Okay, what is with the whole Brazilian-waxing, labia-surgery thing?

[StellaBlue]

http://www.lvri-ny.com/index2.asp Just have a look. I dare you.


http://feministing.com/archives/002279.html
(snip)
Women Now Have Equal Sexuality Rights
For years we have been made aware of the benefits of male impotency drugs and enhancement surgery but, until recently, very little medical attention was directed to the physical and emotional aspects of female sexuality. Today women are now exercising their rights to sexual equality due to innovative vaginal surgeries performed by Robert A. Jason, MD, FACOG, the Founder and Medical Director of the Laser Vaginal Rejuvenation Institute of New York.
(/snip)


In my mind, this is just taking further the whole 'Brazilian' craze. Why the FUCK would any woman want to have her pubic hair painfully ripped out using hot wax? My ex used to tell me that I needed to do some 'landscaping' and always expressed his approval of these types of 'cosmetic' hair-removal techniques. Obviously, I neither subjected myself to this kind of sexual mutilation nor am I still with said fuckwad!

But I just don't get it - as I tried to explain to him, not only is it quite pedophilic to want women to do this, but it's also expensive, painful, and leads to horrible itching and nasty regrowth. You would have to wait several weeks before getting it done again, during which time you would have a looovely pubic stuble. Which I am sure will please both you AND your man's member. Ouch.

Now, personally, I shave most days in the summer and don't most days in the winter, though I do like the feeling of hair-free legs. I shave under my arms, but I am not at all scandalized by women who don't. I tend to be hot natured, and I shudder to think that it would be like in those pits if they were hot AND furry.

But I just don't get this. What the fuck are these women thinking!?

[bleedingheart]

1. I don't know...sounds painful....really really painful...

shudder...

[bloom]

2. A couple years ago

In one of those threads in the lounge - some guy posted something like he expected women he was with to do this sort of nonsense. As I recall - it had something to do with expecting women to compete with porn stars. :eyes: I suppose there are some that will try. (Not me).

[Nikia]

3. I don't like how I look bare

I think that it makes me look like a little girl (I started growing hair there in the fourth grade). I have suggested to my husband that perhaps prostitutes or other women who sleep with many partners started the trend to either get rid of or prevent a partiiculiar STD, which cannt be prevented with condomns.
Interestingly enough, a guy at work tried to have a uncomfortable, potenially harassing conversation with me about this. He said that he wished women didn't remove hair there. He is single and said that he didn't enjoy going to strip clubs or viewing porn anymore because he found the hairless look unattractive.

[MountainLaurel]

13. That part always disturbs me

That guys who really get off on shaved women really just want them to look like little girls.

:scared:

[lukasahero]

14. That's a pretty rash generalization

Sorry to disagree but calling all men who have a particular sexual interest basically pedophiles isn't helpful.

[MountainLaurel]

15. I know, but that is always my first thought

My direct experience with such men has been that they all wanted me to be powerless without opinions or needs of my own, and wanting me to shave my pubes was a signifier of the desire to want complete control as they would with a child. They weren't so interested in me as an adult woman.

[lukasahero]

16. Ok - got ya now

I have a different experience (thankfully, I guess). Sorry, didn't mean to be snippy.

[MountainLaurel]

17. I figured as much!

:hug:

[NMMNG]

4. One of the benefits of being a lesbian

Is never having to worry about this sort of stuff. :scared:

[ismnotwasm]

5. Which just made me think

Just for whose benefit are these women doing such things to themselves? If women loving women can accept each other as is, why can't women loving men? My hubby doesn't really care, but I'll shave during the summer out of social conditioning and once in a while during winter for "variety"-- more for him than for myself. (Look honey, I shaved)
Brazilian waxes are, of course, out of the question. And so is any kind of "designer vagina" surgery. Gods, that sounds painful.

[StellaBlue]

6. Obviously men are just weaker than lesbians

They can't handle it, but other women can - what does that say about THEM? I have lots of lesbian friends, and we do talk about these things, and I have to say the majority of them are revolted by all this. And while most of them shave their legs occasionally (like you and me, by the sound of it!), they think the whole vulva-waxing craze is insane.

Also, I have never had a man complain about hairy legs... in fact, several have told me they couldn't care less... but they do still want you to WAX your GENITALS? WTF?!

[VelmaD]

7. Having been both bare and furry "down there"...

I can tell you there are advantages for the woman to shaving. You'd be amazed at how much more you feel when your partner touches you without the hair in the way.

This goes for men as well. I was convinced to shave the first time by a former male partner who went first. He loved it and still shaves himself to this day.

All that said, I think the surgery thing is ridiculous. To try to tie it to "equal rights" for women...I just wanta hit someone upside the head with a shovel.

[StellaBlue]

10. re: 'down there'

Could you (just out of my own curiosity I am asking) address my wondering from my OP?:

it's also expensive, painful, and leads to horrible itching and nasty regrowth. You would have to wait several weeks before getting it done again, during which time you would have a looovely pubic stuble. Which I am sure will please both you AND your man's member. Ouch.

I shaved a little once, just around the edges, to 'neaten', and even THAT was a bitch when it started growing back. I thought I had lice or something, it itched so much! For like two months! I cannot imagine the whole enchilada. Especially if you grow it back from totally smooth. Egads. And my hair, in general, grows really fast. To wear a skirt, I have to shave my legs DAILY. I don't think this 'look' would really work for me. hahahaha

[geniph]

19. The more you shave or wax, the less irritation you get

Over time, just as a man's face becomes habituated to shaving, or one's underarms, etc., so can the genital area. If you regularly shave or wax, you develop much less bumpiness and itchiness. And waxing doesn't result in stubble the way shaving does; after waxing, hair typically grows back much more sparse and less coarse. After only waxing a handful of times, I have almost no hair at all on my lower legs now. Granted, I'm a redhead, so I had very little body hair to begin with.

[StellaBlue]

21. Definitely wouldn't work for me

Like I said, I have to shave EVERY day in the summer - it sucks. I have dark brown hair... it's nice having thick, lustrous hair on my head, but I do get tired of it elsewhere! haha

If I shave at like 7am, by 7pm I am already getting bristly on the lower legs! It sucks! It's not terrible looking, but I definitely cannot go more than 24 hours and still wear a skirt. haha. I am just not convinced that shaving or waxing would make the hair come back softer or sparser. I think I am secretly Southern European or something. hahaha I am 'Anglo', but I know I am part French - perhaps that explains it?

Anyway, I envy you ladies with thin/fine/sparse body hair! But I ain't waxing nothing for nobody!

[geniph]

8. Labial cosmetic surgery gives me the willies

but I do like to occasionally experiment with variations on the Bald Mound Militia (NO MORE Bush!) theme. However, if I wax, depilate, shave, pluck, whatever, that's MY choice, I'm not doing it because my husband doesn't need more dental floss.

That being said, I do "manscaping" on my husband on request. He likes to have his back hair removed, as he hates it. So it's not exactly a deal-ender to me if he likes me to have a bit less carpeting myself. But I pretty much do it when I feel like it.

On the other hand, labial surgery for purely cosmetic reasons is right up there with anal bleaching and female circumcision as far as giving me the creeps.

[ismnotwasm]

9. "anal bleaching"?

Never mind, I don't want to know.
My husband has back hair also and we take it off on occation. He also loves his beard better than he likes to trim it regularly, but that's his thing.
When trimming body hair is in the realm of body decoration, it takes on a whole different meaning I think. (I love decoration) It the women chasing the barbie doll look beyond all measures of sanity that make me wonder.
This labial and vagina surgery, I wonder what the infection rate is? Hopefully very low when I think of the possible complications...

[Heddi]

11. yeah, anal bleaching is....wrong

just wrong.

And I'm not even talking about "being happy and accepting with your body" wrong.

On a basic, molecular level, having your winky pinky bleached is just beyond my comprehension.

I mean, I can understand why some women feel the need to get certain cosmetic surgeries to improve their looks. But, I mean, if your anus is...I don't know....I mean, that's..I can't even find the words to describe my complete and utter....confusion.

Yeah. Get boob implants or reduction if that's your thing. Boobs are kind of a thing that most people see (even if through clothes). That I can understand. I can get the face lift because faces are seen by everyone.

But your butt hole? I can count on two fingers the number of people who see my brown eye on a regular basis---I'm married to one, and the other gives me annual GYN exams.

I'd have to say that my butt hole is the LAST body part I'd need to be perfect. I mean, again, if there was an issue with hemrrhoids and it was a surgical thing to improve anatomy/physiology of the anus/rectum/colon, then yeah. But BLEACH it?

Whoever invented anal bleaching had alot of time on their hands

:shaking head:
:confused:
:lost for words:

[WildClarySage]

12. Just a short FYI- most breast reductions are performed for health

reasons. Women like myself have them because of the constant back pain associated with hauling around an overly large chest. It's a brutal, disfiguring surgery in many cases (like mine) and not undertaken for cosmetic reasons. :)

[Heddi]

18. Oh, I completely understand that

I have very large breasts myself, and if I were of a smaller frame I would probably have the necessity of having reduction. As it is, not only do I have big boobs, but a big gut, butt, and thighs, so the bulk of the weight isn't carried on my upper back.

My mom's sister joined the Navy when she was 17 JUST so she could get breast reduction surgery---she couldn't afford it any other way. She was about 5'3" , 110 lbs, and (this was back in the early 80's) had boobs so big that they couldn't buy bras for her that fit. She guesses she would have been in the FFF cup size. She was huge, and she was an "early bloomer" and had a C-cup by the time she was in 6th grade. You look at old pictures of her when she was a teen and she was constantly hunched over. She had horrible back problems because of it.

When she joined the navy, they considered it a 'medical necessity' and gave her the surgery as soon as she graduated boot camp (which she was barely able to get through b/c it was so difficult to run and do many of the exercises).

My aunt and I are pretty much the same, only she was so much thinner. At least my weight is pretty much evenly distributed so it's not so much of a necessity for me as it is for her, but I could never run a marathon, no matter how thin I was: I'd get forehead contusions ! :)

[geniph]

20. They use this horrible caustic solution to do it, too

That's one "cosmetic" procedure that I've been told is not only painful, but potentially harmful. I most definitely draw the line at procedures that cause more problems than they solve. And why is having a brown anus a "problem", anyway? I mean, what, is it supposed to be a little rosebud?

Apparently, some women take in pictures of porn stars and ask to have their labia reconfigured to "look like that", and I'm told they do the same thing with anal bleaching - they take in pictures of an admirably pale browneye and ask to have theirs bleached to that shade (!!!). That is a bit over the line, to me. Freaky. I can't say I've ever actually even LOOKED at my own butthole. I'm just not that flexible.

I've seen some almighty grisly looking buttholes and floppy ball-sacks on men, but I don't hear about (straight) men going in for anal bleaching or testicle tightening.

[Rich Hunt]

22. LOL

This conversation is hilarious. Some guys have a really bizarre notion of what average women look like.