Perilous Patches and Pitstaches

Abstract

Although some research has examined men and women's general attitudes toward women growing body hair, little research has engaged in a side-by-side examination of women's imagined experiences of growing body hair with an experiential component of growing their own body hair. In the first of two studies, I asked a diverse community sample of women aged 18 to 59 to assess their impressions of women who grew body hair and to imagine their own, and others', reactions to their hypothetical body hair growth. For the second study, I utilized response papers from 62 women from diverse backgrounds in an undergraduate women's studies course, who grew their body hair for an assignment. Results showed overwhelming negativity toward women growing body hair in both studies, but they differed in perceptions of social control and individual agency. Women in Study 1, who merely imagined body hair growth, described it more nonchalantly and individualistically, citing personal choice and rarely acknowledging social pressures placed upon women even disgusted by other women's body hair. Women in Study 2 regularly discussed unanticipated social pressures and norms, rarely discussed personal choice, and reported a constellation of difficulties, including homophobia, family and partner anger, and internalized disgust and ''dirtiness.'' These results on a seemingly ''trivial'' subject nuance the ''rhetoric of choice'' debate within feminist theories of the body while also illustrating a vivid experiential assignment that delves into women's personal values, relationships, and social norms. Implications for assessing and changing attitudes about women's bodies-particularly ''abject'' or ''othered'' bodies-are discussed.

Women’s genital body work: Health, hygiene and beauty practices in the production of idealized female genitalia

“…Previous research in the US, Canada, the UK, New Zealand and Australia has documented the prevalence of and motivations for pubic hair removal practices, meanings associated with the practice, evaluations of women who do and do not engage in the practice, and the physical, psychological and social consequences associated with the practice (e.g., Basow, 1991;Braun et al, 2013;Fahs, 2014aFahs, , 2014bRiddell, Varto, & Hodgson, 2010;Smolak & Murnen, 2011;Tiggemann & Hodgson, 2008;Toerien & Wilkinson, 2003. This scholarship points to popular culture, particularly pornography, in the production of cultural norms that value hairless, and therefore prepubescent in appearance, female genitalia (Schick, Rima, & Calabrese, 2011).…”

A full Brazilian or all natural: understanding the influences on young women’s decision to remove their pubic hair

“…They referred to their hair as “unsightly, distasteful, upsetting, embarrassing, and dirty” (10, page 353). Qualitative studies by Fahs [10, 11] indicate that, while the women in their studies stated that body hair removal was their ‘choice’, they expressed disgust towards women who did not remove body hair labelling them as ‘unclean’, ‘dirty’, ‘gross’, and even ‘unnatural’. In Fah’s second study [10], participants were required to not remove body hair for 10 weeks.…”

Sexuality, pleasure, power, and danger: Points of tension, contradiction, and conflict.

“…The various anxieties that people have about their body hair, particularly leg, underarm, and pubic hair, highlight how hair operates at the interface between self and culture and symbolizes much about cultural beliefs and practices surrounding race, class, and gender. Similarly, body hair has at times been used as a site of rebellion and resistance (Fahs, 2012(Fahs, , 2014c. Body hair norms have been pervasive and consistent across Western cultures, with studies consistently showing that women feel compelled to completely remove their leg and underarm hair (Fahs, 2012(Fahs, , 2014cToerien, Wilkinson, & Choi, 2005) and to be mostly hairless in their pubic region; men, however, have far more flexibility around body hair and pubic hair choices than do women (Terry & Braun, 2013).…”

“…Similarly, body hair has at times been used as a site of rebellion and resistance (Fahs, 2012(Fahs, , 2014c. Body hair norms have been pervasive and consistent across Western cultures, with studies consistently showing that women feel compelled to completely remove their leg and underarm hair (Fahs, 2012(Fahs, , 2014cToerien, Wilkinson, & Choi, 2005) and to be mostly hairless in their pubic region; men, however, have far more flexibility around body hair and pubic hair choices than do women (Terry & Braun, 2013). Although there are some cultural exceptions to this (e.g., Eastern Europe), pressures for women to remove body hair have pervaded other parts of the world as well.…”

“…Although there are some cultural exceptions to this (e.g., Eastern Europe), pressures for women to remove body hair have pervaded other parts of the world as well. In the United Kingdom, a full 99% of women have reported that they removed body hair at some point (Toerien et al, 2005), and women who did not remove body hair reported facing appraisals of themselves as disgusting, manly, unattractive, unfeminine, and gross (Fahs, 2012(Fahs, , 2014cFahs & Delgado, 2011). Although most men have "manscaped" or trimmed their pubic hair at some point (Boroughs, Cafri, & Thompson, 2005), men have reported feeling entitled to choose the degree to which they would remove hair, whereas women have not felt entitled to similar levels of choice about their body hair (Braun, Tricklebank, & Clarke, 2013).…”