BS: Hairy or shaved armpits

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: GUEST,Bill Kennedy
Date: 15 Jan 04 - 11:17 AM

unbelievable, and totally representative of what some people complain about this forum that this thread is now at 51 messages long! let it die, for god's sake, don't you people have anything more interesting or pertinent to music to say? I haven't even read the messages, just noticed that from 4 it is today at 50 threads. incredible!

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 15 Jan 04 - 11:19 AM

I'm allergic to deodorants, but it's all right as long as I remember to wash once a month.
John

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 15 Jan 04 - 11:23 AM

I lick armpits!

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: Peg
Date: 15 Jan 04 - 11:27 AM

hmm, well the Farting in Public thread is up to 174 posts...and   no one has complained it was useless, boring, etc. Why?I think   the originator may have been having a lark, but I agree with the statement that the taboo nature of this subject more up in arms than they need be...

I mean, we've had threads about sausages, candy, cat farts, Christmas lights, fruitcake, grammar, and any number of seemingly stupid topics. why the animosity towards this one, particularly?

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: Peace
Date: 15 Jan 04 - 11:52 AM

Naw, Bill, I don't have anything more interesting to do. My life is the pits right now. Hope you're havin' a good day, though.

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: Sttaw Legend
Date: 15 Jan 04 - 11:57 AM

Excellent hair raising opportunity explored

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: GUEST,Baldy
Date: 15 Jan 04 - 11:57 AM

Last year on Valentine's Day I suprised my other half with a heart shaped token of my affection, it worked for us.

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: Cluin
Date: 15 Jan 04 - 12:00 PM

No animosity. Just bored with this ride.

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: Catherine Jayne
Date: 15 Jan 04 - 01:52 PM

I get rid of armpit hair, leg and arm hair, the bits the sun don't see is waxed into a neat little triangle!

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: GUEST,LucyB
Date: 15 Jan 04 - 02:54 PM

Shaved where the sun don't shine into a butterfly, my partner was well impressed, and I did'nt cut myself

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: Tweed
Date: 15 Jan 04 - 02:55 PM

Sounds just lovely catsPHidd! Call me a product of the advertising age but wimmen wif beards and more leg an armpit hair than I have on me just never got me real juiced up for some reason or other. I believe it culd be realated to a gegnome in my chromozoidal proclivery.

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: Raedwulf
Date: 15 Jan 04 - 04:14 PM

Ms Lemon - who says men prefer shaved pits? I don't have any preference, I must admit. OTOH I would agree that I prefer women to smell of themselves, rather than the output of a chemical factory! Ditto to face paint...

Smooth is nice, but on the whole, natural beats artificial in every department every day of the week (if you see what I mean...)!

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 15 Jan 04 - 05:58 PM

Some things are meant to be hairy. Down with waxing and shaving, although I don't have a preference regarding armpits.
John

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: Homeless
Date: 15 Jan 04 - 09:11 PM

I was talking with my girlfriend tonight about shaving armpits and she told me that it was started by one of the razor companies back in the 1920s. They wanted to sell more razor blade and so started a big media blitz to convince women that leg and armpit hair was ugly (and it seems they succeeded).

When we got home, I looked on the net and came up with references, but no real factual stories. I did find a lot of references to early Gilette razors for women, so I would guess it was they who started the propaganda campaign.

The closest I could find was this paragraph
"The theory is that American women started shaving in the first decades of the 20th century when dress cuts started showing more leg, and sleeveless dresses showing underarms. American women became the target of a new marketing claim that they needed to be "clean" shaven. In May of 1915, "Harper's Bazaar" magazine featured a dress advertisement photo of a young woman with her arm raised and a perfectly smooth armpit with the caption, "Summer Dress and Modern Dancing combine to make necessary the removal of objectionable hair." Shortly thereafter, the shocking term "underarm" was being used and a new market for razor blades was born."
from this site Art and Culture about nakedness

Pubic Hair Removal which briefly dicusses removal of any/all hair as far back as 4000 BC

Body Hair where a young woman question why she shaves various places (scroll down past the first two paragraphs).

All the Pits which has links to a number of articles and anecdotes regarding women shaving.

I probably could have found something more concrete, but honestly I was tired of weeding thru all the sites that came up when I put "women shave armpits" in Google (is there anything you can search on that doesn't come up with tons of hits for porn sites?).

PS- and of course, as I change windows to post this, something on the search engine catches my eye, and I see, "According to Herbie McNinch, inventor and president of Quick Shave, Inc., the ritual of women shaving their legs and armpits began in 1915 because of a razor company's marketing campaign. The campaign was designed to convince women that hairy underarms are unfeminine and unhygienic. Razor blade sales doubled within two years. Advertising worked, and the tradition was begun." taken from this site, Let It Grow .

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: Peg
Date: 15 Jan 04 - 09:52 PM

that may be right, Homeless. I have seen early "porn" and stag films collected from the 1920s and before and the women do not have shaved underarms (and are wearing dresses and very stylish and feminine, etc., at least before their clothes come off)

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: GUEST
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 03:00 AM

oooops sorry wrong thread, but some interesting stuff, will drop in again when I've found the one I was looking for bye for now

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: Roger the Skiffler
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 04:13 AM

I don't think it is any of my business what other people do to their bodies, though personally I don't find piercings or tatoos attractive.As for body hair, I don't mind what they do, though when they start plaiting it, it's probably too long...

RtS

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: Dave Bryant
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 06:25 AM

Perhaps we could have an unshaved female armpit contest at the Eurogathering in May.

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: GUEST,further understanding
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 06:55 AM

in India, pubic and underarm hair is combed and oiled daily with coconut oil. As well as keeping it glossy, it keeps it free of lice. (they can't breathe in the coconut oil). the skin absorbs vital nutrients from the coconut oil (including something that assists the metabolism).

some older indian ladies practise the art of fortunetelling by reading armpit hair. when the armpit is combed, and the dross of oil. coconut and is removed, the old ma will sit and look at the remains. Using her highly developed knowledge of the patterns of armpit hair growth and developmnent and direction of whirls and tufts of hair, she will be able to predict the person's personality, business prospects and how many children they have.

when we shave our armpits, we are removing, in our ignorance, a great body of wisdom about our selves..

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: Sttaw Legend
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 07:23 AM

A good find from further understanding above, "fortunetelling by reading armpit hair" excellent business opportunity - local fairs - seafronts - folk festivals etc etc, could even give the proceeds to mudcat

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: GUEST,Keepfit
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 09:15 AM

It is now common place for men as well as women to shave close to the bone for many reasons. Cyclists shave arms and legs - less wind resistance (that could go on the farting thread) - body builders shave everwere (allegedly) to obtain better body definition during competitions, I'm sure there are more if I thought about it

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: Sam L
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 10:54 AM

Sounds like a pretty solid theory Homeless, the saftey razor was a really big business event. Among inventors, things like razors and toothbrushes are big deals, since they're pretty expensive and disposable.

I read a history of the advertising of the lady clairol hair coloring stuff, then later, preference. At first they had to make it an okay thing to do with images of mothers and daughters. Stupid things are pretty interesting. I had a friend whose great virtue was that the dumbest thing you could ever mention, he'd take it up and run with it, like michael Jordan. (Sports are stupid, but people think nothing of talking endlessly about them.) The reason people take two alka-selzters is that when they were making a commercial with a hand dropping a tablet into a glass, an ad guy said show it dropping two, you'll double your sales. And they did. (Hey! Why not 12?)

It's not much of a good or bad thing to do. It's fun to have a little bit of halloween in our daily lives, but then some people always get adamant about How People Should Be.

Peg I'm curious if you saw that tape of antique porn from the museum show that's going around? Or other stuff? I haven't come across it yet.

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: Peg
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 11:16 AM

Fred; the program was shown at the Harvard Film Archive and was drawn from their collection.

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: mike the knife
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 01:14 PM

I lived in Germany for a while & The Woman I Almost (and should have) Married never shaved pits/legs. No problem. Found it refreshing/sexy. Have dated women (not exclusively) who didn't shave since. I have a bit of the Bohemian left in me & it's nice to find a woman who doesn't fall for the line sold to them my the media & are their own persons.

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: Justa Picker
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 01:20 PM

I prefer a mowed lawn to weeds. :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: Bill D
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 01:46 PM

shaving is a cousin to excessive de-odorizing and compulsive bathing, in that it is pushed by companies that want to sell razors, scents & soap. With reasonable hygene, most people look and smell fine...and as noted ^ above, body hair does serve to concentrate pheromones and tell us something about potential mates. Too bad so many people (especially in the US) are fighting 5 million years of evolution.

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 03:57 PM

I think cats organise their hair much better than humans, especially the short-haired varieties. Neither shaggy not bald, all over.

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: GUEST,Martin Gibson
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 05:34 PM

I love American women who shave pits and legs.

It is a wonderfully American thing.

Women who don't I find are usually quite unsophisticated.

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: Peg
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 06:03 PM

well, that's funny, the European women I know who don't shave under their arms aren't exactly unsophisticated...

In my own experience, the lower the socioeconomic or educational class a woman occupies (i.e. the less "sophisticated" she is), the MORE likely she is to shave everything...

Not sure where you learned what you know about women, Martin Gibson...

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: GUEST,Chongo Chimp
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 07:22 PM

He's probably been hangin' around with the gorillas at the Bundolo Club, Peg. Whadda they know? Not much, lemme tell ya. A bunch of lowbrows.

This is a golden opportunity to point out to all you naked homo sapiens out there that Chimpanzees (nature's finest creation) have naturally hairless armpits! Yeah. And we're hairy in most other places. It's a devastatingly attractive combination.

The main thing that worries me about human females is their relative hairlessness and their towering height! It's kind of scary till you get used to it. I gotta admit they have amazingly long legs and great hair on their heads though. Pretty slick.

This armpit shaving thing? I wouldn't worry about it. Look, if God gives ya hair in your armpits, go with it I say. If not, go with that. We need more self-acceptance out there. I'll tell ya what's really attractive...a chimpette or a human dame who likes herself just exactly the way God made her and ain't afraid to show it in a classy way. You can take that to the bank, baby.

Chongo

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: Sam L
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 10:53 PM

Do people have to take seriously every inane thing it's possible to say?

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: Cluin
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 11:11 PM

Some always will, Fred.

Like this one:

Farts are funny; armpit hair isn't.
I don't know why. That's just the way it is.

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: Catherine Jayne
Date: 17 Jan 04 - 04:24 AM

Well I can't be very sophisticated according to Peg.....as I remove the majority of my body hair!......(IMO)I don't think the statement stands. I have 2 degrees, a great job and a wonderful circle of friends!

Body hair or no body hair is personal choice. I remove mind because I am very dark haired and a litte hair appears to be alot. If I were fair haired then I don't think I would be bothered about it!

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: lady penelope
Date: 17 Jan 04 - 09:05 AM

Cat has a point.

As I've already said, my body hair is very fair and you don't know it's there till you go looking for it.

So, altough I have never shaved my armpits or legs, no one's ever commented on this because they don't know I haven't. No one's squealed when they've seen my unshaven legs in summer, no one's stared in shock when I've been bouncing up and down at a gig waving my arms in the air.

Consequently, it's very easy for me to not be bothered about whether people shave their body hair or not. Other women ( and men ) have not had so easy.

TTFN Lady P.

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: GUEST,G String
Date: 17 Jan 04 - 10:18 AM

You may want to try this web site

www.shavenomore.com/?a=ixix

Men: Do people call you Sasquatch, the Human Brillo Pad, or Cousin It?

Ladies: Do you have more hair on your upper lip than your brother? Are you destined to a lifetime of pants and long sleeves? Or maybe you're just fed up with the messy inconvenience of shaving, the constant waxing, or painful electrolysis sessions.

Wouldn't it be great if you
NEVER HAD TO SHAVE AGAIN?
If your answer in YES, we have only one thing to say to you...
"SHAVE NO MORE!"

That's right! Mankind's oldest cosmetic problem, unwanted body hair, has been solved! The answer is ULTRA HAIR AWAY!

Ultra Hair Away hair inhibitor frees both men and women from the painful and costly process of waxing, electrolysis, sugaring or laser. Ultra Hair Away progressively and naturally STOPS unwanted hair growth, through enzyme technology - THE COSMETIC MIRACLE FOR EVERYONE!

www.shavenomore.com/?a=ixix

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: Peg
Date: 17 Jan 04 - 10:46 AM

Kat, I did *not* mean all women who shave are unsophisticated! No, no, no. I was trying to make a point about Steve's stereotyping about Americans, more like it...;) To me, the fact that some European women shave, and some do not, is very interesting because it really does not seem to be a big deal either way.

Since Steve's comment was about American women, so was mine! In general, in my experience, the woman who don't shave are either feminists and hippies of a certain generation, or neo-hippies and   neo-pagans who are younger, and many lesbians of my acquaintance. But it's certainly not across the board for any of them...

I do think so-called "unsophisticated" American women are more likely to shave than not to (the point I was trying to make to Steve), perhaps because the men in these populations are less likely to tolerate hairiness, but that does not mean I think women who choose to shave are unsophsticiated as a rule. I was merely talking in numbers. (Making a generalization of my own, though perhaps a somewhat more informed one than he was, who knows?) And I shave my legs! And consider myself relatively sophisticated...some of the time anyway! I am half-Sicilian after all...if I were a less hairy blonde, I might opt not to shave my legs, too..

I should have added, that many women who shave choose what I actually consider very sophisticated METHODS for doing it...waxing, electrolysis, etc. and I am personally fascinated by the practice of dying the body hair or shaving it into shapes...I saw a lot of unusual examples when I was a dancer!

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: GUEST,LucyB
Date: 17 Jan 04 - 11:01 AM

Peg, you say you are facinated by dying body hair and shaving into different shapes, when I shaved my 'normal triangle' into a butterfly my partner went wild and now keeps coming up with more shapes to try. I dearn't mention the practice of dying body hair God knows what colours would evolve - fun though all the same.

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: Catherine Jayne
Date: 17 Jan 04 - 11:34 AM

I was only pulling your chain Peg!!

I have shaved my triangle into various different shapes and sizes to nothing at all, have never tried dying it....interesting thought but I might leave that one!! I remove my body hair with an epliator (electronic devise that plucks the hair from the root) and yes it did hurt the first few times but Im used to it now!!

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: Peg
Date: 17 Jan 04 - 12:11 PM

well, I have known women who have dyed it, but i got the   idea it was reserved for special occasions... All I can say is, don't   use a typical commercial hair dye with peroxide as this may be too toxic for that area. But if you use henna you should be okay, or even better, those vegetable-based dyes along the lines of "Manic Panic" which come in every color of the rainbow...

My sister-in-law is an electrologist who runs her business in her home; she has been very successful; there is no shortage of people who want their superfluous hair removed permanently...I'd think   about it if I did not have so much of it...but shaving my legs is not a big deal.

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Jan 04 - 05:14 PM

Since we're all being Guests... well, I like my men with shaved pits, and I'm not compromising on that!

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 17 Jan 04 - 05:20 PM

Television programme this week (Channel 4 I think) about transsexuals undergoing gender reassignment. Apart from permanent depilation of the chin, other areas need attention before being surgically transformed (turned inside out). It was an eye-opener, but made me wince at times

Nigel

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 17 Jan 04 - 08:10 PM

It's not just the eyes that get opened Nigel!! I know one of the transsexuals from that programme and the things she showed me, well you wouldn't give it credence!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: Sam L
Date: 18 Jan 04 - 01:47 AM

Guest, I like the look of unhairy men myself, but I'm not one of them, and too lazy (M.G.) to do anything about it.

Paris Is Burning was a good documentary that wasn't too hard to find, a few years ago.

Wait--is it sophisticated women, or sophisticated lookin' laydees?

I don't think there's quite a hair-correlative for men. Nose hair maybe, for some. Still, there's a social pressure on women about appearances that men can't really grasp the size of. No matter how cool or "sophisticated" anybody is, they might want to re-think the hair.
   One can take the "natural" idea to an extreme and be a full-flegded nudist all the time, but that's kind of sad and dispirited, really--it's fun to open presents, and interesting to wear social masks. It really is unsophisticated to be all natural, or on the other hand all conventional about everything, but not to pick and choose whatever suits you. I sympathize with people who have strong preferences for particular looks, but not for rude half-baked arguments about it. It really becomes obvious quick when people will use anything in the icebox as a point instead of bothering to know and say what they really think.
This thread has become all valentine-y and evocative with women talking about pubic decorations and all. Thanks for that. The only part of the image that isn't etched in my brain is the title of the book you're reading in the tub. It's a little blurry, I can't make it out, what is it?

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: Hand-Pulled Boy
Date: 18 Jan 04 - 03:42 AM

I can't wait for Hull Fair so I can win some coconuts then I will feel more confident wearing strapless tops. However, it's too cold to consider shaving down below and the aftershave would make me jump about. The shells will come in handy and should improve our fan base. What do you think Strraw----s? 'harriWatts band get kinky'.

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: freda underhill
Date: 18 Jan 04 - 04:00 AM

Mary Quant shaved her pubic hair into a heart shape in the late 60s.

I had a partner once who used to shave his pubic hair (number one) like a crew cut.

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: GUEST,LucyB
Date: 18 Jan 04 - 09:55 AM

Mary Quant used pastry bakeing tin shapes to get the shapes she wanted - good idea - from kitchen to bathroom, two uses for a tool.

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: GUEST,For birthday boy
Date: 18 Jan 04 - 07:40 PM

Well I've gone and done it for my partners birthday - after reading the threads it gave me ideas - I have waxed my triangle into a bird shape AND dyed it (safely as suggested). My partner says best surprise ever - thanks mudcatters I had been struggling for pressy ideas and it was cheap.

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: Peace
Date: 18 Jan 04 - 08:59 PM

So, not that I'm strange or anything, but send the left-over hair to a certain someone in Ontario. He needs it for the blowup dolls he's been keeping all to himself, ahem!

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: pdq
Date: 18 Jan 04 - 10:18 PM

Not a single word yet about Zasu Pitts!

Subject: RE: BS: Hairy or shaved armpits
From: Peace
Date: 18 Jan 04 - 10:36 PM

Or Pittsburg. (Is someone from there a Pittsburger?)