Friday, June 08, 2007

Bored and Hungry

I'm bored.

I'm not really sure why I'm bored, but I am just the same.

It may be the heat. Despite my pleasure in the end of a very long winter, I'm not pleased that the weather is getting so warm, so fast. Because there's no air conditioning here, and no screens on the windows which makes it hard for those of us who don't appreciate having insects in our homes to get some cooler air.

I was thinking today about body hair. (I know, what segway?) Because we have it, and its ostensible evolutionary purpose is to keep us warm. But why do we still need it? Especially when it's just so yucky (in general)?

I'm not really talking about men here, because in general I don't care much if a man is hairy (well, okay, that's not exactly true. I've noticed as I get older that my aversion to hairy chests has lessened, and I even like a little stomach hair now, but I still shudder at the memory of a man who came into the movie theatre where I worked in high school. He was wearing a tank top and I swear the man was furry. Long, thick tufts of fur--some brown, some gray--all over his shoulders and back. It was disgusting. Anyway.) No, I mean women. And specifically, women who don't shave their legs or underarms or whatever.

Why? I just don't get it. Sure, I've been lax about such things in the past. Sometimes I'm still lax now. But I never let more than a couple of weeks at the most go by, and that's in the dead of winter when not even the hubs sees my legs (pajama bottoms.) And the rest of it--I'm fairly obsessive. It takes less than a minute to shave the underarms, come on!

I'm also a fan of depilatories--the Veet razorless stuff is what I'm using these days, it smells nicer than Nair and I love that little rubber razor thingie--and I've been known to wax at home on occasion, too, which wasn't bad but didn't last as long as I'd hoped it would. I might try it again with summer coming though.

What do you use? Men, what do you think of hairy ladies?

What other little Friday notes do I have? Oh, okay. When using a Pampered Chef Food Chopper to chop shallots, don't ever, ever use your left index finger to pry a shallot out from between the blades, because your finger will bounce back up and you will slice it open and it will both bleed and hurt a lot. It's especially not good to do this where your toddler will hear you and wander around the house chanting, "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" for the next fifteen minutes before you manage to convince her that what you actually said was "Fump! Fubble!"

I miss my cheap Target flip-flops, that I bought for like $2. They were red.

And I guess that's it. This has been a weird blogging week. Miss S is gone, now Sonya is leaving us. I blogged on Sunday but not on Monday so the week feels longer, and I didn't have much to blog about either. Is it just summer coming, or is the whole world changing?

25 comments:

writtenwyrdd said...

I'm a quarter American Indian. No need to shave legs. Lucky me!

And the whole world IS changing. But that's part of the deal, too. Ebb and flow. Just enjoy the sunshine and the wind in your hair!

BTW, the first word I said to my very straight-laced grandmother was, "Shit!" because I dropped something. One of my very first words... :) I hope your little 'un doesn't do that to you.

Anonymous said...

On body hair, I agree, too much of it is eewwww. I don't mind a hairy leg on a man, or even hairy forearms, but I'm not the big fan of a hairy chest. As for women, there was a time when I didn't have to shave my legs, because the hair was so fine and light, but those days are gone. My problem keeping up with my pits is that the old guy sometimes uses my razor to shave his face, and leaves it all rusted and dull and full of stubble--bleh.

My peeve is women who need to pluck or wax or even shave their upper lip, but think they can get away with just bleaching it. Honey, a blond mustache is still a mustache.

I was watching some Desmond Morris anthropology special where he said that human pubic hair is there to trap the smell. Apparently this trapped odor is attractive to a mate. Which pretty much proves Desmond Morris has never had his face squashed into my husband's armpit after a day of work at the sawmill.

And speaking of fingers, the old guy just cut a half inch off one of his at work last week. The doctor asked him where the piece was, in case it could be reattached. Hubs said, "Mostly splattered all over the mill ceiling." I can guess when it happened, he wasn't saying "Fump! Fubble!" Poor guy. They were going to send him down to the big hospital in the city for surgery, and I was all jazzed about getting to go to Walmart and Canadian Tire and stuff, but then they changed their minds. Bummer.

It was his left ring finger too. Wonder if that means anything as far as our marriage goes? Hmm...

Stacia said...

Are American Indians hairless, written? I didn't know that! Lucky dog!

My best friend had that laser hair removal thing done on her bikini line, I'm so jealous.

Lol she's said "Dammit!" a few times, but it was the older one who said "shit"--right after she had an accident (a wet one) on the bathroom floor. It was hysterical.

Stacia said...

Yeah, kis, I don't really like hairy chests, they just don't bother me as much as they used to. My husband doesn't use my razor because A) I have a girly one; and B) I always make sure he has blades for his, lol. But I do know what you mean about dulling the blade.

I believe the pubic hair thing. I always thought it was supposed to reduce friction or something, but that makes sense too. It's a pheremone thing. Any of the men want to comment? *evil grin*

Poor old guy! My ex boyfriend lost part of one of his fingers in an electric planer when he was little. He had an interesting stump.

Anonymous said...

I live in a country with women have 5 inch underarm hair and 3 inch leg hair.

No one seems to mind!

Stacia said...

I suspect that may be why the lady who inspired this post was hairy. She's not a Brit. Sweet, nice lady, just...unshaven.

cindy said...

isabella, where do you live?

do they wear bras? =)

haha!

Stacia said...

Ooh, I always wear a bra, Cyn! I'm uncomfortable without one (and I'm small too). I've always been envious of women who can go without, though. Lucky thing.

Yep, I get lazy about the legs too. I do a lot of work below, though. :-)

Isabella lives in Prague.

Scary Monster said...

Me never actually thought about whether body hair detracts from a woman's sensuality. Iffin she be well groomed me believes that ought to be good enough. Mrs. Monster has lovely long braids and me thinks that they look stupendous. Don't bother me at all that she don't shave her underarms.

Pssst.....segue

Stacia said...

She has lovely long braids under her arms, SM?

I actually think this is a woman thing more than a man thing. Most men aren't as bothered but most women I know are really freaky about it.

BernardL said...

I admit I'm not crazy about facial hair on a woman. The rest I can be understanding about. :) Lucky me, my wife likes chest hair.

Erica Ridley said...

I admit, I can be lazy about the leg thing, but I rarely forget to shave the underarms.

I don't think the problem is people who don't shave, I think the problem is the expectation of needing to shave. Right?

Anyone?

No?

*crickets*

Bernita said...

Always thought hairy armpits and legs looked gross - on a woman.
Don't get shaving the lady bits, except for the bikini line, though.

Stacia said...

Lol Bernard! It's good you have standards.

Erica, so you think we should all just be hairy-legged, and if we all were everyone would just accept it? :-)
I can see that. It certainly would save a lot of time and money, wouldn't it?


The problem with shaving the lady bits, Bernita, is as it grows back it itches. I do like to keep it trimmed and neat, though. (Woah on the TMI)

Sam said...

I'm part Arab, and we're a hairy bunch, lol. In family reunions, the aunts and uncles often look alike with matching moustaches. Marvellous. So shaving and plucking and waxing is all part of the game. I think the veil and Arab coverings are to hide beards and moustaches. As a matter of fact,I'm sure of it.

Rebecca said...

underarm and leg hair on women doesn't bother me at all, in fact I sometimes wish I were brave enough not to bother shaving at all!

I think I agree with Erica - It is not the hair that is the problem - but our perception that women should be hair-free.

Though I have to say - a big hairy mo on a woman's upper lip can look a bit..well...fugly!

Rhian said...

one of the horrors of aging is the single hair that materializes in the weirdest damn places. Thank goodness for tweezers. I was staring in the mirror the other day and WTF! Is that a freaking hair trying to sprout off the tip of my damned nose?!? ARGH! Damned germanic genes.

Erik Ivan James said...

~grinning~ Below the neck, I prefer women to be hairless. Well, okay, maybe a little bit of hair on the...umm...erm..."lady place".

Karen Erickson said...

Hair underarms on women freak me out. Like you said, it takes a minute to take care of it. So...please take care of it! LOL

I just bought some of that Veet stuff so your comment about it makes me happy. I need to go give it a try...

And our a/c broke last night so I feel your pain. Ugh.

Anonymous said...

I think that the demand for women to shave their legs is just another way to help separate men and women since we biologically don't look very dissimilar and with clothes one could look like either a man or a women so maybe its an instinct to make our gender a little more clear to the opposite sexy.

Well, that was a long sentence filled with vaguely science-y theories. :D

Anonymous said...

I went through a period of not shaving anything. From 17 to about 26 (for the most part, wow that was a long time) I was hairier than most men.

Now, I am a master of the home wax job. Almost everywhere.

Anonymous said...

Oh, and I totally want one of your food chopper thingies. And cupboard space for it.

Stacia said...

Lol Sam! I admit there have been times in the past--usually when I'm having a cold-related breakout or haven't plucked my eyebrows--when I'v envied those women their veil. :-)

Rebecca, you're so much more open-minded than I. Sigh.
You know, I knew a girl in high school who really liked her moustache? She thought it made her look sexy, and she used to emphasize it with an eyebrow pencil. Seriously.


Lol Rhian! I get those too! Or rather, I get one--in one particular spot, under my chin. One single tough hair, and I have to be ever-vigilant with the tweezers. I wish I still had my home electrolysis tweezers. This thing just popped up in the last year or so.

Stacia said...

You could also do what Furonda on America's Next Top Model did, Erik, and call it the "womanly space". Although I like "lady place" as well. Euphemisms are fun!
And hairlessness is goooood. I just shaved in the shower. Lovely, smooth legs.



Hi Karen, and welcome! Yep, I actually timed myself doing the underarms this morning and the entire process literally took under a minute. No excuse at all.

Oooh, let me know how you like the Veet stuff! I do like it, but be careful about leaving it on too long as it will make your skin red.

Thanks for the comment!


I do agree, Arin, that obviously there's some sort of sex identifier built in with our hair growth patterns--men have it on their chests, we don't, etc. (Except for a woman I saw at the mall once, which yuck.) So maybe that's why we came to associate hairlessness with femininity? I read something once about how even medieval women had depilatories and stuff, so if that's true, this has obviously been an issue for centuries...

Stacia said...

The food chopper seriously is fricking awesome, Seeley, but I'm still wearing a band-aid because the cut is still healing and I want to keep Neosporin on it so it doesn't scar. It itches like a motherfuck, though.

I'm so jealous of your home waxing proficiency. I had some success with the cold wax strips on my lower legs but am afraid to go anywhere else, especially since carrying Princess gave me stretch marks in areas that I think waxing would be painful enough on if the skin were normal. So it's bikini line depilatories for me...