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Woman Goes 18 Months Without Shaving Armpits: Gross or Great?

SodaHead Living 2012/05/04 21:00:00
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If there's one beauty ritual that almost all women partake in, it's shaving their armpits while they're in the shower. But graduate student Emer O'Toole from Dublin decided to examine why she felt she had to be hair-free -- and stopped shaving 18 months ago, The Daily Mail reports.

pits

"I started examining my own relationship with my body, and my body hair," she told "This Morning." She continued, "Why did I feel I had to shave? I thought back to when I first started shaving. When I sprouted hair at 14, I didn't think, 'Will I shave or not?' I just knew I had to shave it off."

Over a year later, O'Toole says she's mostly OK with her armpit and leg hair. "Over the past 18 months, if I've felt awkward in a certain outfit that shows my hairy armpits, I've started to examine where my confidence comes from. If it's my looks, and my self-esteem is linked to that, then I've realized I need to find other sources for that confidence. Your looks aren't with you when you wake up in the morning if you have to put your makeup on first. And they don't stay with you as you age."

And she says guys are totally fine with her fuzzy pits, but women are pretty grossed out by it. Do you think women should feel free to go without shaving their armpits? Or is it a beauty must-do?
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Top Opinion

  • Riobhca 2012/05/04 22:32:37 (edited)
    Great
    Riobhca
    +50
    If that is her preference, so what? If you bathe, you won't smell, hair or not. Sometimes it's good to question societal conventions. Good for her for having the courage to do just that.

    Americans are always so quick to judge other cultures. That is what is "gross."

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Opinions

  • Jayfeather Abi 2012/05/09 19:04:40
    Jayfeather
    What's the reason?
  • Abi Jayfeather 2012/05/09 22:18:03
    Abi
    So u don't like like an idiot!!
  • Jayfeather Abi 2012/05/09 22:34:42
    Jayfeather
    Not everyone thinks it's idiotic to leave hair. Some people actually like it.
  • Abi Jayfeather 2012/05/10 00:42:09
    Abi
    K well I don't it's my opinion DEAL WITH IT!!!!
  • Jayfeather Abi 2012/05/10 01:34:50
    Jayfeather
    I have no problem with your opinion.
  • Abi Jayfeather 2012/05/10 13:50:38
    Abi
    Ok then why are u questioning it?
  • OnyxRaven Abi 2012/07/17 07:16:57
  • Ira 2012/05/06 19:17:34
    Great
    Ira
    +1
    Its a cultural thing. We are so used to women without hair EVERYWHERE now. Yet in days past, men and women got it on hairy and smelly and otherwise disgusting. We are spoiled.
  • Elementer Ira 2012/05/06 20:02:53
    Elementer
    +2
    Not spoiled, just clean.
  • Ira Elementer 2012/05/06 20:05:08
    Ira
    +2
    Hair is dirty?
  • Elementer Ira 2012/05/06 20:10:01
    Elementer
    +1
    No, I just found that the less hair you have, the cleaner you can stay. I had a small afro (I was going for the Jimi Hendrix look) and it was a hell of a hassle to clean and keep groomed all the time. People were sticking pennies in it too. I eventually had to get it shaven, lol.
  • Ira Elementer 2012/05/07 00:20:08
    Ira
    +1
    Wow. Pennies in your afro. I have heard spiders, but money? Certainly you cannot compare her axillary "hirsutism" to the dense nature of an afro? But your point is not lost on me. WHen I take off my shirt in summer, my "friends" will ask me to take off my cardigan!! Its no like I am Italian or anything, just have more hair now than I use to have.
  • MiinaNiemi03 2012/05/06 19:15:08
    Gross
    MiinaNiemi03
    +3
    I may be European, but I've always found armpit hair on a woman to be gross.
  • Kim(: 2012/05/06 18:55:26
    Gross
    Kim(:
    +1
    Thats her way of life i guess. If i was her id shave
  • EFRENGRDZ 2012/05/06 18:52:41
    Great
    EFRENGRDZ
    +1
    Personally I think it looks gross. But that's because that's not something I'm used to look at. I'm a guy and I shave my armpit hair because it looks,and feels clean, women should have that option, but I guess most of them do it because they don't want their armpits to stand out. There are two types of confidence, the physical one and the innate one, and they are NOT interdependent. But they do help each other out. By shaving your armpits doesn't mean that your inner self confidence comes from your unshaved armpits. But having freshly shaven, deodorized, and non-irritated armpits helps your physical self esteem.
  • tatilee(: 2012/05/06 18:42:59
    Gross
    tatilee(:
    +2
    I don't think its necessarily "Gross" it's just something that i'll NEVER do. just don't like the the feeling or look. But i do admire her self confidence and bravery. It takes a lot of courage to even attempt breaking the status quo. Good for her.
  • pepper5419 2012/05/06 18:41:27
    Gross
    pepper5419
    +1
    She must be French.
  • Tenness... pepper5419 2012/05/06 23:34:46 (edited)
    Tennessee3501
    It says she is from Dublin and that her name is Emer O'Toole. Does that sound French to you? (I guess she could be a French girl in disguise and using a false name)!
  • besarta 2012/05/06 18:23:27
    Gross
    besarta
    +1
    I just can't watch her in the pic, even though I admire her self-confidence
  • Eleni Pink 2012/05/06 18:16:54
    Gross
    Eleni Pink
  • Timetraveler 2012/05/06 18:07:56
    Great
    Timetraveler
    +1
    Many cultures don't shave their pits, I find it kind of sexy as long as her hair isn't as thick as a longshoreman.
  • Lexxi 2012/05/06 17:55:39
    Gross
    Lexxi
    +2
    fluffy pitts
  • Anna 2012/05/06 17:55:00
    Great
    Anna
    +1
    She's bettering her self esteem, which is very good. I'll personally stick to shaven pits, I still find the hair rather icky.
  • SlashGashNightmare 2012/05/06 17:41:18
    Gross
    SlashGashNightmare
    +1
    Ehm... Ok..
    This bitch is nasty xD
  • Uranos7 2012/05/06 17:40:06
    Great
    Uranos7
    +1
    I never understood why women did that in the first place. Most of the rituals women do are becuase other women will ridicule them, I have known a few unshaven women and it did not bother me at all. If anything thier confidence made them more attractive.
  • ohsmith ☮ R P ☮ 2012 ☮ 2012/05/06 17:12:14
    Great
    ohsmith ☮ R P ☮ 2012 ☮
    +1
    WHOOPIE!
  • hannah 2012/05/06 17:05:09
    Great
    hannah
    +1
    i dont exactly think its great but its her choice so whatever...i personally cant stand going three days without shaving but i know a middle aged family friend who doesnt shave and im not too grossed out by it. i just know she likes to keep it all natural
  • amazinggrace 2012/05/06 16:47:52
    Gross
    amazinggrace
    +1
    ugh. just my opinion
  • biizkit 2012/05/06 16:47:30
    Great
    biizkit
    i respect her decision but i do think its kinda gross as long as shes happy with it
  • Twinkle 2012/05/06 16:43:26
    Gross
    Twinkle
    +1
    I guess she was to lazy to.
  • Jayfeather Twinkle 2012/05/09 19:08:26
    Jayfeather
    There are other reasons to stop. Logic leads some women to stop. Rebellion makes other women stop. Laziness is a factor, but it's not the only one. In this case, she was making a statement. It even says so in the articele.
  • umapathy Krishnamurthy 2012/05/06 16:29:16
    Gross
    umapathy Krishnamurthy
    +1
    What a nonsense
  • Jayfeather umapath... 2012/05/09 19:08:47
    Jayfeather
    Nonsense to leave hair where it's supposed to be?
  • waterlady 2012/05/06 16:03:43
    Gross
    waterlady
    +1
    America women shave their pits. Hair collects bacteria and stinks. Very unattractive to most Amercians, to see hairy pits. If everyone had hairy pits she wouldn't look so bad, but she looks uncarefored. Makes me think of the hippies and the unwashed. I think most men don't like hairy arm pits on woman, but if her man likes them or she can find a man who does, it is her business and no one elses. If you think about it, it isn't natural to shave. I do hope this new trend stops with her.
  • Jayfeather waterlady 2012/05/09 19:10:11
    Jayfeather
    Actually, unshaven pits collect bacteria too. That yellowish skin colour comes from a microbe colony under the skin. And personally, I hope that this trend spreads to America.
  • GoreGirl 2012/05/06 15:48:30
    Gross
    GoreGirl
    +1
    I mean to each their own and if she's fine with it, more power to her. I just can't stand body hair. At all. To me it's gross and I have to shave or wax or I just feel gross. That's my preference, she has hers. I think she's right about the whole self esteem thing coming from your looks. I just am not a body hair person (I don't like much body hair on men either)...
  • kelly 2012/05/06 15:47:49
    Great
    kelly
    +1
    Okay maybe the hair is a little gross, but her self esteem and nerve is what got me here. Way to go girl!
  • Rod 2012/05/06 15:39:24
    Great
    Rod
    +2
    Doesn't bother me at all. She should do what is most comfortable for her.
  • PumpkinMuncher 2012/05/06 15:20:14
    Gross
    PumpkinMuncher
  • Lindsey 2012/05/06 15:15:02
    Great
    Lindsey
    I'm all for questioning social norms... But its not that much of a hassle to shave. But hey, if that's what you want to do then go ahead my friend!

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2013/06/19 20:24:36

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