regions glued together, is having them glued together and then glued to the bottom of the tub...in scalding hot water. Which, by the way, doesn't melt cold wax.
So, now I'm stuck to the bottom of the tub as though I had cemented myself to the porcelain!! God bless the man who had convinced me a few months ago to have a phone put in the bathroom!! !! !
I call my friend, thinking surely she has waxed before and has some secret of how to get me undone. It's a very good conversation starter 'So, my butt and hoo-ha are glued together to the bottom of the tub!'
There is a slight pause. She doesn't know any secret tricks for removal but she does try to hide her laughter from me. She wants to know exactly where the wax is located, 'Are we talking cheeks or hole or hoo-ha?'
She's laughing out loud by now...I can hear her. I give her the rundown and she suggests I call the number on the side of the box.
YEAH!! !! ! Right!! I should be the joke of someone else's night. While we go through various solutions. I resort to trying to scrape the wax off with a razor. Nothing feels better than to have your girlie goodies covered in hot wax, glued shut, stuck to the tub in super hot water and then dry-shaving the sticky wax off!! By now the brain is not working, dignity has taken a major hike and I'm pretty sure I'm going to need Post-Traumatic Stress counseling for this event.
My friend is still talking with me when I finally see my saving grace....the lotion they give you to remove the excess wax.
What do I really have to lose at this point? I rub some on and ... OH MY GAWD!! !! !! ! The scream probably woke the kids and scared the dickens out of my friend. Its sooo painful, but I really don't care.
'IT WORKS!!
It works!!' I get a hearty congratulation from my friend and she hangs up. I successfully remove the remainder of the wax and then notice to my grief and despair...?
THE HAIR IS STILL HERE.......ALL OF IT!
So I recklessly shave it off. Heck, I'm numb by now. Nothing hurts.
I could have amputated my own leg at this point.
Next week I'm going to try hair color......
The crazy things people do for of sex....
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