The feminist Germaine Greer pointed out that as women have become more emancipated they have shaved off more hair (facial, underarm, legs, pubic). Why is this? And who is it done for?
by 
hijklmno
ANSWERS: 5
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They do it for themselves; they are now emancipated enough to choose for themselves!
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Perhaps they do this more as a tactic to prove that one doesn't have to be an ugly woman to be accepted as an equal or treated as an equal. To show that an empowered woman can be as desireable if not more so than a non-empowered (or feminist) woman.
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It's an interesting point, and I'm not entirely sure what the answer is. Like a lot of women, I personally like to think I shave my legs for me. I like the feel of smooth legs when I get into a freshly made bed, and to be honest I feel cleaner with shaved legs. I still shave in wnnter and I even shaved when I had a boyfriend who said he wasn't bothered by hairy legs. But I don't know to what extent I subconciously feel as if men prefer it and I just flatter myself I'm doing it for my own sake. I think maybe sexual liberation and the increase in women having multiple partners over their lifetimes, rather than sticking with one man, has led them to be more concerned with a more obvious and sexually obvious physical attraction. Women are also freer to talk about sex and what might be attractive. A similar trend is that in earlier centuries obvious make-up was associated with prostitutes, and not generally worn by "ladies" whereas over the years it's become more common for women of all classes to sport heavy make-up. Perhaps it's the switch in emphasis from being virtuous, girlish and pretty to being knowingly sexually appealing.
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I have wondered this too. I have thought that maybe instead of burning bras in the 60s women should've thrown away their razors. Bras are or can be functional whereas shaving is just to look "prettier". Women shouldn't wnat to get rid of their feminity, just the feeling that their only value is in how desirable they are to men.
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I think they do it for themselves since it's a personal choice. People feel differently about body hair. I like a lot of smoothness but I know lots of people who prefer having body hair.
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