bob@cadovax.UUCP (Bob "Kat" Kaplan) (04/25/85)
From: holmes@dalcs.UUCP (Ray Holmes) <1488@dalcs.UUCP> > I have always disliked the idea of self mutilation, as practiced by man or > women. The shaving of leg hair is just as barbaric as the shaving of facial > hair. It is in the same class as wearing lip discs. And cutting your hair, and trimming your fingernails... -- Bob Kaplan "Just because I'm handsome doesn't mean I'm not intelligent."
shor@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP (Melinda Shore) (04/28/85)
[] > From: bob@cadovax.UUCP (Bob "Kat" Kaplan) >> From: holmes@dalcs.UUCP (Ray Holmes) <1488@dalcs.UUCP> > >> I have always disliked the idea of self mutilation, as practiced by man or >> women. The shaving of leg hair is just as barbaric as the shaving of facial >> hair. It is in the same class as wearing lip discs. > > And cutting your hair, and trimming your fingernails... I don't think so. Cutting your hair, trimming your fingernails, etc. is for your own comfort and convenience. While I don't necessarily agree that shaving your legs or beard is self-mutilation, I do think it's done primarily to bow to miscellaneous pressures to conform to some sort of social norm. It seems to me that each person should be able to choose what's comfortable for him/her, without having to worry about what other people will think, whether or not it will cause problems on job interviews and in social situations, etc. -- Melinda Shore University of Chicago Computation Center uucp: ..!ihnp4!gargoyle!sphinx!shor Mailnet: staff.melinda@uchicago.mailnet Bitnet: shor%sphinx@uchicago.bitnet ARPA: staff.melinda%uchicago.mailnet@mit-multics.arpa
ellen@reed.UUCP (Ellen Eades) (04/29/85)
> From: shor@sphinx.UUCP (Melinda Shore) > > From: bob@cadovax.UUCP (Bob "Kat" Kaplan) > >> From: holmes@dalcs.UUCP (Ray Holmes) <1488@dalcs.UUCP> > > > >> I have always disliked the idea of self mutilation, as practiced by man or > >> women. The shaving of leg hair is just as barbaric as the shaving of facial > >> hair. It is in the same class as wearing lip discs. > > > > And cutting your hair, and trimming your fingernails... > > I don't think so. Cutting your hair, trimming your fingernails, etc. is > for your own comfort and convenience. While I don't necessarily agree > that shaving your legs or beard is self-mutilation, I do think it's done > primarily to bow to miscellaneous pressures to conform to some sort of > social norm. It seems to me that each person should be able to choose > what's comfortable for him/her, without having to worry about what other > people will think, whether or not it will cause problems on job > interviews and in social situations, etc. I haven't shaved in quite a while due to lack of time, but every time I wear tights or long johns with snug ankles (and I wear them a lot here in Oregon) I wish I had... they pull on the hairs and itch and... Social norms, pfui. Ellen
zben@umd5.UUCP (04/30/85)
In article <371@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP> shor@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP (Melinda Shore) writes: >that shaving your legs or beard is self-mutilation, I do think it's done >primarily to bow to miscellaneous pressures to conform to some sort of >social norm. It seems to me that each person should be able to choose Clearly you've never tried to eat a carmel apple with a full beard! Have you ever had your hair caught in the spinning shaft of a stacker while trying to unload a lineprinter? Both of these things have happened to me, and while I would NEVER bow to peer pressure in my hair length or beard, I have CHOSEN to shave (except for moustache) and keep my hair short enough not to need to put it into a ponytail anymore. I agree with you 1.023 * 10 ^ 23 percent that it should be a matter of personal choice. The whole idea of long hair (as *I* remember it) was that we do not evaluate a person by his/her looks, but by what kind of a person that person really is. I respect your right to wear long hair, please respect my right to wear short hair... -- Ben Cranston ...{seismo!umcp-cs,ihnp4!rlgvax}!cvl!umd5!zben zben@umd2.ARPA
jeff@rtech.ARPA (Jeff Lichtman) (05/01/85)
> >> I have always disliked the idea of self mutilation, as practiced by man or > >> women. The shaving of leg hair is just as barbaric as the shaving of facial > >> hair. It is in the same class as wearing lip discs. > > > > And cutting your hair, and trimming your fingernails... > > I don't think so. Cutting your hair, trimming your fingernails, etc. is > for your own comfort and convenience. While I don't necessarily agree > that shaving your legs or beard is self-mutilation, I do think it's done > primarily to bow to miscellaneous pressures to conform to some sort of > social norm. It seems to me that each person should be able to choose > what's comfortable for him/her, without having to worry about what other > people will think, whether or not it will cause problems on job > interviews and in social situations, etc. > > Melinda Shore I agree, but let's keep in mind that it's easy to react against conformity, too. I don't want to be judged just because I shave my face (see original posting, calling the practice "barbaric"). Sometimes fitting in is what's most comfortable for a person (actually, the main reason I shave is that my face itches when I let my beard grow) , and I see no reason that someone should be condemned for conforming as long as he or she doesn't expect others to conform as well, and the standard being conformed to doesn't hurt anybody. I'm not much of a conformist, and I've always believed that many people in our society spend too much time trying to be like everyone else. But I've also learned to take a charitable attitude toward my neighbors who don't conform to non-conformity. What does all this have to do with this newsgroup? Just this: I would like for feminists to be tolerant of women who are more conformist than they, for example, women who shave their legs, wear nothing but dresses, and believe that men should rule their families. Before you get angry, let me say that I don't agree with these standards (especially the last). But I also believe that someone can be a good person while conforming to standards I don't believe in. -- Jeff Lichtman at rtech (Relational Technology, Inc.) aka Swazoo Koolak {amdahl, sun}!rtech!jeff {ucbvax, decvax}!mtxinu!rtech!jeff