My kid is only 10 and doesn't have to shave her legs yet, but does shave her pits from time to time.

I, like an earlier poster, was forbidden to start shaving my legs when I was 11, and got teased by classmates during gym class.

I shaved my legs from 12-18, and then quit. I still shave my pits because 1) it is itchy when it is stubbly 2) I think it would make BO worse 3) I feel too self-conscious to wear sundresses at work with hairy pits.

I am a brunette, but my hair is not particularly heavy on my legs. People don't tend to notice much.

Even in the 1990s (yes, I'm old), I had no trouble finding men who were sexually attracted to me and vice versa. With all the gender fluidity now, I bet it would be even less of an issue today. I did, however, once go on a date with a woman who said she would only date women who had no hair down there. (I also once went on a date with a woman who said women who don't wear makeup are not attractive... and I wasn't wearing makeup!)

I know professional women who don't shave their pits (my cousin and the mother of a classmate of my kid)... my cousin doesn't wear sleeveless outfits to work, don't know about the woman I recently met (who is married to a man)

Some of y'all are so certain about things you cannot know. It's odd.

Let your girls shave or not shave how they want, with the caveat that they should be warned if you go to nothing on the crotch, it's gonna be horribly itchy growing back. They don't need to be warned that boys or men will find armpit hair and/or leg hair unattractive.

DD is 15 and has shaved her legs beginning 2 years ago.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You all are acting like a majority of teens are not shaving. I have 3 teenage girls. Different friend groups (one artsy, theatre type girl, one is sporty and one is conventionally popular group). I have seen ZERO hairy legs around here when their friends are over, swimming in our pool, etc. Every girl appears to shave or wax her legs. These girls all attend DC private school.

So you're paying $150,000 a year so your three DD's are learning to please others?

Interesting that you assume they don’t shave for themselves. Are women not allowed to like the feel and look of their smooth legs?

Then why didn't you say that? What's private school got to do with it? And I shave.

Perhaps hairy pits is a public school trend.

Anyone else remember the thread from a while back when DCUM lost their minds over unshaven Ella Emhoff, daughter of Kamala Harris? This is not a public/private school thing, it’s more of an artsy/alt kid type of thing, in my observation.

My alt kid doesn't shave, but her best friend artsy does. I think it's just more on the kid and what they want to do. Also, I think us as parents tend to be less strict and more "who cares" than our parents.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You all are acting like a majority of teens are not shaving. I have 3 teenage girls. Different friend groups (one artsy, theatre type girl, one is sporty and one is conventionally popular group). I have seen ZERO hairy legs around here when their friends are over, swimming in our pool, etc. Every girl appears to shave or wax her legs. These girls all attend DC private school.

So you're paying $150,000 a year so your three DD's are learning to please others?

Interesting that you assume they don’t shave for themselves. Are women not allowed to like the feel and look of their smooth legs?

Then why didn't you say that? What's private school got to do with it? And I shave.

Perhaps hairy pits is a public school trend.

Anyone else remember the thread from a while back when DCUM lost their minds over unshaven Ella Emhoff, daughter of Kamala Harris? This is not a public/private school thing, it’s more of an artsy/alt kid type of thing, in my observation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You all are acting like a majority of teens are not shaving. I have 3 teenage girls. Different friend groups (one artsy, theatre type girl, one is sporty and one is conventionally popular group). I have seen ZERO hairy legs around here when their friends are over, swimming in our pool, etc. Every girl appears to shave or wax her legs. These girls all attend DC private school.

So you're paying $150,000 a year so your three DD's are learning to please others?

Interesting that you assume they don’t shave for themselves. Are women not allowed to like the feel and look of their smooth legs?

Then why didn't you say that? What's private school got to do with it? And I shave.

Perhaps hairy pits is a public school trend.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Men prefer women without body hair because their media and culture have conditioned them that way. It’s not a hard-wired instinctual thing—women naturally have leg and armpit hair, so our caveman ancestors clearly weren’t holding out for the cave-lady with the cleanest prehistoric Brazilian. And in many modern cultures, it’s totally acceptable for women not to shave, because that’s the cultural norm.

So why shouldn’t our hairy-legged daughters be on the forefront of social change? One less impossible beauty standard for women to incessantly chase isn’t a bad thing.

(I’ll admit to wishing my daughter would at least shave her pits, but that’s my own issue to deal with. She’s confident in herself, and I’d never knowingly do anything to shake that. It’s a rare and fragile quality in a teenage girl.)

You could make the exact same argument about body odor, regular bathing, and deodorant.

You are free to choose, I guess.

why are super str8 teeth popular?

They're not. There's a whole world outside of the US. You're a minority in wanting teeth to look like chicklets. In the rest of the world, the American teeth ideal is considered creepy.

Not to mention:

-if a man isn’t attracted to me just because my teeth are all crooked/ missing, my legs and pits are super hairy, and I only bathe once a month, then that man is:

- a sexist pig!

Amirite?!

Crooked teeth are not missing teeth. And bathing once a month is not the same thing as not shaving.
Stop being stupid.

I really don’t see what s wrong with rejecting what almost all of society views as “unattractive.”

Why do I have to care what most of society thinks? If most of society thinks so-called beauty is merely physical, then SCREW THEM!

True beauty is on the inside.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You all are acting like a majority of teens are not shaving. I have 3 teenage girls. Different friend groups (one artsy, theatre type girl, one is sporty and one is conventionally popular group). I have seen ZERO hairy legs around here when their friends are over, swimming in our pool, etc. Every girl appears to shave or wax her legs. These girls all attend DC private school.

So you're paying $150,000 a year so your three DD's are learning to please others?

Interesting that you assume they don’t shave for themselves. Are women not allowed to like the feel and look of their smooth legs?

Then why didn't you say that? What's private school got to do with it? And I shave.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Men prefer women without body hair because their media and culture have conditioned them that way. It’s not a hard-wired instinctual thing—women naturally have leg and armpit hair, so our caveman ancestors clearly weren’t holding out for the cave-lady with the cleanest prehistoric Brazilian. And in many modern cultures, it’s totally acceptable for women not to shave, because that’s the cultural norm.

So why shouldn’t our hairy-legged daughters be on the forefront of social change? One less impossible beauty standard for women to incessantly chase isn’t a bad thing.

(I’ll admit to wishing my daughter would at least shave her pits, but that’s my own issue to deal with. She’s confident in herself, and I’d never knowingly do anything to shake that. It’s a rare and fragile quality in a teenage girl.)

You could make the exact same argument about body odor, regular bathing, and deodorant.

You are free to choose, I guess.

why are super str8 teeth popular?

They're not. There's a whole world outside of the US. You're a minority in wanting teeth to look like chicklets. In the rest of the world, the American teeth ideal is considered creepy.

Not to mention:

-if a man isn’t attracted to me just because my teeth are all crooked/ missing, my legs and pits are super hairy, and I only bathe once a month, then that man is:

- a sexist pig!

Amirite?!

If someone isn’t attracted to me because of my shaving habits (erratic), teeth (never had orthodontia so they’re not perfect but they’re clean and not diseased), or hygiene habits (I bathe and wear deodorant regularly), then they’re not a person I want to date. Hasn’t been a profound issue in my dating life yet.