by KATIE TANDY
I recently learned about a fascinating new study with a terrible name—Perilous Patches and Pitstaches: Imagined Versus Lived Experiences of Women’s Body Hair Growth—which attempted to trace the evolution of “social control and individual agency” in the presence and reaction to body hair.
Not surprisingly, the study discovered that body hair on women by and large induced disgust and a feeling of overall dirtiness, both in themselves and in observing others. Perhaps even less surprisingly, the study spurned all kinds of sociological and psychological analysis. And in the red-hot cross-hairs of this body hair debate, there is, of course, a feminist discourse:
These results on a seemingly “trivial” subject nuance the “rhetoric of choice” debate within feminist theories of the body while also illustrating a vivid experiential assignment that delves into women’s personal values, relationships, and social norms. Implications for assessing and changing attitudes about women’s bodies—particularly “abject” or “othered” bodies—are discussed. — Breanne Fahs, study author
All of which got me thinking about an inherent element of my own body that has alternatively plagued and buoyed my spirits. I’m a girl who smells. And I know what you’re thinking. “Oh, yeah, me too, when I get home from yoga, boy do I stink.” Smiles conspiratorially.