Since most of the unshaven moments happen when the weather is cooler outside and I live in the horse capitol of the world, I like to think of the unshaven legs as something akin to a horse's winter coat growing in. And like the winter coat, growing hair out is a completely normal thing to do--no matter what season it is. In fact, in many civilized places around the world it is just as acceptable for women to grow out their armpit and leg hair as it is commonplace to shave in the USA.
I recently read a study in Psychology of Women Quarterly that explored the taboo of women not shaving their body hair. The women were asked to answer questions about body hair and after the initial survey they were asked to go 10 weeks without shaving. At the end of the 10 weeks the women were asked the same questions again. The results were:
*Many women reflected on how, although they initially framed body hair as a (sometimes insignificant or casual) personal choice prior to doing the assignment, they changed their views once they grew their body hair. Four themes (sometimes overlapping) appeared in women’s discussions: (a) new perspectives on the social meanings of body hair, (b) encounters with homophobia and heterosexism, (c) anger from family members and partners about growing body hair, and (d) internalized feelings of being “disgusting” and “dirty.”
It was an interesting read, but it only gave the female point of view. Men shave/wax parts too!
Soooooo for the last time (not), massage therapists are taught to practice unconditional positive regard. What exactly does that hippie speech mean? It means we consider every body on our massage table in the same way--with respect. We focus on what the client needs and we do not care whether you are shaved/waxed or wooly.
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