Since I left the US, I haven't shaved anything. I didn't bother bringing razors, and I didn't bother getting them here. I'm not getting laid anyway, and while I usually shave just for comfort, I figured I'd try a brief experiment.
(I would post photos, but my camera died! The actual image sensor is busted, there's no saving it. Woe.)
The funny thing is that all I've learned is that I'm not hairy at all. My body hair gets long pretty fast, but it's just not dense; my hairy crotch looks less like fur and more like... well, a shaved crotch, if you're more than a couple feet away. The fur is pale and sparse. And you'd only know my legs and armpits were unshaved if you actually felt them; I can't even see the hair.
So if shaving makes me look prepubescent, well, shit, I was never going to hit puberty.
Then again, if shaving makes me feminine, I guess I'm already pretty feminine naturally. It's one of those feedback-effect things where most women are naturally less hairy than most men, so the beauty standard becomes that women should have no hair at all, lest they be even slightly masculine and thereby hideous.
But I'm still going to shave when I get home, because what shaving really does is make me soft. It makes it possible to glide a hand up the whole length of my leg without a hitch, to stroke my pussy and find it velvety and smooth. It means when I fuck a man who shaves, we can glide together, skin on skin. Shaving is ultimately not a vanity but a tactile luxury, a way for my skin to feel nicer and to feel more.
Also I itch pretty bad right now.
Ugh, the itch is one of the main reasons I shave regularly. I shaved once in 2000 and ever since I've had to keep going because otherwise it's just so damned uncomfortable! Also, I don't even like fucking myself when I'm not smooth (like you say, it's a tactile thing) so I try to extend the same courtesy to others.
ReplyDeleteSkin on skin rocks.
ReplyDeleteStubble sucks.
Soft hair is good.
IMO it's better to not shave than to shave, but not regularly.
But you're in Europe now. They don't shave :-)
I am always fascinated and intrigued by the claim that shaving on a regular basis keeps the stubble itch at bay. If I shave my pubic hair every morning, I end up with a five o'clock shadow, plus a rash. I'm not really able to shave that area close enough to avoid immediate stubble anyway. (There are, like, crevices!)
ReplyDeleteDespite this, and despite the bleeding issue (sorry), I shaved it into a neat perfect triangle for several years. In the end, I decided that I couldn't deal with the constant background itching anymore, and also I always worried that partners would be more grossed out by the vivid red bumps than they would have been by imperfect grooming.
I like epilating - it lasts for pretty much a month, it's cheaper than razors in the long haul, it's soooo much smoother than shaving, and it doesn't itch nearly as badly.
ReplyDeleteI shave semi-regularly (like once a week) during the winter. During the summer, especially if I'm wearing skimpy clothing, I shave pretty much every day. But then, I'm Irish, so I have the charming combination of extremely fair skin and coarse, dark body hair.
ReplyDeleteThe stubble-itch thing is a motivator as well
Mangoesandlimes - I'm going to try epilating! I've heard bad things about the pain, but the "do it once a month" factor is appealing--right now I have to shave more or less daily and I'm sure I nick myself or get an ingrown hair more than once a month.
ReplyDeleteJust make sure you hold the skin taut. You don't have to worry about that so much on legs, but an epilator can leave nasty labia bruises if you don't hold them still. Only made that mistake once.
ReplyDelete