Fuzzy Patch
So as me and Hubby had that special moment before bed (stop it!) you know the time where the jobs are done, the plans and progress for the whole family has been discussed and you can just be 2 people that love each other having a chat and being together before you snuggle up to sleep (it’s the moment in Madam Secretary I love too. I didn’t realise I had something in common with Elizabeth Accord!)
And without actually saying….Hubby noticed something about me.
Then this morning I turn on the TV to hear there’s a thing….(You are likely to shudder…) Hairuary.
If you haven’t guessed it’s the month where women don’t shave.
Now for me that’s just the plain old fact that I’m wearing at least 100 denier tights (or thermal ones) jumpers, shirts and dresses with sleeves down to my wrists (if you can see my hairy armpits coming out of my cuffs I’ve got a problem!)
It’s no conscious decision. If I had a posh event to attend in a strapless dress etc and my armpits were going to be on show, for personal preference I’d probably defur….
However maybe I wouldn’t.
Because there on TV there was a man spurting on about how it’s lazy and that “something died inside” when he saw Julia Roberts with hairy armpits and men didn’t fancy them. The female presenter gave a weak response (with no back up) and on with the show. (With of course a few mentions of tweets, etc throughout the show to confirm the male presenter is of course right.
I didn’t have a problem with Hairuary, and I probably still don’t (do what you like I say!) however I do have an issue with 2 days in a row there have been pointless articles in the news about women.
- Hairuary
- The French author who says women over 50 can’t love.
Why?
Firstly can I point out that true men and any partner doesn’t love you if you don’t have hairy arms, they just love you. I’ve been on meds that killed all hair (on my head not so good, but great for cutting down on body hair removal!) and I’ve been on drugs that have made me have hair in places I didn’t know was possible. Take it further I’ve had meds that have made me throw up so much that I’ve not left the loo in days and what a great body I had and then I’ve had meds that have made me balloon up like a moon faced chipmunk. Regardless that gorgeous man of mine has said “I don’t notice, it doesn’t matter to me, you are just you.” He is northern and apparently that is why he doesn’t say I love you, but I know what that means. Your mine, it’s all good.
Secondly why are we giving energy to these stories? (In any reference to these stories I’ve not included any links to newspapers etc. They won’t get any traffic via me.)
They aren’t news.
They aren’t fact.
They are opinions.
At the most Hairuary is that story just before the news finishes. That’s it.
The reason I write this post is because these articles in the news (wow the news had a different meaning years ago – years ago it was someone investigating stories from around the world and around our shores and reporting them to the public, so they knew the true facts. Not opinion, not propaganda, not aggrandising. Just fact.) is because I question do people not realise the damage this does to our society?
To constantly be attacking half of society is ludicrous. Whether we like it or not (and without getting my feminist hat on which even that has become something to be wary of) women are paid less, exploited, lacking in confidence, missing from sectors of industry and working harder to achieve the results they want in their professional lives. Add on top of this constant (unnecessary) pressure you can see why women have never felt so unhappy about their figures and worried about who they are, how they look and everything else you could imagine.
We aren’t just talking about a horde of 40/50+ aged women we are talking about all females. My 15 year old daughter has grown up in a home where you are who you are and the people that matter will respect and honour that. That authenticity, mindset and working hard is the right way to get results in life. But how many girls will hear these “news” stories and without even realising it pour more pressure on themselves to look like something that isn’t real.,
Trust me. I don’t mind how I look (I’m no beauty or no Halloween mask) however I can be ready to leave the house in about an hour. When I’ve done photo shoots for magazines it’s taken the whole day to get the look the magazine wants. With hours of deliberating over which shoes, jewellery, hair, dress, etc, etc. It’s not real.
And as long as we give kudos and weight to pointless stories like these what we expect women to be isn’t real either.
ACTION;
Don’t share their links.
Do what you want.
Build your own confidence, be you. It will make success a lot easier to not fight that.
Oh and to the TV presenter this morning, if anything I would have defurred tonight but you just made me feel strongly that maybe I won’t, and you’ve probably massively damaged Gillette for women’s profits for January too!
