I was surfing the net and came across this article from MSNBC and searched for the New York Post article that they refer to, which can be found here .
Both articles describe and critique (to a certain extent) a frightening new trend in hair removal. First off, I'm not a huge fan of hair removal. I understand some people prefer it, and I have no problems with them, but for me it seems silly. People go as far as to call not shaving "unnatural" (I hope people see the irony in that). Anyways, if it were just another article shaming women into trying a new painful hair removal system, I would've just rolled my eyes and moved on, but it wasn't.
This disturbing new trend is marketing hair removal (particularly waxing) to "tween" and "pre-tween" girls - some as young as 6. I was absolutely disgusted. And we're not talking just eyebrow waxes. Everything from eyebrows to legs to BIKINI WAXES. Some salons are even offering specials for "virgin hair" removal. That's right. Supposedly you can prevent these little girls from ever growing pubic hair (you know a sign of becoming a woman) with 2-6 waxing sessions at an early age.
I'm so horrified and angry I can barely find the words to express my outrage. Not only are little girls being taught that their bodies are something to be shameful of and things that need to be "fixed." They are also being stripped of their autonomy (in the future) to make decisions about their bodies! I am so afraid for the self-esteem and body image issues that the girls of today are going to grow up with. And who are these parents that they are bringing their daughters in to get waxed at the age of 6! There is no reason to force children to cosmetically alter their bodies. This is just disgusting. Read the articles, because I can't write about this anymore. It's really upset me.
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I'm not reading this, I just thought I would share that I vomited in my mouth a little bit thinking about the subject. That's why I'm not reading this.
And I had chorizo burritos for dinner, so it was extra horrible.
I remember at 17 Weight Watchers needed a doctor's note to let me join, in case my mom was pressuring me to lose weight when I didn't need to--I did, I was overweight and my doctor gladly gave me a note, but it's their policy. I know weight loss is way different than simple waxing (one can leave permanent physical ramifications, one is merely mental), but it was nice seeing a company act in such a mature, responsible fashion. What those companies are doing is just despicable. The government has no grounds, but I wish they did so they could do something about that. That's child abuse at least on par with the creepy uncle who asks inappropriate questions.
Oh my God. This infuriates me. Women have hair, on our legs, on our vulvas, et cetera. This is not 'unnatural' or bad. I remember feeling weird about this when I was in middle school, I remember girls asking each other, "so when did you start shaving your legs?" at recess and it being a bad thing that I only started at the beginning of seventh grade. (One girl was bragging that she started in fifth grade. She was not a very nice person, to put it nicely.) I don't shave them anymore. I have never shaved my vulva. My ex used to pressure me to do that...
I can't even remember having pubic hair when I was six. It infuriates me that women are shamed so much over something so natural.