Societal norms are irrational, harmful to youth, objectifying, and just strange. Society has created stereotypes that seem impossible to change, but do not fear, the feminists are here. The one that bothers me the most is body hair. Why are women expected to remove their body hair, but men are not? Why is it “weird” if women choose not to remove their body hair? What’s “normal” is made up by society; things are changing, but not entirely.
Let’s start by how this societal pressure affects young girls, including me. Growing up, I was encouraged to start removing my body hair in FIFTH GRADE. I was insecure about my leg hair when wearing a skirt to school at age 11; that’s absurd. I wasn’t even removing it for myself; the norm is that if you are a girl and have hair, you get rid of it- HUH? Is it gross? Does it bother other people? Hmmm. Nobody should ever feel self-conscious about a natural bodily function. If seeing women with body hair bothers you, it’s time to get over it. If you’re the person that would say “EW” to seeing a woman with any body hair, try to understand that what someone does with their body is not your business and is not meant to please you. It’s hard to alter your initial reaction, but over time it is possible if you actively think about it.
John Jay College of Criminal Justice conducted a study called “Does Society Impose Unnatural Standards of Women with regards to Body Hair.” They surveyed both men and women asking if women should, must, or don't care about female hair removal. In conclusion, most women said that they either didn’t care or women shouldn’t have to remove body hair. Yet 85% of men said that women should/must remove body hair. Interesting, no? Men expect women to remove their body hair, but I wonder why...it’s not their body, so why care? (not attaching the study because of an image, but I can send it if you want)
Oh, not to mention the pink tax where many women’s products are more expensive than men’s; women’s razors are around 11% more expensive. There’s a history of capitalism and patriarchy that has caused this, mentioned in the attatched video.
I don’t care who removes their body hair and who doesn’t, as long as they are doing it for themselves. I and many women feel more confident when we remove our body hair, so that is why we choose to do so. Societal pressure for women to remove their body hair is unnatural and harms young girls, so it is time to unlearn these standards that we created as a society.
What are your thoughts on societal norms? Do you think it is possible to unlearn them?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uIpr2C49Dg&ab_channel=HuffPost
Hi Romy,
ReplyDeleteI think this is a very interesting topic you bring up. I go to a very "progressive" YMCA summer camp, and I have had multiple female counselors that did not believe in shaving. As a result of this, I have become numb to the fact that some people shave and some people dont. I dont even notice at this point. However, while it not seem like anything to us, we have to realize that we are growing up in a much different time period. Im sure most of our parents grew up being taught that women must shave, "its not lady like". I find this to be completely inappropriate, but once again thats what they grew up with. To answer your question, I think it can be possible to unlearn societal norms, but only as time goes by, and the new generations will begin to freeze out this old norm and create a new.
Hi Romy. I absolutely love this post! I completely agree with everything you said. I remember feeling super pressured to start shaving or waxing my legs in lower school as well. I used to think I was just doing it for myself (I do now when I feel like shaving), but really I found it annoying and painful, yet still did it. Now I've gotten more comfortable in my body and I go a while without shaving because I really just do not care anymore. I think the pressure society puts on women to remove their hair is invasive, weird, and pretty gross tbh. I saw something that the reason men are attracted to hairless women can be traced back to subconscious pedophilia. Ew. Also, I agree the pink tax is absolutely ridiculous. I was watching a video where a mom bought her son "girl" toys from Amazon, and the difference in price between a "boy" and a "girl" toy is astonishing. I think gender roles and stereotypes are a complicated and deep-rooted issue, but they must be taken care of immediately in our society.
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