More hairyness
What I meant to say yesterday, but forgot because I allowed myself to be sidetracked, is: who makes the rules about what is and isn't acceptable, anyway?
I would say 'beautiful' but I don't think that's the right word... after all, hairless legs aren't exactly beautiful, but then hairy legs have somehow become unacceptable.
Hairy underams are even more unacceptable. I very much doubt there's anything beautiful about an underarm, hairy or not, but I've heard women talking about other women: "Did you see that when she raised her arm? There's a jungle under there! It's so disgusting!"
I didn't start removing my underarm hair until I was in the middle of university. From an aesthetic point of view, it didn't matter coz up until then, you would never have caught me wearing anything sleeveless outside the house. (Yes, I was ultra-conservative once. Hard to believe, eh?) But then I had this epiphany and decided that I wanted to wear what other people were wearing, which introduced me to the World Of Depilatory Products. *groans*
Although I've religiously tended to my underarms ever since, I still can't quite be bothered with my legs. I have friends who won't venture out of the house in shorts if they haven't shaved their legs recently. Not even if the furthest place they're going to is the burger stall just down the street. I, on the other hand, can count the number of times I've fiddled with my leg hair on the toes of one foot.
Problem is, I'm not one of those girls who've been blessed with unobtrusive leg hair. No, mine has to be CURLY and, if it were on the top of my head, the adjective "luxuriant" might've been used to describe it.
I find it hard to remain uncaring about this fact in a world where I'm surrounded by people who do care about such minor things. Just the other day, I caught myself thinking that if I were to start teaching, I would have to also start waxing my legs regularly... coz I don't want to be the teacher whom students whisper about and quietly snigger over and privately nickname "Miss Hairy Legs" or something even more offensive. I was a student once and I know how those minds work!
In general, I don't bother much with peer pressure, but nobody likes to be the target of ridicule. Sigh. And it's such a petty issue. Who makes the rules about what is and isn't acceptable, anyway?