Double standards and internalized misogyny of older women regarding body hair (a rant)

I have had it with these motherfucking boomers and Gen Xers thinking they’re so much better than us millennials and Gen Zers!

I had a fight with my mom today, when I told her I am never shaving my armpits again. She was furious and screamed at me “YOU BETTER SHAVE YOUR PITS RIGHT NOW OR ELSE!!!!”. I replied “or else what?”. She couldn’t think of a response. Instead she said “armpit hair is nasty on a woman”.

I replied “dad has armpit hair too but you don’t complain about it”. She replied “he’s a MAN! Men are supposed to have body hair, they’re just BoRn tHaT wAy!”.

I replied “women are born with body hair too, so what’s the difference?”. She replied “it’s nasty!”. I replied “so it’s only nasty when it’s on a woman, right?”. She didn’t say a word. Then she said “I don’t know”. I replied “if you don’t know, then why are you saying it?!”.

Finally she said “armpit hair is unhygienic and makes you smell”. I replied “so what? Men’s armpit hair smells too, why is it so bad on women?”. Mom kept saying “just because”, and expects me to shut my mouth but I kept asking her why. I was pissed at her because she doubling down on stupidity and there was no arguing with her.

Finally I told her to get the fuck out of my house, and she glared at me and yelled at me that I’ll be sorry. Like, sure I will, Karen, sure.

Then I decided to call her cousin (big mistake) and vent to her about it. She kept saying “I don’t know”. I asked “what do you mean you don’t know?”.

She replied “it’s unhygienic to go without shaving your pits”. I replied “I went without shaving my legs for two years”. She replied “that’s different”. I replied “how is it different?”. She replied “you sweat far more in the armpits”.

I replied “so what? Men sweat under the armpits too”. She replied “but men have stronger hormones than women”. I replied frustrated “what does that got to do with body odor?! Wouldn’t testosterone be the one causing more body odor compared to estrogen? How the fuck do hormones have to do with how body hair on women smells like?”.

She made the attempt to make herself a victim by saying “I came across one woman who didn’t shave her armpits, and she smelled really bad! She was sticking her armpits out in my face and they were so gross it made me sick!”.

I rolled my eyes at her. Like, is she fucking serious? I do not know a single woman with body hair who would purposefully raise up her armpits, shove them in someone’s face, and go “go on, smell me”! I replied sarcastically “is it natural body hair you’re smelling? Does the smell of natural body hair offend you so much? Have you ever smelled a MAN’S body hair?”.

She replied “I’m sure men’s body hair DOES smell, but she was very sweaty in the pits and sweat and bacteria makes your body far smellier”. I replied “so why is it bad when you only smell it from a woman and not a man?”.

She tried to think of something to justify the misogyny, and finally she said “well, do you WANT to smell?”. I was pissed. She makes it sound like having the smell of natural body hair is a bad thing. Then she added “people don’t like it and will stay away from you if you smell”.

So I finally replied “if my natural body hair keeps away sexist assholes, then you’re goddamn right I want to smell! Because what you’re smelling is the smell of freedom, and if the smell of freedom offends you so much, then you need to see a doctor!”.

I hung up on her. Sexist pricks are the main reason I want to stop shaving altogether, and I don’t regret a single bit on not shaving my legs anymore! When it comes to our freedom of choice as women, we will prove them wrong!

And don’t worry, I’m ditching the razor! No more yeast infections for me!