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News & ArtsThursday, June 25, 2009
Film / The Ladies Hair: Mammals Have It!
Posted by Lindy West on Thu, Jun 25, 2009 at 11:10 AM
In the movie Year One, there is a scene in which Jack Black literally eats poop. He picks up a turd, licks it, and, based on its flavor, determines that it is the feces of a bear and not of a human. In another scene, Michael Cera is waterboarded with his own hot urine. But do you know what got the biggest reaction from the audience? The loudest, most visceral collective "EEEEUUUUUUUUAAAAGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!"?
It was this:
It happened when the lead lady-caveman (I believe that is the technical term) reaches up to daintily pluck a gourd off a tree or something, and reveals her unshaven underarm lady-cave-hair. (Apparently she forgot to scrape it off with a lion's tooth for primordial cave smoothness and pleasure!) "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHHH!!" cried the audience, men and women and little babies alike. "EEEEEEEEEUUUUWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!" This lady-caveman's unshaven armpit was the most disgusting thing they'd ever seen*. Really, you guys? The most disgusting thing you've ever seen is something that every single one of you possesses? (Not you, little babies—fair enough.) Should I take that to mean that licking a poo is more commonplace and acceptable in your life than a hair growing under a lady's arm?
You guys are weird.
*The second most disgusting thing they'd ever seen was when Michael Cera has to rub oil into Oliver Platt's chest hair, a scene that manages to be both hair-ophobic and homophobic.
Image of Gustave Courbet's The Bather from Wikipedia.
1
Um, the bather in "The Bather" is almost unbearably hott (look at those nipples!), and that's barely enough hair to notice, let alone recoil from. I wonder if, possibly, the audience for "Year One" is at least partly comprised of juvenile shitheads?
2
At first glance of the image on this post, I thought it would be from Mudede.
I didn't even notice the underarm hair until after it was specifically mentioned.
I do find it gross, but not as much as poo-eating/tasting.
I didn't even notice the underarm hair until after it was specifically mentioned.
I do find it gross, but not as much as poo-eating/tasting.
4
Yep, underarm hair on women is disgusting. Wo$en with hairy legs may be even more disgusting, though.
7
the innate nature of men, especially regarding what they like about other people and how they chose to relate, is not to be valued and respected but is highly scornworthy.
the innate nature of women, especially regarding what they like about other people and how they choose to relate, is to be valued and respected and is highly praiseworthy.
at the same time, we all believe in upholding the norm of equality.
funny isn't it?
the innate nature of women, especially regarding what they like about other people and how they choose to relate, is to be valued and respected and is highly praiseworthy.
at the same time, we all believe in upholding the norm of equality.
funny isn't it?
8
I admit to being once disgusted by armpit hair. On a fellow dude.
My guy friend was in a hot tub, with his arms on the side, and it was dangling in the water, half soaked and half dry. Because he thought he was a pimp, of course, his arms were around two ladies and the movement of the water kept pushing the hair onto them like kelp on a beach.
I've shaved mine ever since because the second they get past the stubble level I'm instantly thinking of bad cologne and horrible pick up lines coming from a skinny, hairy italian man.
Of course, you could stick anything on the female form and I don't think I'd care much.
My guy friend was in a hot tub, with his arms on the side, and it was dangling in the water, half soaked and half dry. Because he thought he was a pimp, of course, his arms were around two ladies and the movement of the water kept pushing the hair onto them like kelp on a beach.
I've shaved mine ever since because the second they get past the stubble level I'm instantly thinking of bad cologne and horrible pick up lines coming from a skinny, hairy italian man.
Of course, you could stick anything on the female form and I don't think I'd care much.
10
I think I've probably seen more people eat shit in movies and TV than I've seen women with hairy armpits. It does suggest an odd taboo standard.
11
This same EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEUUUUWWW (did I spell that right?) was elicited from a crowd of undergraduates by the movie L'Atalante. And that was sexy, blonde French armpit hair in a sexy French movie.
Kids these days, eh?
Kids these days, eh?
12
@1 for the insightful win.
Plus, real men have no probs with female armpit hair. For most of human literate history, all references to it in erotic literature were about how wonderful it is.
That said, for most of human history we've used animal dung for various things - medicine, poultices, fertilizer, and fire. Expecting this movie to show reasonable reactions that people back then would have is ... asking too much.
Plus, real men have no probs with female armpit hair. For most of human literate history, all references to it in erotic literature were about how wonderful it is.
That said, for most of human history we've used animal dung for various things - medicine, poultices, fertilizer, and fire. Expecting this movie to show reasonable reactions that people back then would have is ... asking too much.
13
From a purely practical standpoint, leg hair on ladies is less than wonderful because it's itchy.
Underarm hair is out of the way and therefore irrelevant.
From an impractical, aesthetic standpoint, leg hair on ladies is less than wonderful because smooth legs make them seem longer and elegant, and therefore pretty (and more, um, touchable, which goes back to the itchy).
Underarm hair is still out of the way and therefore irrelevant.
Underarm hair is out of the way and therefore irrelevant.
From an impractical, aesthetic standpoint, leg hair on ladies is less than wonderful because smooth legs make them seem longer and elegant, and therefore pretty (and more, um, touchable, which goes back to the itchy).
Underarm hair is still out of the way and therefore irrelevant.
14
Good grief. Anyone who thinks armpit hair is a turnoff should be compelled to read Nabokov (Or at least Speak, Memory) until they understand the error of their thinking.
15
Here's the rule:
If you are going to wear sleeves (even t shirt sleves), you don't have to shave.
If you are going to wear a muscle shirt or a tanktop or a strappy dress, shave your damn arm pits.
This goes for everyone, regardless of creed, color or gender.
If you are going to wear sleeves (even t shirt sleves), you don't have to shave.
If you are going to wear a muscle shirt or a tanktop or a strappy dress, shave your damn arm pits.
This goes for everyone, regardless of creed, color or gender.
17
At the Fremont Parade last week, it amazed me how many men in the crowd acted like they had never seen a naked woman before. Americans are easily titillated and grossed out prudes.
18
@9 THANK YOU. I find it increasingly irritating to see movies in the theater because it just reminds me how annoyingly ignorant the general population is. I miss the 70's when hair was not only OK, it was fucking COOL.
21
I've always like the dirty smelling bits the most. Not in a fetishist-type way, but just enjoying them for the sheer humanness of it.
Female armpit hair (which there is not enough of) falls directly into this category.
Female armpit hair (which there is not enough of) falls directly into this category.
25
@20 We were discussing armpit hair - and #4/5 introduced the related topic of leg hair - not your low level of reading comprehension.
26
One thing is for certain: The amount of female body hair I find attractive on a woman is correct and natural and appropriate, and the amount of female body hair you find attractive on a woman is disgusting and evidence of your own brainwashing and/or lack of moral character. This is provably correct.
27
Strangers approach me on the bus to tell me how much my armpit and leg hair disgusts them. I'm a thin, young, attractive woman, and I wear clothes that cover all my body parts, take care of my personal hygiene, etc. I never quite get it. Once a 50-something year old man informed me that my pale legs were blinding him as well as that my dark hair disgusted him. I couldn't help but snap something about my mom's Stage 3 melanoma, so no, I'm not particularly in the mood to go out and get a tan. You have to wonder why people think it's socially acceptable to comment on such things to someone they don't even know. I'm not hurting anyone with my natural hair.
28
The greek root for "armpit" is maschel- , and the term for fear/dislike of hair is trichophobia, so ladies and gentlemen and other hairy critters, we are therefore discussing ... drumroll ... mascheltrichophobia!
Somehow that wasn't as neat of a word as I was expecting it to be.
(It does, however, sound like something you might mutter around a mouthful of hair. Is there any precedent for a mascheltrichophilia fetish?)
Somehow that wasn't as neat of a word as I was expecting it to be.
(It does, however, sound like something you might mutter around a mouthful of hair. Is there any precedent for a mascheltrichophilia fetish?)
29
It's true you know. But I think the real reason for our distaste is we seem to take offense at anything that reminds us of our animal heritage. This is a real result of religious brainwashing.
30
@27: Isn't it amazing that random men think it's acceptable to comment on a woman's appearance? It's as if your body were public property.
I once had a fat, squat little man in his fifties - one of the janitors at U-Village - shake his disapproving finger at me as I ate a cinnamon roll in front of the window at Starbucks. I was 23 and 10 pounds overweight. Who the fuck was he to appoint himself the arbiter of what I ate?! And he HAD to be at least 75 pounds overweight!
Snort. Men!
I once had a fat, squat little man in his fifties - one of the janitors at U-Village - shake his disapproving finger at me as I ate a cinnamon roll in front of the window at Starbucks. I was 23 and 10 pounds overweight. Who the fuck was he to appoint himself the arbiter of what I ate?! And he HAD to be at least 75 pounds overweight!
Snort. Men!
33
When my legs have any kind of a tan, the cinnamon-colored hair on them turns gold in the sun. It's pretty, and soft to the touch, and no, it doesn't itch at all.
34
In the 70s you had your choice between student hippie chicks who let their hair grow, or uptight uneducated secretaries. Guess which group was more fun to be with.
35
@27, 30: Seriously! Dude, I do not want your freakin' opinion about my body, even if it's something "positive." (Please withhold your creepy, sexually-tinged approval, thx.)
36
Sorry ... turned off by pit hair ... in general. I don't even like my pit hair. But chicks say I should leave it.
I don't make up the rules.
I don't make up the rules.
38
@31: I am pregnant, Will.
Now would you like to share with the group your own pregnancy experience?
Now would you like to share with the group your own pregnancy experience?
39
Once again, Will manages to make a complete ass out of himself. Is it just me, or is he getting dumber with every passing day?
40
Women's pit hair actually turns me on a bit, because it is so unusual to see. I was swimming with a German woman in Mexico and glad I wasn't wearing a Speedo.
41
I have to say that after reading all this, I'm glad that I'm nearly hairless, naturally. But, I don't mind hair on other people, male or female. I'm more interested in knowing if a person is kind and genuine.
42
Actually, it's not "amazing and random" (@30) that at least three women on this thread have had men who are complete strangers to them come up and make disapproving comments about their bodies. That's "sh*tty" and "to be expected" in a patriarchal society. Those men felt entitled to their behavior, and they know our shame at what is happening will likely keep us quiet at the time. Handy system, eh?
There's a groovy song about armpit hair by slam poet Alix Olson. It's worth the listen.
There's a groovy song about armpit hair by slam poet Alix Olson. It's worth the listen.
43
I find pit-hair on women to be a turn-on. It reminds me of my time spent living in Europe. Leg hair I find not-so-hot. To each their own.
46
Beards totally turn me on. Oddly though, I became sad when it became hipster-cool to sport one. I think I used to believe that a man who wore a beard was more "authentic" or "real". It's hilarious, really. I've dated guys who felt the same way about my leg and underarm hair. If I didn't shave, it proved to them that I wasn't shallow, and therefore meant I was more worthy of their love. Thank godmy husband doesn't give a damn either way-- I turn him regardless (and his beard is extry hot).
47
Maybe it was the shock value: You don't see images of women with unshaven pits everyday. Given the rise of the internet, pics/vids of eating shit and drinking piss is so relatively passe these days.
48
What's REALLY disgusting? Men with hair growing out of and off of their ears. THAT is far more disturbing to me. Get some clippers you old farts!
49
I dig armpit hair. Just a little tuft like in the picture. Or under Beth Ditto's arms, on the cover photo of The Gossip.
But not so much that it looks like a chick is trying to shoplift raccoons out of a pet store.
But not so much that it looks like a chick is trying to shoplift raccoons out of a pet store.
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