How Do Women Feel About Hair Removal?

Women of BuzzFeed discuss hairy pits and bikini-waxing horrors.

1. Do you get bikini waxes?

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"I did it once."

"NEVER THE FUCK AGAIN."

"I did it myself once and I ended up with a bruise on my entire vagina, spreading out on to my thighs."

"Hair would have been better than a bruise."

"Honestly, I just think of all the things I want to spend money on and I can't even put waxing in the top 100."

"I get a professional wax quite often, but it's hard to get past that fact that you're lying spread-legged in front of a stranger."

"And not even in the good way."

"I didn't know where to look, except into her eyes."

"You're like, 'Yes. That is my vagina.'"

"I'd be tempted to ask, 'I know you've seen a lot of vaginas. Can you just confirm, is mine ~normal~?'"

"Once when I was getting a Brazilian, at that part where they make you lie on your front and hold your buttocks apart, the waxer started complimenting my manicure."

"😐."

"Whoa, no chat now, please!"

"Do they make you go on all fours and do your bumhole?!"

"What if you fart?"

"That bikini wax I had in August was the first and, I'm pretty sure, last time I will ever wax."

"What a ludicrous thing it is, truly."

2. Is shaving your bikini line any better, though?

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"I definitely think waxing is preferable to getting shaving rash."

"I merely trim. I hate shaving."

"I don't mind shaving."

"Once after shaving, when I was a teenager, I was wearing a white bikini and all the little hairs poked through like a cactus."

"Hahaha, a very strange cactus."

"No one told me how to deal with body hair."

"Nobody told me either!"

"I once walked in on my mum tweezing her bikini area and assumed that's probably how it's done."

3. Do smooth legs feel better than hairy legs?

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"When I was a teenager I shaved my legs after a long depressive episode, and I actually felt better somehow."

"I definitely feel like people will think worse of me if they can see my mega-hairy legs."

"I do like the feeling of smooth legs when I shave. I can't lie."

"Yeah, I like a smooth leg too really. I hate to admit it."

"If I went out with my very hairy legs visible, I would feel self-conscious, which is something I don't like, but it's also just a fact of life that I can't really change."

"That's the worst thing, isn't it? That a woman's body hair is a debate rather than something you may or may not have or choose to remove."

"It shouldn't have to be a big deal."

"I'm cool either way, and cool with other women doing whatever the fuck as well."

4. How often do you shave your legs?

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"I shave my legs maybe twice a month."

"Whenever I feel like it, really."

"I can't remember the last time I shaved mine. Def not in 2015."

"I do it out of boredom sometimes to pass the time If I'm using a long set-in conditioner."

"I have very fine hair on my body, and am generally hairless anyway, so not doing it isn't a feminist stance. Just luck of the draw."

"I have blonde hair on my legs so if I say I'm not shaving them my friends are like, 'Yeah, whatever, you can't see them anyway,' and I'm like, 'But, BUT ~feminism~!'"

"My not shaving is the exact opposite of a political act. As I get older, I think, 'Who can be bothered? It's just hair.'"

5. Would you ever leave your underarms unshaved?

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"I had underarm hair so early, I thought I was a werewolf."

"Underarms are the bit I shave the most."

"It feels like the last hair taboo – I don't give a shit about legs, can tolerate bush, but underarm hair, nah."

"I tried to leave it, and I just couldn't."

"Same."

"The final frontier."

"I feel like I smell way worse if I don't shave them."

"I'm a sweaty lady."

"Me too, and odour is a thing I worry about."

"Yes, me too so much."

"I really do feel like I smell a million times better when they're all smooth. I think your mind plays tricks."

"But I can't convince myself otherwise."

"What holds me back from keeping long pit hair is not so much what I think, but I imagine being on the beach with my family or whatever and that they'll feel embarrassed."

"I can see that. Less you, more others' opinions."

"And it's easy to read people on the internet saying 'fuck 'em!' but it's hard to actually do."

6. Does female hairiness repel men anyway?

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"I had a male friend who used to bitch about the bushes on women he slept with, and hearing that made me feel really self-conscious and more inclined to wax."

"Rude."

"See, that shit is what's so annoying – some random guy will say something and it affects you, annoyingly."

"I hate it when guys even bring that up."

"I hope those dudes never find women to sleep with."

"Like, 'neat' will have to do."

"In principle, I feel like I can confidently be all, 'Yeah, full bush!', but IRL, I think I'd change my mind if I was dating someone new."

"Really?"

"I feel like 'YOU WILL DEAL' is my motto."

"Like, this can't be the thing that determines if we stay together."

"I'd just be really worried about being judged."

"Yeah, but I genuinely can't imagine thinking of that at the point of a new encounter."

"I do think guys care a little bit though, because they've learned to care."

"And women have learned to care back."

"But imagine if you met a guy who was SUPER into hairiness."

"It would be weird, right?"

"Like if he wanted to stroke it and shit?"

"That'd be hella weird."

"I'd be weirded out by that, yeah."

"But you know, what's that expression, 'All cats are grey in the dark'?"

"I think that's all of us, really."