# What age did DD start shaving? ** I LET HER SHAVE** UPDATE



## LittleBee (Apr 27, 2006)

My DD is almost 11 and wants to shave...you all might help her get her way lol







I have been saying no, but she is going into sixth grade...and I don't want her to feel ackward, and summer is coming (I think lol...freezing in MI LOL)! So what age was your DD or yourself when you shaved? Thanks!

EDITED: I let her shave...she thanks all you mamas from the bottom of her heart




























Can anyone recommend a razor for her?

She is using mine and she is just hacking up her legs...

Those who let their daughters shave, what razor do they use? Thanks!!!


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## nextcommercial (Nov 8, 2005)

My daughter was 11.

I think you should let her shave this summer at least.

I bought the shick intuition. The kind with a bar of soap around the blade. SHe hasn't cut herself with that one yet.

WHen my daughter was 11, she was dancing in competitions. I was having her armpits waxed at first. She liked that the best, because it didn't hurt, and the hair stayed gone for a month. But, after competition, I started having her shave instead.


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## philomom (Sep 12, 2004)

My dd is 12 and uses Nair just on the underarms. She doesn't feel uncomfortable with leg hair yet (yay me!) and I'm glad.


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## MCatLvrMom2A&X (Nov 18, 2004)

my mom didnt let me shave till I was almost 16







boy did that create some issues.


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## mmace (Feb 12, 2002)

My daughter is twelve and in sixth grade. She started shaving this year, when she started having to change for gym.


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## bri276 (Mar 24, 2005)

I started at 11, when the other girls made fun of me







it was horribly embarassing and we can all get into the sexuality debate but at that age, being different can be hard.


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## Mama Dragon (Dec 5, 2005)

I started at 10 when other girls started making fun of me. Thankfully my DD (11 next month) hasn't been teased yet, but I'll let her shave any time she wants now.


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## ~member~ (May 23, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *LittleBee*
So what age was your DD or yourself when you shaved? Thanks!

When she can make an informed and educated decision. I didn't shave until I was 23, and it was after my bf made a comment, he actually did the shaving because I said I wouldn't and if he wanted shaved legs, he would have to do it himself, so he did.









I will not raise my children to feel ashamed about how their bodies naturally are, and if they say they are being teased at school, I will raise the roof and every student will learn how to be respectful of each other.


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## UnschoolnMa (Jun 14, 2004)

She was 11.


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## sunnysideup (Jan 9, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *LittleBee*
My DD is almost 11 and wants to shave...you all might help her get her way lol







I have been saying no, but she is going into sixth grade...and I don't want her to feel ackward, and summer is coming (I think lol...freezing in MI LOL)! So what age was your DD or yourself when you shaved? Thanks!

My dd was 12, but if she had wanted to at 11 that would have been fine with me.


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## LadyButler (Sep 16, 2005)

My DD is WAY far from there (4)... but I was 11 back in the day!


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## LittleBee (Apr 27, 2006)

Someone told her she looked like the "tree girls" in the movie "Without a paddle" (I guess they make a joke and show these girls with extreme leg hair)...kids can be cruel!!!!!!!

I just want her to understand that if she starts....it's an ongoing process, not that she can't ever stop...but if they tease her for the natural hair on her legs now, imagine how they will tease if she forgets to shave and is all stubbly!!!

Thanks for all the insight.....I am going to talk with her tomorrow and make the decision







She is probably going to love all of you ladies, you'll probably wake up to a THANK YOU POST from my dd HAHAHA!!!!! Thanks again!!!!!!!!


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## Marsupialmom (Sep 28, 2003)

When my girls ask they will be allowed. I remember a girl getting teased serverly about it and I don't think the teasing or any other reason is worth a battle.


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## ~member~ (May 23, 2002)

From the replies, I am gathering no one has even questioned or researched as to why we have hair in the first place.









Or the history behind shaving and child sexual abuse.

the only female without hair, is the child female. I will not do that to my daughters.


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## cottonwood (Nov 20, 2001)

What is the history behind shaving and child sexual abuse?

As for me... well, my daughters are still very young so we haven't dealt with it yet. I do remember starting to shave myself, though, and felt very conflicted about it. It was like it was calling attention to the fact that I was sexually maturing. I felt like this was an adult thing I was being expected to do, that it somehow sexualized me before I was ready to be sexual.


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## mama_daba (Dec 7, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MamaInTheBoonies*
the only female without hair, is the child female. I will not do that to my daughters.

my step mom and all the women in her family have naturaly hairless legs, and i know many women around the world do. i don't shave and if i ever have a duaghter i hope she won't shave, it feels unnatural to me, but if she wants to shave when she is ten or eleven i will probably let her, at 11 or 12 i started shaving and at 14 i stopped shaving and have shaved a few times since, i'm 27 now, i would rather my child get to decide than for me to decide for her


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## Free Spirited Mom (May 10, 2006)

I'm new here but chiming in on the subject. Both my daughters were about 12 when they started...it really wasn't much of an issue here.


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## ~member~ (May 23, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *fourlittlebirds*
What is the history behind shaving and child sexual abuse?

Shaving did not become 'popular' until laws were put into effect that protected our children. It was then that some men decided to make women shave so they would be more child-like.

Growing hair is a time to celebrate becoming a woman and should not be a time to feel ashamed of becoming a woman.

Quote:

my step mom and all the women in her family have naturaly hairless legs, and i know many women around the world do.
Yes, that is true. But for the women who do have hair, there is no reason to make them ashamed or feel bad for what nature intended. Also, hair is a first line of defense against disease. It protects from cold or heat. There are reasons it is there.


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## ~member~ (May 23, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *moonfroggy*
i would rather my child get to decide than for me to decide for her

I would not stop my daughters from shaving. I was saying that I will not condone making them feel ashamed for having hair.


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## Dar (Apr 12, 2002)

I don't think anyone here has "made" their daughters feel ashamed of having hair. I haven't read any of that, and it doesn't seem that anyone forced her daughter to start shaving. However, in the culture in which my daughter and I live, hairy legs (and armpits) are generally considered unattractive. Forbidding a girl to shave at such an emotionally vulnerable age and thereby forcing her to look "ugly", according to mainstream America... well, that's not a choice I'd make.

My daughter was 11, and I did encourage her to wait, but in the end it came down to her decision...

Dar


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## ~member~ (May 23, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Dar*
I don't think anyone here has "made" their daughters feel ashamed of having hair.

I understand your point. It is the underlying message these young girls are getting, though, that has me concerned.


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## Mamato2and2 (Apr 7, 2006)

My daughter started shaving around 11. I was opposed to it (I don't shave very often) and she has blonde hair so you could hardly even see it and I didn't want it to grow in darker!!! But my mom and my sister were all for it, they didn't want her to get teased and all that...so alas she started shaving. Now that I look back, it wasn't really that big of a deal but I wish she would have waited. Kids have a lot of pressure and that was a battle I chose not to fight. Good luck in whatever you decide and I think the more we fight against it the more they want to do it...too bad society makes us feel like we have to shave!!


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## MillingNome (Nov 18, 2005)

DD still does not shave very often. Every once in while she'll break out the electic razor for whatever reason. It's not a big deal around here whether she does or does not shave.


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## EStraiton (Sep 6, 2005)

My dd is 12 and I just let her start this year. She could have done so a year or two ago but I didnt feel comfortable with it. She was ready and I explained to her how to shave by just showing her the razor and how to move it, etc. gently. I didn't actually 'show' her how to really do it... she did just fine without me. My mother never taught me and the first time I tried without her knowing I cut my leg badly... I didn't want that to happen to DD.


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## Malva (Nov 2, 2005)

I was 12 when I started shaving. I discovered waxing around 16 and wished I had sooner. When my dd wants to start shaving, I'll introduce her to waxing.


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## WNB (Apr 29, 2006)

Re: can't stop once you start --
I dunno, I'm sort of an on-again off-again leg shaver myself. Sometimes I feel like I want my legs to be hair-free, but most of the time I just don't care about it. I'm a fairly hairy person, and I'm not blond, so it's not that the hair on my legs is inconspicuous -- if it were, I doubt I would ever shave it.

I guess my advice would be to try to continue to make your daughter happy with what she is, but not to make too big a deal out of shaving. It is just hair, after all. If she wants to shave it off, no biggy. If she decides to stop shaving it off later on, also, no biggy. I wouldn't pile on a lot of pressure about how starting shaving is a major decision in life, once you start, can't go back, anything like that. It's just hair.


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## sunnysideup (Jan 9, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *WNB*
Re: can't stop once you start --
I dunno, I'm sort of an on-again off-again leg shaver myself. Sometimes I feel like I want my legs to be hair-free, but most of the time I just don't care about it. I'm a fairly hairy person, and I'm not blond, so it's not that the hair on my legs is inconspicuous -- if it were, I doubt I would ever shave it.

I guess my advice would be to try to continue to make your daughter happy with what she is, but not to make too big a deal out of shaving. It is just hair, after all. If she wants to shave it off, no biggy. If she decides to stop shaving it off later on, also, no biggy. I wouldn't pile on a lot of pressure about how starting shaving is a major decision in life, once you start, can't go back, anything like that. It's just hair.

ITA


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## htw90 (Mar 10, 2004)

I just asked my 13 yr old if any of her friends shave and if she wanted to - They all do but she doesn't care about it and said she'd do whatever I wanted. I have "issues" with hair (lots of dark hair - teased for hairy legs & arms) so I'm pleased to see she doesn't buy into any ideas on how she should look (she does have blonde hair so its not too noticable). Hopefully no one says anything bad to her!


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## Ambrose (Apr 20, 2004)

Well I dont have a DD that age yet, but I was 9 when I tried it behind my moms back. Ended up cutting myself cuz she had those disposable razors...







: After that I waited until I was almost 11 because that's when the comments started coming about hairy legs yadda yadda... Once I hit 14 I went from shaving almost religiously to shaving only in the summer/spring and found out that I wasn't the only middle school girl to not shave in winter. Once I met DH (I was 18) it slowly changed to me shaving very rarely... when I'm getting close to matching him in hair length!! or when I'll be wearing shorts or skirts.

I think over time if she really isn't too into it it'll trickle down to rarely or nothing like me.

Just let her know that she can, but at any time se can also stop and it isn't going to change who she is inside.


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## Marsupialmom (Sep 28, 2003)

Shaving/hair trimming can have benifits MITBs. Hair can keep moisture closer to the body and if you are prone to yeast infection this can be a nightmare. I take pro-abotics but in the summer if I don't trim I get yeast infections. I nor my oldest daughter can sit in a wet bathingsuit either. When my brother was in the gulf he had to take up trimming his body hair to prevent yeast. And my dad came back from the gulf with a nasty yeast infection hair trimming might help prevent/tame but nobody told him.

There are many histories of shaving in different cultures and people have been doing it for thousands of years for different reasons.


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## wtchyhlr (Oct 15, 2002)

I personally helped myself ot my mom's razor around age 11. Butchered my legs, she was appalled. I would say, teach her now how to do it safely.

That said. I'm fair, i have red hair and almost blond body hair. I went about 3 years without shaving in college. Never the armpits, because i didn't like the body odor, but definately the legs. These days, especially with a toddler that doesn't like me to shower... i shave pits daily and legs once a week at most. I've waxed (at a salon, never at home), and frankly, my skin is so fair, that i get a rash for a few days. Its also kind of pricey.


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## Still_Snarky (Dec 23, 2004)

I was allowed to start shaving (with an electric razor) the summer before I started before sixth grade. Haven't decided yet about dd but she's only 2.5!


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## Still_Snarky (Dec 23, 2004)

oops my first double post!







:


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## MissAbbyRosesMamma (Apr 28, 2006)

i fought and fought and fought my mom and then she let me so i didnt want to anymore







now i do it when im gonna wear shorts or when i see the lion king reinacted on my knee. its a little scary then







:


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## sohj (Jan 14, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Dar*
I don't think anyone here has "made" their daughters feel ashamed of having hair.

Maybe no one is admitting it on this thread; however, I recently got to feel like someone socked me in the stomach when I was at a big gathering at a very crunchy friend's house and one of the other adults there was a mother of a girl who was friends with my friend's daughter. Despite appearing all "free" and "liberal" and being vegetarian and wearing hippie clothes, she was really nothing but a self-hating sexist who was inflicting her own psychosis on her daughter. She was making comments to the girl about her "stench" and how she ought to keep her arms at her sides so no one smelled her (I have a very acute sense of smell and all this girl smelled of was "little girl" -- you know, _normal clean human scent_). This girl is *7*! And she was reminding her to shave in her bath that evening.

Why did I feel like I had been socked in the stomach by this? Because my mother did the same things. She also made me wear Mitchem's Anti-Perspirant, despite the fact it gave me weepy sores in my armpits. By the time I was 13, she was making me get my eyebrows waxed every two weeks, too. I stopped doing that when I wasn't living with her a mere handful of years later, but, despite over 20 years having passed, anyone looking at my face sees where the hair hair has never grown back.

Personally, instead of justifying mutilation of what our bodies have, I think parents of girls who are feeling "peer pressure" should be assisting them to resist it. Anything less is falling down on the job. "Just because everyone else does it" is not a sufficient reason.

And a







to MITB for the history lessons.


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## amydidit (Jan 21, 2005)

My mom never *allowed* me to shave. She said shaving was for *bad girls*. I still started on my own though and just hid the razors and all that. I started when I was 15 and couldn't stand the teasing anymore.

My DD is 9 1/2 and has been asking when she can start shaving. I've told her she can start whenever she wants too. I always forget to buy her a razor though, and she never reminds me either. She'll mention it every couple months, but doesn't seem stressed about it.

I would never push my DD to shave if she didn't want too. But I also can't understand feeling proud if she chose not too.


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## Dar (Apr 12, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *sohj*
Personally, instead of justifying mutilation of what our bodies have, I think parents of girls who are feeling "peer pressure" should be assisting them to resist it. Anything less is falling down on the job. Just because everyone else does it" is not a sufficient reason.

I'm willing to bet a hundred bucks that you don't have an adolescent daughter... and probably no older children at all.

I don't consider shaving to be mutilation, FWIW. Would you object to a daughter braiding her hair, for example? Or a son shaving?

And I don't know if it's peer "pressure" as much as a normal, natural desire to affiliate and belong to a group... and one of the ways groups show their affibinity is by looking alike. There are "fashions" in every circle, no matter how crunchy... be they mei tais or hanna andersson or blue hair or ponytails or shaving. Adolsecence is a time of finding where you belobg in the world, and group affiliation is a normal, natural part of this. I'm not saying that every girl should shave... but denying a girl the ability to do something that is considered part of being attractive to most kids her age seems unfair and unkind.

When I was 13, I wore horrid handmade pantsuits for a while because my mom made me. *Everyone* laughed at me. It was awful. I would never want my teenage daughter to go through that.

And I do think that what your friend is doing is wrong, wrong wrong... clearly it's wrong to make 7 year olds shave, or tell them they have a "stench". And it was wrong for your mom to make you wear ant-perspirant that gave youe sores, and to force you to wax your eyebrows.

OTOH,, I was very happy when my mom bought me a pot of eyebrow wax and showed me how to use it when I was 12 or so, because a lot of people had made comments about my eyebrows and I was self-conscious about them. My daughter has inherited the same brows, and she has a pot of wax, too. I guess I don't see anything wrong in doing things to our bodies that make us feel prettier. Women (and men) have done this since the history of humanity, and animals do it as well, so I think it's a fairly natural urge.

Dar


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## MissAbbyRosesMamma (Apr 28, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MamaInTheBoonies*
From the replies, I am gathering no one has even questioned or researched as to why we have hair in the first place.









Or the history behind shaving and child sexual abuse.

the only female without hair, is the child female. I will not do that to my daughters.


i cant get this out of my head...i still dont get the link between shaving and sexual abuse. i read your explination but still dont get it. i shave my who-ha, is that also contributing to it? no, i have a tattoo that cant be seen with it being shaved and for my own personal reasons i prefer it that way. i cant stnad when my legs are hairy-i find it uncomfortable. no one made me feel bad about my body thats what i chose to do.

as for my eyebrows i get them done every two weeks and would LOVE if the hair stopped growing in. again, my preference. makes them more expressive i think, especially since i dont wear makeup or do anything else to my face...


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## MissAbbyRosesMamma (Apr 28, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MamaInTheBoonies*
From the replies, I am gathering no one has even questioned or researched as to why we have hair in the first place.









Or the history behind shaving and child sexual abuse.

the only female without hair, is the child female. I will not do that to my daughters.


i cant get this out of my head...i still dont get the link between shaving and sexual abuse. i read your explination but still dont get it. i shave my who-ha, is that also contributing to it? no, i have a tattoo that cant be seen without it being shaved and for my own personal reasons i prefer it that way. i cant stnad when my legs are hairy-i find it uncomfortable. no one made me feel bad about my body thats what i chose to do.

as for my eyebrows i get them done every two weeks and would LOVE if the hair stopped growing in. again, my preference. makes them more expressive i think, especially since i dont wear makeup or do anything else to my face...


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## a_work_in_progress (May 17, 2006)

I started using Nair when I was around 12 years old. I have some horrid scars on my legs, and I was always scared of cutting them back open. I never removed the hair regularly, though. I'm not against shaving. It's hair. When I want to get rid of it, I get rid of it. But for me, it's never to fall into peer pressure. I have hairy pits, and I wear sleeveless shirts, too.  But, my body hair is blonde, and barely visible from a distance.

My oldest child is an 8 year old girl. Whenever she feels like she wants to remove body hair, I'll support her, and show her how to do it. Again... It's just hair. If my daughter wanted a hair cut, I'd take her to the salon. Why's it any different because the hair is on her legs?


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## pandora665 (Mar 13, 2006)

As far as kids teasing goes.... in 8th grade, I remember there were a few girls who went around inspecting each girl's legs for hair in gym before the teacher ever got there. .... I mean, who wants to come up on the wrong end of leg inspection?!?







*I now wonder what their issues were*

My mom still wouldn't let me shave my legs (prolly cause the hair was blond, and she didn't see it as a big issue)... to her defense, I never told her about the leg inspection. I finally just took her razor and dealt with it, cutting myself a few times in the process. She saw a cut on my leg, and finally put 2 and 2 together and bought me some razors and shave cream.

As silly as it may seem to you and me (now), even covert teasing makes you feel bad when you're going through puberty and don't really feel like a child or an adult yet. I'd just let her do it, but don't make it something that you really care about one way or the other. If you wanted, you could preface it with a statement that "lots of women don't shave their legs, and if you don't want to in the future, that's fine too"

I now am a half the time leg shaver, and half the time leg hair grower... so no long term damage.

Good luck.. it's hard having them grow up...









Erin


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## kyangel80 (Oct 5, 2005)

My oldest dd will be 7 this week. She has very long, very dark leg hair. I anticipate that she will want to shave by age 11, but I will never mention or suggest it. When she notices the hair on her legs and comments, I tell her that everyone has hair on their legs and its normal. That seems to satisfy her. And, yes, she has experienced some form of pressure or teasing from her dad. He makes comments to her about highlighting her hair, which he has his new wife do against my will, and shaving her legs and needing braces.







It's so sad that she has to endure her peer pressure from her father. I will let her shave when she gets ready, right now she is not.


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## sevenkids (Dec 16, 2002)

My oldest dd started when she was 15. Beofre then she lived in Jamaica and practically no one shaves there. When she came to the states, at 14, she resisted until she was 15 and decided she wanted to start.
My second started around 13, moved back to Jamaica when she was 14, and now she's nearly 15 she doesn't shave so often anymore. None of her friends shave so she doesn't feel like she needs to.
My younger dd is 10, going on 11, and so far has expressed no interest in shaving. Even though she's dark with dark hair, the hair on her legs and arms is blonde and looks so pretty in the sun, like she has a golden glow.

I leave it up to them.

I'm a "social shaver", I only shave if and when the mood strikes, every few months or so, and then I go nuts and shave _everything_ but the hair on my head and eyebrows.


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## Marsupialmom (Sep 28, 2003)

You know I caught my 11 year old shaving his upper lip







his sister noticed hair (no puberty involved just facial hair he has always had) and he is very embarrassed by this hair.







Growing up is hard. I have been surprised by how many mom's of boys have noticed their simular age boys doing this because they are embarrassed by their growing more so than them wanting to be manly.

Why is there a double standard on girls and boys shaving? Boys it is a right of passage into manhood.

I would also like to read more about the sexual abuse and shaving.

From what I know shaving didn't get popular in this country until about WWII. I know in other areas there are different reasons for various shaving practices.


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## Dar (Apr 12, 2002)

No offense, but the sexual abuse/shaving link is bunk. Women (and men) have been removing their hair for thousands of years:
http://www.quikshave.com/timeline.htm
http://beauty.about.com/cs/shaving/a...ng_history.htm

Tweezing out the individual hairs was popular for a while, as were various depilatories. The earliest razors date from 3000 B.C. Of course, the fashion has waxed and waned throughout the centuries and in different cultures, but it's certainly not a new thing.

dar


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## trinity6232000 (Dec 2, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *LittleBee*
I just want her to understand that if she starts....it's an ongoing process, not that she can't ever stop...but if they tease her for the natural hair on her legs now, imagine how they will tease if she forgets to shave and is all stubbly!!!


Quote:


Originally Posted by *mika3*
My daughter started shaving around 11. I was opposed to it (I don't shave very often) and she has blonde hair so you could hardly even see it and I didn't want it to grow in darker!!!

As you grow older your hair naturally gets darker and
courser. It's a myth that shaving will cause your hair to
grow differently than it would have without shaving.
Waxing on the other hand can result in hair growing in
finer and eventually stop growing all together.

It's a personal choice for a girl. I'll allow my dd to make
that choice for herself when the time comes.


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## trinity6232000 (Dec 2, 2001)

double post


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## Persephone (Apr 8, 2004)

Funny, I always thought shaving came into fashion when hemlines went up.

As for me, I was the last of my friends to start shaving. My mom wouldn't let me, and wouldn't let me. Told me the hair would grow in darker, and I couldn't stop once I started, and it was a pain in the butt to shave. All I could see was the hair on my legs, and I wanted it gone. I was finally able to shave the summer before 8th grade, I think that was when I was 12. I think I had only wanted to for a year. Honestly, what difference would a year have made to my mom? To me, it made a world of difference. I stopped shaving in the winter, when I wore pants. Except in gym class. But I didn't really care too much. Until word went around that I was a lesbian cause I didn't shave. Of course, in middle school, that was a horrible rumor to spread. (No offense to any lesbians.) Not sure I see the connection, either... But anyway, when dd wants to shave, she can shave any time. I'll also teach her. My mom just handed me the electric razor and told me it was easier than using a nonelectirc razor.


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## maya44 (Aug 3, 2004)

I went through a period where I stopped shaving my legs. It took me a while to realize that not shaving made my legs way "itchier".

Why I was suprised I don't know. The hair on our head itches ykwim?

I now shave every day. It litereally takes less than 2 minutes to shave my legs and under my arms because I do it every day.

My legs felt immensely better (not itchy) as soon as I started doing this.

I encouraged my oldest dd to get in the habit of doing this too. She started when she was 10 and tells me she hardly even thinks about it in the shower. She has never cut herself. (She uses the Soliel which has a soft handle)


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## Alkenny (May 4, 2004)

DD was 9 when she started shaving her legs. She hasn't grown underarm hair yet to shave there though.


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## Tinas3muskateers (May 19, 2004)

Kayla was like 9 or 10 when she started.


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## Kirsten (Mar 19, 2002)

Hmmmm.... my dd1 is almost ten, very fair. Hasn't asked yet. She does have to wear deoderant though. I don't remember wearing deoderant at that age.

She seems young to me to start shaving. If she asked now, I think I'd try to put her off for a bit. I'm thinking when she started middle school would be a time I'd be comfortable with. But if she really wanted to before, maybe an electric razor? I think I was 12, the summer before 7th grade started?

There is a GREAT book called "The Care and Keeping of You" - part of the nonfiction American Girl line (like them or don't but their non-fiction books are FANTASTIC) that covers all types of stuff from shaving to exercise to tampons vs. pads to sleep habits, nutrition, etc. It is SO well written for the younger girls (ages 8 to 12).


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## Ambrose (Apr 20, 2004)

I use an electric razor that men use for shaving their beards. It's really smooth and I've NEVER cut myself with it. I wish I would have had one when I was a kid!! I just shaved yesterday and it made my legs soooo smooth. I didn't have to put water on them or soap or shave cream... Just plug it in and turn it on!

(I think the shaver is a Norelco or something)


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## fierymyst (May 27, 2006)

Just to throw in a suggestion: I like the venus razor best, nice and smooth. My dd is 10 but is not blooming yet so no worries on this front for me yet but her friends are so it won't be long.


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## Yoshua (Jan 5, 2006)

when I first started shaving my face I wreaked havoc on it, many nicks and cuts.

(i'm a man obviously)

When I got a Gillette Mach 3 razor when I turned 17ish that all but disappeared.

The mach 3 worked great for rarely nicking anything and I know of a few girls who have decided to 'borrow' my razors from time to time and they claim it is a good razor.

Not the cheapest but then again, I wouldnt put cheap blades near my kids skin either.


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## midwifetx (Mar 16, 2005)

I am a regular shaver, and I do like the multibladed razor like the Mach3 or the Venus(4blades)

There is a razor that has these thin wires over the blades (3blades I think) and it doesn't shave as close as other razors, but it also doesn't nick like the others do. I don't remember the name of it, though...sorry.

Seems to me that my mother bought me a flicker razor when I first started shaving (it is a round razor with several blades inside that you turn to switch. ) I remember it taking three blades to completely shave my legs for the first time, as I was a very very hairy little girl (11yrs old and I had as much hair on my legs as my dh does at 33!) Wish I had used clippers to start out, but my mom has no hair on her legs at all, and had no clue what I needed.

I used the shick intuition (the one with the built in soap) and was unimpressed, plus every time I used it I cut my knee because I couldn't see where the blade was.


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## trinity6232000 (Dec 2, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Yoshua*

The mach 3 worked great for rarely nicking anything and I know of a few girls who have decided to 'borrow' my razors from time to time and they claim it is a good razor.


I LOVE Gillette Mach3. I have seen they have a newer razor called
the turbo? I think. I was planning on buying it for summer. I have
used the mach 3 since it came out, and I am very happy with it.

I tried the Schick Intuition last summer and I had bad problems with
bumps, and rashes.

Went back to my Mach and never looking back.


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## AlbertaJes (May 11, 2006)

Now I use the Mach 3. Have tried the blades in it for regular, turbo and the battery/buzzing one, they are interchangeable. the turbo blades are the best IMP.

When I started shaving (I have no idea when!) my mom would buy flicker razors for me. They had wires wrapped around the blades so it was hard to cut myself.

Of course, somehow I managed it... After the flicker, I had a gillette for women razor, not sure what it was called. The only razor that I've managed to cut myself with in like 10 years is electric. LOL. I'm talented, I guess.


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## dancindoula (Jun 20, 2005)

I also was totally unimpressed with the schick intuition. Not only was it hard to shave around knees and ankles, but the handle was big and slick so it kept slipping. Also the stupid shave cream bar around the blade would dissolve whenever the blade was rinsed, then dissolve some more when water filled the large hollow plastic handle and dumped down through the razor.

My favorite razor is the Venus Divine. I have had very few nicks (all chalked up to my own absentmindedness). The blades seem to last a good long time and it's the first blade I have found that doesn't give me razor burn at the bikini area and underarms (although I haven't a clue why that it is, I'm just happy about it!).


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## dancindoula (Jun 20, 2005)




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## Mama Dragon (Dec 5, 2005)

I use DH's Mach 3


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## Missy (Oct 22, 2002)

This thread is seriously freaking me out







My dd is 11 and she has *nothing* growing under her arms, and her legs are still really smooth. She just reached a point that we realized that she might need a bra in the next, oh, five or ten years...Yikes.


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## Breathless Wonder (Jan 25, 2004)

Quote:

As you grow older your hair naturally gets darker and
courser. It's a myth that shaving will cause your hair to
grow differently than it would have without shaving.
I have to disagree. I have very fine, very light hair on my upper leg, where I have NEVER shaved. Same with my arms, etc. But the hair on my lower legs, that I began shaving at the age of 14, is black, coarse, and gets WAY longer than the hair on the sections of my body that I have never shaved. It also grows in at weird angles, etc.

Perhaps it is different for dark haired women, or they just don't notice the difference?

I'd like for my children, male and female to make decisions about their personal appearance based on THEIR preferences, and not because of teasing or pressure from other people.

Unfortunately, it seems to be too much to hope for.


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## Just_Isabel (Mar 5, 2006)

Quote:

As you grow older your hair naturally gets darker and
courser. It's a myth that shaving will cause your hair to
grow differently than it would have without shaving.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Breathless Wonder*
I have to disagree. I have very fine, very light hair on my upper leg, where I have NEVER shaved. Same with my arms, etc. But the hair on my lower legs, that I began shaving at the age of 14, is black, coarse, and gets WAY longer than the hair on the sections of my body that I have never shaved. It also grows in at weird angles, etc.

Perhaps it is different for dark haired women, or they just don't notice the difference?

I'd like for my children, male and female to make decisions about their personal appearance based on THEIR preferences, and not because of teasing or pressure from other people.

Unfortunately, it seems to be too much to hope for.

Dark hair on your lower leg and light hair on the upper leg are totally normal, no matter weather you shave or not. I'm dark haired, I've shaved my upperlegs (though not as often as the lower), and my hair there still grows short, thin and blonde. So I'll have to agree with the PP you quoted. Those hairs that are supposed to stay light and short will cotinue to be so, the ones that are supposed to turn dark will.
Which makes sense because shaving just cuts the hair and doesn't affect the hair growing cells, whatever they're called.


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## Dawn38 (May 14, 2006)

My dd is 8 so we haven't had this disscusion yet. But when the time comes if dd feels she is ready then I will let her. I started shaveing between 10 and 11. I have dark hair so my leg hair is black, dd has blond hair so hers is blonde and not noticable. Hopefully it is a long time before it becomes an issue.


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## ColeysMama (Apr 28, 2006)

My mom's opinion was: If you're old enough to grow it, you're old enough to shave it. This went for the boys and the girls. I was 12, I think, maybe 13, when I told my mom I wanted to shave. She said, well, you know where the razors are! And that was that.

I have used the Intuition and really liked it, but the refills got expensive, so I use a Soleil now.


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## soygurl (Jan 28, 2006)

As far as razors go, I LOVE any Shick razor will the thin wires on the blades that a PP mentioned. I've been using these for years (first the Shick Silk Effects Plus, and now the Quatro). I've tried the Gillet Vinus, and personally hated it. I find that I can get a closer shave with the think wires, but maybe that's just me... deffinatly less knicks though!

~Kelsie


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## abrimmer (Jun 26, 2006)

My daughter will be 12 in August and has been shaving since she was 10, like me. We bought her the Venus by Gilette and she hasn't had any trouble with nicks.


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## DawnaRose (Jan 22, 2004)

my 11yr old just shaved for the first time last week. She had been asking me to do it for a while and I kept hoping she would forget, she has very fine blonde hair and you honestly can't see it unless your very close to her legs, but she was set on shaving because her friends are and she kept saying "my legs are ugly" so we went to the store and got her some shaving cream and a good razor. She actually wanted me to show her how to do it properly so she wouldn't get cut.

She never even considered shaving her legs until she spent the night with my mom last year and my mother put NAIR on her legs and told her she had to 'get that gross hair off' her legs...







:it gave her a terrible rash and I gave my mother an earfull... but I guess thats a whole other thread, lol.


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## Jennymom33 (Oct 2, 2005)

I started letting my dd's start shaving their legs at 10 underarms at 11 and 12 I let them shave their privates. I thought those were all appropriate times.


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

DD's only three, so I don't know when/if she'll start shaving. I started at about 11 or so. But, mom didn't even know about it until she saw me in shorts. I just started using my dad's razor!


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## joyfuldoula (Jun 15, 2006)

I let my dd shave just this year at age 11. It was all her idea...I encouraged her to think it through first. Her leg hair was quite dark and it was summer and time for swimsuits!

However, I bought her an ELECTRIC razor, which is just what my mom did for me. There is no way you can cut yourself with an electric, and its a great way to learn to shave. Just an idea for all of you!


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## mommy68 (Mar 13, 2006)

I started around age 11/12, can't really remember. I would let my daughter if she is in school at that time (we may h/s her) because in 6th grade they start gym class in our area and they have to dress out and wear shorts in gym. I would feel bad for her if all the other kids had smooth legs. It's definitely something that as a woman I do almost daily so I see nothing wrong with it.


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## mommy68 (Mar 13, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Jennymom33*
and 12 I let them shave their privates.









I didn't even do that until I was in my late 20's the first time. Does she have really dark hair or something?


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Jennymom33*
I started letting my dd's start shaving their legs at 10 underarms at 11 and 12 I let them shave their privates. I thought those were all appropriate times.

I find this whole topic interesting. I started shaving my privates when I was...13 or 14, I guess. Again, my mom had no idea. I just started doing it. (I think I was about 20 before I realized that other women did it, too!)


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## twins10705 (Feb 10, 2006)

I don't have time to read all the replies right now, though I read the first two pages so far.
I was one of the girls that was pressured and shamed into shaving by my mother and older sister. When I was 14 I finally gave in to the shaving after many months of being laughed and sneered at -- no one at school really had ever said anything to me about it, but I was also a very private person. I was also forced to wear bras around this age and psychologically abused(by my mother) about jiggling breasts underneath my shirts. I would have been a lot more open to a sports bra tank/undershirt type thing and some gentle guidance about the issue...but my mom was just ruthless.
She used to blow up on us when we were young kids and then blame this big scary, unescapable thing that happens to all women called one's "period". I spent much of my childhood in secret terror over this "horrible fate" that God would bring upon me and prayed every night for years to wake up with a penis instead.
I think mothers of young daughters should be especially careful about comments they make regarding their own physical appearance. If your daughters says you are pretty -- just thank her and never put yourself down in front of her. But like I said, I was a very sensitive child.


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## dharmamama (Sep 19, 2004)

Wow, I just started a thread about nail polish. I hadn't even CONSIDERED shaving! I can't wait for that issue to come up.









I think I was 14 when I started shaving. I did it because I felt like a baby because everyone else was shaving and I wasn't. I never wanted to shave, and when I was 19 I stopped and haven't ever done it again. If your daughter says she wants to shave, I would ask her why and talk to her about the range of options she has in dealing with her body hair and other people's comments on it/social pressure.

My mom never pressured me to shave, but she certainly displayed her disapproval when I stopped. Now she has to admit that not shaving is really no big deal. I wish that my mom would have told me that I didn't have to shave. She never pressured me to shave, but she never told me I didn't have to and it didn't occur me to that I didn't have to until I went to college and met the hippie girls.









Namaste!


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## sweetangelbrynlie (Jun 23, 2005)

I started shaving at around 12, didn't want to, but got made fun of horribly and ended up having too or else I would have heck at school.


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## Plummeting (Dec 2, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *sohj*
Personally, instead of justifying mutilation of what our bodies have, I think parents of girls who are feeling "peer pressure" should be assisting them to resist it. Anything less is falling down on the job. "Just because everyone else does it" is not a sufficient reason.

You know what? I shave my armpits, my legs and my bikini zone. (Well, whenever I actually get to take a shower lasting longer than 5 minutes







) I fully expect that my DD will also want to shave, because most people she will know will do it, and because I do it. And I do not for one second think I'm "falling down on the job". That's just insulting. If DD wants to do something _to her own body_, that's her business. I will never encourage her to shave, nor will I encourage her to cave to peer pressure. I will always tell her that she doesn't have to do anything just because everyone else is doing it. However, if she wants to shave her legs, pierce her ears or dye her hair, I'm not going to tell her she can't do it.

I feel uncomfortable being hairy. I know some men who feel uncomfortable being hairy. It's not a sexist issue to me, because I don't think it's "gross" or "unattractive" for women to have body hair. It's an issue of what I'm comfortable with, just as it's an issue for what the men I know who shave are comfortable with. I also cut my hair. I guess in your opinion that would be "mutilation of what my body has"? And if not, why not? Hair is hair, and our bodies grow it.

I know some women whose head hair literally touches the floor. (Most of my extended family is Pentecostal.) I actually know a lot of women like that. Many women have hair that would grow that long if they never cut it. Why is cutting that hair okay, but cutting other body hair is not? Do you also feel that it's "mutilation" when men shave their beards or trim their beard hair? When people shave their heads? If cutting or shaving hair is "mutilation" because it's natural to our bodies, then you can't pick and choose. It's either mutilation, or it isn't. I don't really believe you think shaving beards or heads is mutilation, so why do you believe shaving body hair is?


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## Plummeting (Dec 2, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Breathless Wonder*
I have to disagree. I have very fine, very light hair on my upper leg, where I have NEVER shaved. Same with my arms, etc. But the hair on my lower legs, that I began shaving at the age of 14, is black, coarse, and gets WAY longer than the hair on the sections of my body that I have never shaved. It also grows in at weird angles, etc.

Perhaps it is different for dark haired women, or they just don't notice the difference?

Nope, that's normal. I'm a very, very pale white person, who shaves both upper and lower legs. I always have, but when I let them grow for a while, the hairs on the lower legs are brown and the hairs on the upper are so blonde and fine that you can't even see them. DH says the hair on my thighs is so soft he can't even feel it. He tells me not to bother shaving there, because you can't tell when I don't anyway, but I like to do it if I'm already taking the time to shave anyway.


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## instantaccess (Oct 20, 2005)

she was 8 and I shaved for her so that she would not get hurt.. We decided this after she came home MANY days crying her eyes out because she was made fun of. she has very dark hair and for some reasson her hair on her legs was very dark and very thick.


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## Jaydens_mom (Aug 12, 2006)

When i was 11 i had full fledged hairy underarms and... well everything else.
My mother would not let me shave but instead used NAIR, or cream hair remover... it worked great on my virgin hair .. eventually though i got sick of waiting for it to disolve the hair and ended up shaving it off, now using NAIR does NOTHING for me.

I would reccomend trying nair first before letting her shave anymore..


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## DoulaClara (Jan 3, 2006)

Wow, I guess I didn't know that this sort of thing causes feelings to run so deep. I just figured- if people want to put studs in their cheekbones and stretch their earlobes and get a shag haircut or tatoo or alter their natural appearance in any way- shaving is something far less permanent!

At any rate- by the time I was 10-11, my mom and I were pretty much consensually living (more so as I got older- I never had a curfew, and pretty much informed her of things I was doing, and she did the same). One day I decided I wanted to shave, so I used my own money and bought some cheapo little razors and went to town. I think I nicked the backs of both knees, and that was what it took to learn to keep my legs/armpits/whatever at certain angles to shave them. I let my mom know what happened, and she bought me nicer razors.

For me- if my child wants to shave, she/he has my blessings. If not, the same thing. Who's to say they won't go through times where they will shave, and then not shave, and then shave again (and then again, there are similarities of style...)

Clara


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## instantaccess (Oct 20, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Jaydens_mom*
When i was 11 i had full fledged hairy underarms and... well everything else.
My mother would not let me shave but instead used NAIR, or cream hair remover... it worked great on my virgin hair .. eventually though i got sick of waiting for it to disolve the hair and ended up shaving it off, now using NAIR does NOTHING for me.

I would reccomend trying nair first before letting her shave anymore..

we tried nair before unfortunally my dd is allergic to it badly


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## Jaydens_mom (Aug 12, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *DoulaClara*
Wow, I guess I didn't know that this sort of thing causes feelings to run so deep. I just figured- if people want to put studs in their cheekbones and stretch their earlobes and get a shag haircut or tatoo or alter their natural appearance in any way- shaving is something far less permanent!

Clara

LOL. way to discribe me







... well minus the cheek bone studs.


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## my4magpies (Mar 24, 2006)

actually, last week was the first time I shaved DD's legs. She's 10, and I did feel it's a bit young, but her leg hairs were so long and thick....they just stood straight out from her legs!! I told her that the only way she could shave is if I'm the one doing it for her until she gets a little older.


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## Jaydens_mom (Aug 12, 2006)

I think if its nothing noticable and the child is not coming home crying everyday because of things kids are saying about it, then it should be left alone... however if it is thick and dark and she's being teased and really insists it needs to go, well then its time.


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## eowen77 (Aug 10, 2006)

OK so my DD was young by the looks of everyone else's replies...I started letting her shave her legs when she was 8...maybe 8 1/2. But she was having a difficult time with her own image b/c she inherited her BF {bio-father}'s body hair and had a lot of hair on her legs. It bothered her a lot {to the point of tears several times} and I didn't think it was worth it. She now shaves about once a month...tho more during the summer.

I personally am, as one person put it, an on and off shaver - and I really could care less if people don't like it. I'm not much of a shorts wearer, so most people wouldn't have known that until last night, I hadn't shaved my legs since the middle of June. ~LOL~ My boyfriend actually has no problems with the fact that I am not much for shaving {in fact he will probably say {You shaved?" in that what for tone of his tonight} - but it used to drive DH crazy. He would tease me sometimes that I was getting longer leg hair than him. {Of course he never pressed me to shave either...b/c he knew it was my legs, my hair, and my choice. ~L~} DD's BF used to get mad if I didn't shave every couple of days...and I constantly felt like I "had" to to keep him happy...it was one of his many little controlling things. ~sigh~ {I've since learned that if a guy don't like me if I haven't shaved...he ain't worth the effort anyhow!}

DD wants to shave...and even at 8 had a good ability to give me actual reasons/explanations of why she felt the way she did. I felt if she was willing to give me an explanation that made sense and could do it herself without shredding her legs...she was more than welcome to. She has only cut her leg once...and not much more than a little nick...whereas at 14, I used to cut myself quite regularly still. {I shaved the first time at 12}.


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## Jaydens_mom (Aug 12, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *eowen77*
OK so my DD was young by the looks of everyone else's replies...I started letting her shave her legs when she was 8...maybe 8 1/2. But she was having a difficult time with her own image b/c she inherited her BF {bio-father}'s body hair and had a lot of hair on her legs. It bothered her a lot {to the point of tears several times} and I didn't think it was worth it. She now shaves about once a month...tho more during the summer.

I personally am, as one person put it, an on and off shaver - and I really could care less if people don't like it. I'm not much of a shorts wearer, so most people wouldn't have known that until last night, I hadn't shaved my legs since the middle of June. ~LOL~ My boyfriend actually has no problems with the fact that I am not much for shaving {in fact he will probably say {You shaved?" in that what for tone of his tonight} - but it used to drive DH crazy. He would tease me sometimes that I was getting longer leg hair than him. {Of course he never pressed me to shave either...b/c he knew it was my legs, my hair, and my choice. ~L~} *DD's BF used to get mad if I didn't shave every couple of days...and I constantly felt like I "had" to to keep him happy...it was one of his many little controlling things. ~sigh~ {I've since learned that if a guy don't like me if I haven't shaved...he ain't worth the effort anyhow!}*

DD wants to shave...and even at 8 had a good ability to give me actual reasons/explanations of why she felt the way she did. I felt if she was willing to give me an explanation that made sense and could do it herself without shredding her legs...she was more than welcome to. She has only cut her leg once...and not much more than a little nick...whereas at 14, I used to cut myself quite regularly still. {I shaved the first time at 12}.

My s/o is the SAME way.. he can go a week without shaving his face and it hurts when he rubs up against be because i have sensitive skin, but i don't complain!
However, when i neglect to shave my legs and pubic region (totally off as he expects it) he gets very rude with me and insists i go have a bath and shave immediately... i ignore him however as i don't feel he should have the right to tell me what to do, and if he doesn't want to be intimate with me because i am equally as hairy as him, then that is his loss.


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## sbailey1 (May 14, 2006)

My mom bought my dd a electric razor for Christmas this past year. She is 10 now and will be 11 in Nov. Anyhow, she had hair under her ams and her legs too, so it was time. I started doing it at 11 I believe. Anyhow, my dh did not think it was a good idea for her to start now, but she needed it and I knew it and my mom did. The funny thing is, she so badly wanted to start and now, she does not do it that much. Funny how that happens huh? And, you know the electric razor my mom bought her, she says she gets cuts by it. I have never heard of an electric razor that cuts.

Stacie CLD
Aurora Il
www.tendermomentsdoula.com


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## arelyn (Mar 24, 2006)

I got an electric razor for Christmas from my aunt and after about a year and a half it would start to catch hairs and sometimes skin. Try lubricating it (can't remember what dad used). If that doesn't work it might need new baldes.


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## milkymama06 (Jul 28, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Dar*
I don't think anyone here has "made" their daughters feel ashamed of having hair.
Dar

I don't believe that's what she meant. I think she's raising her children to know they have choices and that just because things are "mainstream" doesn't mean it's the right/only way. The same with non-vaxing, cloth diapering, extended nursing....


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