Fuck yea. Thanks for this service! And this point “You can’t avoid the friction of human interaction and you shouldn’t. It’s how you learn and grow and test compatibility.” is shit that’s been on my mind HARD lately and love love love your phrasing.
Love this and shout out to all the girls who made it through the early 2000s with curly hair and a big bush lol about time we throw our razors and straighteners away
I did! The final images at the end of the post are the aggregate results from everyone who took the poll — men, women, gender non-conforming, gay, straight, queer, everyone :)
I love the historical context you provide in your answer, Jessica (I'd never thought about fashions in pubic hair removal pre-1990s!), as well as the nuance you draw out in your survey results. I remember 10-15 years ago, when I used to spend a lot of time reading gender studies journal articles, seeing surveys with results similar to yours conflating a majority of people removing *some* of their pubic hair with the majority of people removing *all* of their pubic hair. There is an important difference! Especially in an era when women especially are repeatedly told that if they don't remove all of their pubic hair, they won't be attractive and no one will want them (a common message both then and now).
Thank you! Yes, nuance is so important here. While the results show most women remove some hair, they *also* show that the large majority of women keep the large majority of their pubic hair!
while headlines occasionally try to convince us that certain pubic hair/body hair removal trends are happening, it overall feels like we’re in a “choose your own adventure” space when it comes to removing body hair, more than ever before, which is cool! the ability to freely choose the option you like best is truly the goal!
i don’t ever shave my armpits, and neither do so many women i know, but i get a bikini wax and wax my legs because i personally prefer it. i also see many women with hairy legs out and about (although i live in Portland, so that’s definitely a skewed sample lol), and it feels very normal now
i do wonder facial hair removal is any different, like has the dermaplaning trend died out? was it ever really a thing? how many women get their eyebrows or upper lips waxed? etc etc
This is such an interesting point. I used to get my facial hair threaded, I'm currently getting laser treatment on my chin after a a round of treatment on my upper lip. However, I don't remove my pubic, armpit or leg hair.
I marvel at the way I've only drunk half the "hairless woman" Kool Aid.
honestly i don’t think the “most feminist” route is to refuse to remove any hair from our bodies, but rather to decide for ourselves whether we want to remove any! as far as i know, humans don’t have any true biological need for body hair, it’s just left over from evolution. so if you like having a smooth hairless face, i say you do you!
Fuck yea. Thanks for this service! And this point “You can’t avoid the friction of human interaction and you shouldn’t. It’s how you learn and grow and test compatibility.” is shit that’s been on my mind HARD lately and love love love your phrasing.
Thank youuu!
Love this and shout out to all the girls who made it through the early 2000s with curly hair and a big bush lol about time we throw our razors and straighteners away
The hatred of curly hair in the early 2000s!
It took years from my life! Probably quite literally with all the relaxing treatments I tried lol
Will you be sharing the full poll results? As a lesbian I'm definitely more curious how my fellow WLWs polled than I am about the male gaze!
I did! The final images at the end of the post are the aggregate results from everyone who took the poll — men, women, gender non-conforming, gay, straight, queer, everyone :)
I love the historical context you provide in your answer, Jessica (I'd never thought about fashions in pubic hair removal pre-1990s!), as well as the nuance you draw out in your survey results. I remember 10-15 years ago, when I used to spend a lot of time reading gender studies journal articles, seeing surveys with results similar to yours conflating a majority of people removing *some* of their pubic hair with the majority of people removing *all* of their pubic hair. There is an important difference! Especially in an era when women especially are repeatedly told that if they don't remove all of their pubic hair, they won't be attractive and no one will want them (a common message both then and now).
Thank you! Yes, nuance is so important here. While the results show most women remove some hair, they *also* show that the large majority of women keep the large majority of their pubic hair!
while headlines occasionally try to convince us that certain pubic hair/body hair removal trends are happening, it overall feels like we’re in a “choose your own adventure” space when it comes to removing body hair, more than ever before, which is cool! the ability to freely choose the option you like best is truly the goal!
i don’t ever shave my armpits, and neither do so many women i know, but i get a bikini wax and wax my legs because i personally prefer it. i also see many women with hairy legs out and about (although i live in Portland, so that’s definitely a skewed sample lol), and it feels very normal now
i do wonder facial hair removal is any different, like has the dermaplaning trend died out? was it ever really a thing? how many women get their eyebrows or upper lips waxed? etc etc
Yes, I do think facial hair removal is very very different.
This is such an interesting point. I used to get my facial hair threaded, I'm currently getting laser treatment on my chin after a a round of treatment on my upper lip. However, I don't remove my pubic, armpit or leg hair.
I marvel at the way I've only drunk half the "hairless woman" Kool Aid.
honestly i don’t think the “most feminist” route is to refuse to remove any hair from our bodies, but rather to decide for ourselves whether we want to remove any! as far as i know, humans don’t have any true biological need for body hair, it’s just left over from evolution. so if you like having a smooth hairless face, i say you do you!
Excellent article!!!!
Thank you!
That survey and its results was SO reassuring, and validated what I had always hoped was the case!! The Review of Beauty remains a must-read
doing god’s work here 🙏🏽
This was so fun to read, Jessica! I am astounded that 14,000 people responded.
God I love this THANK YOU
Can you share some insights on the geos of the respondents? I am shook that (disposable, plastic) razors are doing this much work.
Really excellent piece, thank you as always. Love seeing the full results also.