I'd like to say I'm not affected, but I am. I know logically that it is not real and that I am comparing myself to an illusion, but it's like it's got me on this hypnotic level.
This might be a separate topic, but what do you feel about this? I was shaving my legs the other day, which is generally an uncomfortable and arduous ordeal for me, and I thought, "how sick is it that it was already decided for me before I was even born that I would have to routinely shave off hair that grows naturally on my legs and underarms or else I'm going to have to feel less feminine?" Of course, no one is MANDATING that I shave, but I think that it is just deeply ingrained in our society that if I were to abandon shaving, I would be regarded as less feminine and possibly less attractive. It's just that my skin is really white and my hair folicles are really dark, so whenever I shave, it looks like I haven't. Also, I develope, no matter what advanced razor or shaving cream I'm using, red bumps that only disappear once the hair grows back. It's painful for me and just doesn't make sense to me. I've tried just not shaving, but the result on my confidence was awful, even though I tried to reprogram the way I thought about it. It is just so deeply ingrained in me. At the supermarket there are magazines with girls with tiny skirts and smooth shaven legs and underarms, in the movies, and just in general day to day life. Really, the only hairy women that I've encountered, at least in America, have been extremist feminists or something of that sort.
How do you all feel about shaving? Is it something you don't mind? Or are you like me, feeling like it's unfair that it has already been decided for us that we must shave to adhere to some social code?