Thursday, April 3, 2008

Lumberjacks

I've heard a lot about guys and hairy legs lately. It appears this may be used to prove that men are as oppressed by gender stereotypes as women: those I've spoken to here are torn between hairy legs being a) less attractive, yet b) more manly. To the extent of some guy shaving his legs and being called gay by random people out on town. I thought being manly was about being attractive, but then again, the image of Canadian lumberjacks appear in my mind to remind me that is not so. I seem to remember having friends from all three categories; shaving, not shaving, and having nervous breakdown over wheather to shave. I guess that goes for both genders too. And then comes the complicated question; if you do shave, where do you stop? Can you shave legs but not arms? Back of the hand? Neck? Torso? Does the tiny innocent strands below your bellybutton prove an offence to humankind? Oh the problems the modern day human faces!

7 comments:

Sara said...

Very good topic. Unfortunately I am without answer or further insight...

D said...

The reason men are NOT equally oppressed by gender stereotypes is that the vast majority of us actually do not give the slightest crap whether or not our legs are shaven, and what anyone else thinks about that. For the record, mine are not ;)

Nefandus said...

Men herregud vad du hängde upp dig på det där jag sa om manliga håriga ben nurå! *sigh*

Yeonni said...

tssk, you're not the single reason I wrote this, y'know, Nef. =P

Hm, I didn't mean *equally* oppressed, actually. Badly expressed. And I'm glad you're spared the problem, David. ^^

Nightflyer said...

=) Interesting.

I rarely show my unshaved legs. Why? Well, I don't want people to think I'm too lazy to take care of it. =P

It's a part of everything I do to look better. Shaving isn't any more special than styling my hair or putting on makeup. Or clothes for that matter. Al of this, I do it because it makes me feel good.

I reckon you could question the motives, but in my case it doesn't matter. I don't want to stop with any of it. =) I think it's fun.

Yeonni said...

No, really, I don't question motives for either or. The actual point of this post, though perhaps expressed very badly since it was written while I was on the phone... I don't know if it has a point. I just thought it was interesting.

Rik said...

It is interesting. Despite my own ideal of men as large and hairy, I've actually shaved armpits and "those tiny hairs below your bellybutton" several times.

Why? Because, not being large, I can't be "large and hairy" and in my mind, that makes something wrong. It's like women who have too large breasts for their bodies - big breasts are a good trait *if* and only if the rest of your body matches it. Otherwise it just looks dumb. Same thing with body hair. Big guys can be hairy and look real good, small guys can't.