Guardian Journalist advocates being a hairy lady

Jezek

Just reading the guardian because I think I'm so enlightened and came upon this article.

Ladies: why you should stop shaving

Luckily for you, I have conducted an 18-month experiment and can tell you that there is nothing to fear from going hairy

She then goes on to talk about all the men she's been with that don't mind it or even like it, and that cruel people made fun of her on the tube ( could hear the bitterness in her voice in that bit)

Overall, I think she comes off a bit hysterical, as if shaving isn't a personal choice but a mandate. In the last paragraph she says

Remember that you are doing the necessary and important work of challenging stupid, arbitrary, gendered bull****. And when you get to feminist heaven, Judith Butler and Simone de Beauvoir will be waiting with bubbly wine, a corn-fed organic roast chicken, Bikini Kill and the entire cast of Monty Python. Do you want to miss that party?

If that didn't make you throw up a bit in your mouth, then congrats, you are the sort of 'liberal' and 'educated' person the guardian is aimed at.

But then again, maybe she is trolling? In any case I predict that she's the next Samantha Brick.

P.S. Hmm..no picture of her all hirsute (hersute?)

smash

She sounds like a complete tool to be honest. Women shave, men shave... it's a personal choice and it looks a hell of a lot better 99% of the time. To associate it with some kind of sexist ritual is complete bollox.

p.s. feminist heaven my arse!

phasers

I bet she's got a fanny like Gandalf's beard

Immaculate Pasta

smash wrote: »

She sounds like a complete tool to be honest.

Well the woman who wrote the article is called Emer O'Toole.

Make of that what you will :cool:

St.Spodo

phasers wrote: »

I bet she's got a fanny like Gandalf's beard

I bet she's got one like his sleeve.

Gummy Panda

:eek:

*paging hairyprincess to thread*

Bannasidhe

Oh No. Women with hair in places nature intended for women to have hair OMG :eek:.

mike65

Was this in Comment Is Free? Loonie lefties to a hairy man and woman.

Sindri

As this annual onslaught on a woman's right to hide her shameful, sub-beautiful physicality marches nearer, many of you will be wondering: what will I do with my body hair?

Shave.

Then, in a completely un-hair-related twist, we broke up. So I did what single girls in London do, and had ALL the boyfriends. None of them minded (some of them liked it). And then one of the boyfriends turned out to be completely amazing so I made him the only boyfriend. He is also proud of me

Obliterating gender stereotypes there.

I smell exactly the same as I did before – a bit like soap after showering, and a bit like Christmas cake first thing in the morning.

No you smell revolting.

• This article is an edited version of a piece that ran on the Vagendablog

Well then, no contrived reactionary progressive agenda there.

Gyalist

Sindri wrote: »

No you smell revolting.

Assuming that you are male, do you remove all of your body hair?

Sindri

Gyalist wrote: »

Assuming that you are male, do you remove all of your body hair?

With a tweezers.

Daily!

smash

Bannasidhe wrote: »

Oh No. Women with hair in places nature intended for women to have hair OMG :eek:.

Hardly the point? the point is that it's personal choice and to most people it looks and feels better yet she portrays it as being some kind of oppression.

what a load of sh!te

i have as little time for people telling me what i shouldn't be doing based on their own insecurities and neuroses as i do for people telling me what i should be doing based on same

analucija

So the only way to get to a feminist heaven is not to conform to the basic hygiene standards. But then again, not to shave is the easiest form of protest against gender inequalities. All you need to do is to be lazy.

pablomakaveli

She can kiss goodbye to getting her box eaten then.

jaffacakesyum

I don't give a sh1te if ya wanna go hairy. Go for it. Fair play. But don't tell other women they have to do the same.

She's just as bad as people pressuring women to be completely hairless.

She needs to go get herself a nice brazilian wax. And then have herself a good ride. That'll soon change her mind.

wilkie2006

I think you've just contradicted yourself a bit there, Jezek...

Jezek wrote: »

Overall, I think she comes off a bit hysterical, as if shaving isn't a personal choice but a mandate.

Okay, so you feel that shaving is a personal choice, not something that women feel obliged to do? Got it.

Jezek wrote: »

She then goes on to talk about all the men she's been with that don't mind it or even like it, and that cruel people made fun of her on the tube ( could hear the bitterness in her voice in that bit)

Oh, so wait, now you admit that actually people on the tube - society - does actually exert pressure and influence over women to look a certain way. Right. I don't think that you know what you're talking about.

Jezek wrote: »

But then again, maybe she is trolling? In any case I predict that she's the next Samantha Brick.

How can she be compared to Samantha Brick? As far as I remember, SB was a deluded and vacuous idiot, whereas this author is just questioning a Western gender stereotype.

Jezek wrote: »

If that didn't make you throw up a bit in your mouth, then congrats, you are the sort of 'liberal' and 'educated' person the guardian is aimed at.

Hmm, well The Guardian's a little bit too grown up and sophisticated for you. Maybe you'd be more comfortable with The Sun? They've got tits in that.

Toby Take a Bow

Guardian journalist wrote:

Bikini Kill

Ah, Bikini Kill. The only band I listened to growing up that was guaranteed to get my dad to threaten to burn my record collection.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHUnwQNp6jY

Now I kinda see his point. I must be getting old.

Riddle101

So they have a seperate heaven for feminists now? Or is that another name for the heaven that dogs go to.

Yeah was going to post a witty Pics of GTFO comment, but then actually saw the woman's pic in the article. My god, whatever men dated her must have been blind.

Canis Lupus

Was in the airport a couple of months back, very pretty girl in a very pretty dress. Yum says I (mentally) then I noticed her legs were as hairy as mine... Insta turn off...

Sure women are free to do what they like but hairy armpits and legs on girls is icky.

ntlbell

Canis Lupus wrote: »

Sure women are free to do what they like but hairy armpits and legs on girls is icky.

but ye can't beat a big hairy arse.

Jezek

wilkie2006 wrote: »

Hmm, well The Guardian's a little bit too grown up and sophisticated for you. Maybe you'd be more comfortable with The Sun? They've got tits in that.

I know , I was just trying to find the page 3 feature of the Guardian

bwatson

The Guardian once again trying to find injustice where there is no need to.

p to the e

Jezek wrote: »

P.S. Hmm..no picture of her all hirsute (hersute?)

Don't you mean "hair suit"?

Duggy747

If I wanted to get with a hairy woman I'd just get with a man.

I like women who shave, that's my preference but.........you know.........preferences never come up in these arguments / ramblings. Lots of women also like to shave but, judging from the article, it's probably society's fault for that.

Society has obviously locked me and those women into a box into what we should be doing and liking..............fortunately, we have these "free" people outside of the box to help tell us what we should be doing and liking.

bwatson

wilkie2006 wrote: »

Hmm, well The Guardian's a little bit too grown up and sophisticated for you. Maybe you'd be more comfortable with The Sun? They've got tits in that.

Typical Guardian reader's attitude right there.

Who know's? Maybe next you will call a reader of the telegraph or the times a moron or an idiot because they don't agree with your far left tendencies?

up for anything

pablomakaveli wrote: »

She can kiss goodbye to getting her box eaten then.

Box! I know they say most of the nutrition in cornflakes is in the box but I didn't think anyone took them seriously. :eek:

bodice ripper

I really, really do not like hairless female genitals. I know the world is currently against me, but I don't care. It is seriously off-putting.

I'd still favor a woman with a spotty angry box, but who can string a coherent argument together over one with a full bush who could look over that article and think "yeah, that'll do."

smash

bodice ripper wrote: »

I really, really do not like hairless female genitals.

I do.

nom nom nom.

up for anything

FFS! STOP USING THE WORD BOX! :mad:

bodice ripper

smash wrote: »

I do.

nom nom nom.

good for you

it seems there is plenty of it going round.

hairyprincess

Gummy Panda wrote: »

:eek:

*paging hairyprincess to thread*

Did someone call?

Sorry I was busy plaiting my underarm hair

smash

hairyprincess wrote: »

Did someone call?

Sorry I was busy plaiting my underarm hair

:eek: where's the vomit smiley when needed....

TerrorFirmer

Wow. That's actually my best mates sister.

noddyone2

up for anything wrote: »

FFS! STOP USING THE WORD BOX! :mad:

Why? Christmas box, wooden box, jewelery box, cardboard box, box in the head, box in the gob, box room etc. Most of which have uses, just the same as that other box, whether hairy or not!

Pedant

The Guardian is to journalism what a hairy minge is to a gay man.

suicide_circus

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/5/2/1335949446699/Emer-OToole.jpg

wilkie2006

jaffacakesyum wrote: »

I don't give a sh1te if ya wanna go hairy. Go for it. Fair play. But don't tell other women they have to do the same.

She's just as bad as people pressuring women to be completely hairless.

I completely agree with this. Everyone should be entitled - and encouraged - to do what they want.

What I find distasteful about this thread is that the majority of comments are lambasting the author, suggesting that she's attention-seeking. There are even questions about whether she's trolling!!! :eek: For what? Saying that being hairy is a legitimate alternative?

All she's doing is helping to normalise hair on women. Fair play to her. I think that more cosmetic standards should be challenged. Freedom of choice should be the 'norm', not the micro issue of hair or no hair.

super_furry

Whatever about the message - I wouldn't have much of a problem at all if my girlfriend decided to stop shaving - the article reads like it's written by a hyperactive 13-year-old Justin Bieber fan.

"The man I was going out with when the experiment began was a little apprehensive when I unveiled my innovative grooming plans, but when I actually grew the hair out he was proud of me. One evening, friends of ours asked him a variation of the above question, and he said: "If I was a girl, I wouldn't shave my legs." Because he is awesome. Then, in a completely un-hair-related twist, we broke up. So I did what single girls in London do, and had ALL the boyfriends. None of them minded (some of them liked it). And then one of the boyfriends turned out to be completely amazing so I made him the only boyfriend. He is also proud of me."

smash

wilkie2006 wrote: »

All she's doing is helping to normalise hair on women.

No she's not. She saying that women who shave should stop and she's saying it's a form of sexism and/or oppression. It's neither, it's personal choice and men do it too these days.

noddyone2

up for anything wrote: »

FFS! STOP USING THE WORD BOX! :mad:

Is it ok if we use 'bosca'?

wilkie2006

wilkie2006 wrote: »

What I find distasteful about this thread is that the majority of comments are lambasting the author, suggesting that she's attention-seeking. There are even questions about whether she's trolling!!! :eek: For what? Saying that being hairy is a legitimate alternative?

No, for her clearly flippant and exaggerated writing style, e.g.
"I was nervous the first few times I went swimming lest other swimmers would try to drown me"

up for anything

noddyone2 wrote: »

Why? Christmas box, wooden box, jewelery box, cardboard box, box in the head, box in the gob, box room etc. Most of which have uses, just the same as that other box, whether hairy or not!

Box in the gob, box in the head - now you're talking.

TerrorFirmer

I don't agree with the fundamental message, and while I do believe people are entitled to their own beliefs and practices, I don't particularly like the tone of the article much.

Remember that you are doing the necessary and important work of challenging stupid, arbitrary, gendered bull****.

Why does either gender shave full stop, if one is to take that view? It doesn't necessarily have to be limited to one gender - Why don't all men walk around with large bushy beards? It's less aesthetically appealing, largely,and I don't think that it's necessarily always an inherently bad thing. Not to mention, shaving, to both genders, forms part of a familiar routine - not some barbaric ritual stifling an individuals sense of self, as is sort of advocated in the article.

Still, however, you have the admire the dedication of an individual to that extent - thick skin required. I don't particularly care about whether or not a woman shaves or grooms certain parts of her anatomy, but I would readily admit that a girl with hairy legs would be something I would find physically off putting - much in the same way many women would find it extremely off putting if their boyfriend decided to grow a big, bushy beard. But I don't think it's right to label that as 'stupid bull****'.

wilkie2006

bluewolf wrote: »

No, for her clearly flippant and exaggerated writing style, e.g.
"I was nervous the first few times I went swimming lest other swimmers would try to drown me"

I quite enjoyed her style of writing. I think she did really well to communicate her point in a light-hearted way and without recourse to a traditionally butch, feminist voice.

TerrorFirmer

wilkie2006 wrote: »

I quite enjoyed her style of writing. I think she did really well to communicate her point in a light-hearted way and without recourse to a traditionally butch, feminist voice.

Actually, that's one point I agree on.

Jimoslimos

hairyprincess wrote: »

Did someone call?

Sorry I was busy plaiting my underarm hair

Rapunzel, Rapunzel.......

wilkie2006

smash wrote: »

No she's not. She saying that women who shave should stop and she's saying it's a form of sexism and/or oppression. It's neither, it's personal choice and men do it too these days.

Is it? Well, maybe for some women but I'm sure that there are a hell of a lot who do it because they're afraid of this:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/may/02/ladies-why-you-should-stop-shaving

Don't people point and laugh at you in public?
Yes. Sometimes people do look at you as if it is the 19th century and they have paid a ha'penny to attend a freak-show, saying: "Ha ha ha. Look at the hairy lady – just like Julia Roberts that time shelost the plot." Note to tube users: if you whisper and giggle behind your hand while staring straight at a fellow passenger, she will probably know that you are talking about her. For a hand is not a massive opaque screen. It is a hand.
Randomers point and laugh at my legs and armpits in public sometimes.

I think that if you're a woman and you want to shave then great, you're in the right society. If you're a woman and you don't want to shave then tough $hit, do it or face the public's opprobrium. It's not oppression if you fall into the former category but it is if you're in the latter one.

smash wrote: »

...and men do it too these days.

It's not expected of men though and those who do shave their chest etc generally do it because they want to.

Jimoslimos

Immaculate Pasta wrote: »

Well the woman who wrote the article is called Emer O'Toole.

Make of that what you will :cool:

Yeah, a bit of quick googling it appears she's Irish:pac:, went to NUI Galway and Trinity.
*grabs popcorn*


Wonder if she has an account here......

ziggy23

Hair on a woman is ****ing disgusting. She looks likes she smells tbh