The Spectator of Excess

Annie Husted

When we see a man who is hairy, we perceive their qualities to be masculine and manly; however, when we see a woman who is hairy, their qualities are thought to be wanton and dirty--and definitely not feminine. In The Spectator of Excess by Breanne Fahs and Denise A. Delgado, the concept of body hair and social norms being intertwined is closely analyzed. Because we live in a society that places so much emphasis on the appearance of women’s bodies, women lives center around the negative ramifications on how to present their bodies in a socially acceptable way. Regarding hair removal, society is conditioned to viewing people who do not conform to these practices as unsanitary, and “women rate other women who do not shave as less attractive, intelligent, sociable, happy, and positive compared to with hairless women” (Basow and Braman 1998, 13). This skewed view alludes to idea that in today’s society, many people equate internal traits with outward appearance. Thus, those who do not succumb to these norms can be deemed less important or feminine. 

Humans grow hair, and our natural bodies begin to develop more hair during puberty. The hype that surrounds hair removal and the alteration of the natural body is a norm that has slowly developed over the past century. Fahs and Delgado note how the raise in demand for hair removal began when the clothing trends exalted more revealing clothing. Because women who are hairy are given such a demeaning connotation, and the popular clothing began to show more and more skin and hair, “women comply with body hair norms at rates much higher than those for other dominant body practices” (Tiggermann and Kenyon 1998, 14). But what is the real rationale behind why women feel this need to comply to society’s demands? Many women have said, “they have removed body hair to feel cleaner, more feminine, more confident about themselves, and more attractive” (15). I think it is an interesting comparison when looking at the hair removal rationale between women and men; while men keep hair to maintain an air of power, women remove hair for the hopes of feeling more attractive or confident with men. As said in the reading, “Hairlessness norms mark feminity as clearly different from masculinity; femininity becomes associated with ‘tameness,’ docility, and immaturity, while masculinity is associated with power and dominance” (Toerien and Wilkinson 2003, 15). Women are told by society that their natural bodies are not beautiful or socially acceptable, and that they must become submissive to norms in order to be desirable. On the other hand, if a man was to drastically change the appearance of their bodies (for example remove “superfluous” body hair or wear pounds of make up) it would be considered very socially unacceptable. 

Due to the changing trends and revealing clothing becoming more prevalent in fashion, not removing body hair has become a brazen political weapon. The article covers the motives and reactions that came with the extra-credit assignment given to students taking Fahs’s Women and Health Course, where students could “grow out their body hair (underarm, leg, and pubic) for twelve weeks” (16). Society views women who do not remove body hair as unkempt and many people call into questions someones sexual orientation just based off of a personal hygiene choice. For this reason, many women chose to not remove hair to make a political statement harnessed around how the stereotypes associated with keeping body hair are false, as well as to observe the reactions of people to their societal defiance. The students kept logs during the duration of the twelve weeks, in which they would write about reactions that people had and how they felt about the whole process. The results seemed to be relatively negative, for many of the women participants felt the consequences for breaking this norm emotionally and with their relationships with other people. I was especially appalled by the reactions of the participants significant others and close friends, one participant saying, “My best friend said I looked like a bear. She said I was lucky I had a boyfriend and wasn’t in the ‘singles scene’” (21) I also think that it is rather thought-provoking that women of color and working-class women were most affected by not shaving because they felt that it made them feel like they had an “added layer of bodily oppression to the stigma they had already experienced as lower-status women” (24).

         I think that this is a very interesting experiment, but, personally, I do not think that I would ever be able to do this assignment. It takes a very confident individual to be able to go against a norm that is so commonplace in today’s society, and although I believe hair removal is tedious and all formed off of fabricated social-beauty norms, I think that I would feel as many of the other participants felt. I think that it is incredibly belittling that society places so much emphasis on making ourselves look good in the eyes of other people, and that we are constantly fed the notion, “beauty is pain.”