To wax or not to wax?
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Why do we feel pressure to trim or wax our pubic hair as soon as it appears?
hey, do you have pubes yet? That sort of question going around. So you're like, yeah, I definitely have pubes. And then it's not long after you get them, people start saying, hey, do you trim your pubes? Right. And you're kind of like, but I just got them. I just made these new friends. The hookup.
Love and
f***ing. On Triple J.
Warning, sex and adult themes. Hi, I'm Hannah Riley. It's a personal preference, the way that you spend your money, your time, and how much pain you're willing to go through to make yourself look a certain way. I'm talking about waxing, shaving, and getting every last one of your little hair follicles hit with a laser beam. Have you ever asked yourself, who are you doing it for? Yourself? Or maybe societal expectations? Beth is passionate about keeping her body hair. I talked to her about her journey from being incredibly self-conscious about it to being fiercely proud, to the point where she got into a confrontation about it at a wedding. I'm a really hairy lady.
Now I would have been 10 or 11 years old and a guy in year five said to me, aren't girls supposed to shave their legs? From that minute I was like, oh, there's something wrong with me. I used to hate my leg hair so much. People often compliment me on my blue eyes. And I remember once thinking like, you know what? I would give up my blue eyes if I didn't ever have to wax my legs again. I was so committed to just changing myself and making a sacrifice so that I didn't have to deal with this body hair. About two and a half years ago, I just got over it. It was almost like I woke up and decided that I was just done with removing all body
hair. This
is after going through periods of Brazilian waxes. And I had one of those experiences where the lady like ripped off pretty much my entire vagina's worth of hair in one go.
I
thought I was going to die. It was so painful. You're scared that if you go out in public with hair on your legs, like the world's going to end? But it didn't. And then I started having like girlfriends notice it and kind of give me props. And it was just like, oh, this is fine. I can go to the beach with hairy legs and like a really hairy bikini line. And sure, people look, but I don't even care.
How did Beth’s journey from self‑consciousness to body‑hair pride lead to a wedding confrontation?
When I notice people look, it's almost like a badge of honor. Like I'm like daring them to say something.
But then someone did say something. And surprise, surprise, it did not go well.
I'd been to a wedding and it was summer. And so I had like a lovely summer wedding dress on and was lying down with my legs up and my arms over my head. And this guy, he just, he's a very good friend of mine, but he sat there and just was like, Oi Beth, I know like... It's a phase and stuff. So when are you going to start shaving your underarms again? Because I'm pretty sick of looking at them. Then like another guy who was also there came in and joined the conversation until there was like me versus three of who I thought were good male friends telling me that unless I start removing my body hair again, I'm not going
to have
as many dudes sleep with me. And then I was like, what? Do you realize that you have no right to tell me what to do with my body, especially just because you don't like looking at my underarm hair? We had a really big confrontation.
And
so we all went away. We wrote down on a piece of paper separately why I choose not to remove my body hair. And then we read them out independently. It was a full-blown tribal council. What he actually came around to saying was that I have every right not to do it. And that he understands that what he said was out of line. And we don't have the right to tell you what to do with your body. So that was quite satisfying in the end, but really scary and confrontational. And I couldn't believe that I was defending myself against three people who were supposed to be my friends. For me, it was just a matter of like, well, who am I doing this for? Am I doing it for other women? Am I doing it for men? I had one guy...
who was just turned on by it. He was like, oh, wow, like all these women, like they feel like they need to remove their pubes or shave their legs.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Why do we feel pressure to trim or wax our pubic hair as soon as it appears?
0:01–2:25
2
How did Beth’s journey from self‑consciousness to body‑hair pride lead to a wedding confrontation?
2:25–5:04
3
What does the medical director say about health benefits, risks and myths of pubic hair removal?
5:04–7:04
4
Can hair‑removal creams cause long‑term side effects or serious skin reactions?
7:04–9:39
5
Will pubic hair turn grey, thin out, or fall out as we age?
9:39–12:18
6
Do ingrown hairs and pubic lice become more common after shaving or waxing?
12:18–14:44
7
How do men’s attitudes toward body hair differ from women’s, and is there a trend toward ‘no hair’ for men?
14:44–16:53
8
What challenges and costs do trans people face when removing facial and body hair for gender affirmation?
16:53–19:25