This Woman Refuses To Shave Her Armpits, And Gender Equality Is Only Part Of It

She admits to shaving her legs, but thinks shaving her underarms is a repressive, patriarchal, outdated, socially imposed behavior. As a male, who unconditionally supports equality for all people, I am going to say this woman is honestly not thinking her position or personal grooming activities through.

I could care less if you shave your pits or not, but knock off this whole "patriarchal beauty standards" nonsense. I'll agree that women are held to different standards than men when it comes to things like grooming... but it is other women, not men, holding them to those standards

I don't see how this has anything to do with feminism, gender equality, etc. No one is forced to shave anything they don't want to shave. It's always been a personal decision, and while society HAS definitely influenced ideas of what is attractive or desirable, it's still up to each of us, male or female what to do with our personal grooming habits.

You can pluck your eyebrows or not, shave your armpits or not..it's a free country.

I choose to go ahead and shave things, but either choice is just fine, and maybe we're making mountains out of armpits here.

She has a point it's a totally arbitrary thing. Beauty is based on cultural programming and shaved armpits is a perfect example of that. A child growing up is bombarded with images of supermodels, movie stars, pop stars etc where they all have shaved underarms and it has become the norm and associated with beauty . If the switch was flipped tomorrow and a child growing up was suddenly bombarded with images where unshaved armpits were the norm they would think shaved armpits are weird/gross etc. People fiorget that there was a time when Reubenesque women were considered the height of beauty and today's supermodels would have been scorned for looking like starving refugees.

" and resisting patriarchal beauty standards in the process."

Bravo. If we look to the history books we see that around the 5th century, many kings and even the pope declared female armpit hair the work of the devil. They even burned these women at the stake.

Lol, get real. No man throughout history has ever demanded women shave their armpits. That is some manufactured outrage for sure. Men are just glad to have sex, women are way more complicated and fussy about their appearance than males even care or notice.

But since we are on the topic let's talk about beauty standards. There are of course two. What women "want", and what men "want". These aren't forced on anyone. But, if you are yourself looking for a certain type of man, don't act surprised that men also may be looking for a certain woman. These beauty "standards" don't exist, everyone's taste is quite different. Hence why fatties can still get laid.

Also, apparently none of these women have been to Europe. Unshaven armpits aren't exactly NEW, or even infrequent. This is American women thinking they are making some sort of stand. HAHA, garbage.

I have no problem with her not shaving her arm pits. I also have no problem avoiding her. What she does with her body is her business and my reaction to her is my business

LOL... everyone needs a cause to fight these days... Aaaaaah Yes! Carry on.

I understand the meaning that it was used for during the the feminism movements. Shaving or not shaving is your choice and it should be just that. Why does everything have to be about an issue now. If you don't shave your pits, good for you, but that doesnt make you holier than than a woman or a person who does shave her pits. This is where feminism has its issues. Instead of trying to empower someone, most "feminists" tear down those who do follow common gender stereotypes. I believe in equal treatment of all of the sexes, equal pay, equal rights, and equal respect. There are more important issues that need to be brought up in the fight for these equalities and honestly, shaving or not shaving your pits shouldn't even be on the list of issues.

You can do or not do anything you like as long as it is legal and hurts no one.
BUT
There is a cost to all actions.
Farting in an elevator at work is legal and you can do.... You can even tell your co-workers that it's natural and "you should be able to do it if you want" and if your co-workers have a problem... well, they are the problem.

The cost? No friends.

The same formula applies to females not shaving arm pits. Understand the cost, accept the cost, and go for it. But DO NOT keep harping on "If someone has a problem with it... THEY are the problem"

The problem is a lack of understanding of social navigation and living your life the way you think the world SHOULD BE rather than the way the world IS.

She's right about the way things should be... but wrong about the way things are.

I agree, it sucks.

Not shaving one's arm pit hair is not a movement. She's just finding something to have a fight about. I know that it may be different in other social circles but I never thought of shaving the pits as a must-do. I might do it every few months but I never felt the weight of society swinging from my arm pit hairs.