a) just the idea of this ad is creepy as all shit– what the hell makes people think we WANT to have our personal space and our bodies invaded by ANYONE just because we dare use public transport without a bodyguard?
b) the arsehole who grabbed at me couldn’t see any bare skin or hair on my legs, (I was wearing jeans) leading me to believe that whether I’d shaved or not didn’t matter to him.

and c) if not shaving means NOT being sexually assaulted by random strangers, I AM NEVER SHAVING ANYTHING EVER AGAIN. Bonus if having body hair actually makes people jump away from me and keep out of my personal space.

My mother and I are both quite hairy (and dark-haired with relatively pale skin) and she always made a big deal about it, when I hit puberty she told me “we’ll have to take care of that moustache” (there are like 4 hairs on the sides of my lips), nagging me to shave my bikini area and pits – though she never taught me how to do it against the grain so even though I shaved, I had perma-stubble. (My ex-boyfriend was the one who showed me that trick.) She also had extensive electrolysis on her upper thighs and in moments of insecurity I wonder if I should too. So far I’ve held strong on that front.

All my life I got flak from men (most of whom I was not sleeping with) about shaving/trimming my pubes – at the ex’s insistence I tried it once and OMG, never again! Not only was it agonizing but I found the look incredibly creepy and if that’s what a man wants me to look like, I sooo don’t want to be with him. Just one of many reasons he’s an ex.

The truth is, NORMAL guys won’t even notice. THEY HAVE LEG HAIR. They would look at you like you were a complete loon if you suggested THEY shave it.

I’m lucky to be with a nice, NORMAL man who doesn’t give a flying fuck if I shave my leg/arm/pubic OR EVEN ARMPIT hair because he knows damn well nothing will get him to do that…and because, as he reiterates, he loves me for who and what I am.

Girl should just leave that fucker on the bus. Trust me, any number of men (and women!) will appreciate both the efforts she took AND the fact that she doesn’t even need to take them.

my ex shaved her arm hair when we got together (super pale with long brown/black arm hair). I was always kinda proud/happy that she didn’t feel like she needed to with me, and still doesn’t.

I find that is the most perfect response. Now I’m not saying that people who shave are betraying the revolution, but having girl fur has been an excellent sorting device for potential suitors over the years. Especially in the summer, when I’m rocking tank tops. The dudes who still want to do me probably don’t have unrealistic body ideals for women.

The funniest thing I think is that people who have hair issues can’t believe that me an my hairy friends get laid!

Or, even worse: even if I’m as conventionally beautiful as Julia Roberts, I still have to shave my pits every day or I’ll be mocked.

Yep, that was considered newsworthy, and reading that not only made me puke (that it was written at all, not that she had hair!) but made my heart break for my teenage students who would read that and have one more reason to be terrified of their own bodies: OMG if I don’t shave my pits it’ll get into the newspapers!