The waxing comments start at about 3:10 in the video above. Warning – the audio is very loud.
Former Air America commentator and current comic Janeane Garofalo made headlines a couple of weeks ago when she called it anti-intellectual of President Obama to call for prayer in the wake of the Gulf oil leak. They covered it on The View and Elisabeth and Joy had a tense moment during that discussion, with Elisabeth calling Joy a “bigot” for declaring that prayer wasn’t logical. (Which is not the same thing as calling it anti-intellectual, but of course Elisabeth took offense.) I considered covering that story, but passed on it because I didn’t want to open that whole can of worms.
Now Garofalo is taking on a less controversial topic – that of female intimate grooming. She thinks it’s not true that anyone has a preference for a hairless intimate area and if they do they have a problem:
Janeane Garofalo takes on Brazilian waxing in her new standup special “If You Will,” and she explains her anti-pubic grooming stance in a new interview with Uinterview.com.
“It couldn’t possibly be true that there are a lot of guys who find adult females with genitals that look pre-adolescent that attractive,” she said. “If they do, that’s a problem.”
Janeane chalks up the obsession with hairlessness to a “national myth.”
“I feel like we’ve been conned into thinking it’s desirable to have that waxing done and that people like it,” she continues. “I think it’s a national myth that we have all gone along with for some reason.”
[From The Huffington Post]
I’m wary of giving TMI in this post, but unless I give some personal background it will be hard for me to comment. I’m just going to get this out of the way right now – like many women, I’ve never had a full Brazilian wax. Once I tried with some wax at home and did a whole strip before gradually peeling it off in complete agony. There’s probably no way I would pay someone to do that for me. That doesn’t mean I don’t go periodically bare, just that I use other means to achieve it. (Antibiotic ointment really helps afterwards and that’s all I’m going to say about that.)
I don’t think there’s anything mentally wrong with men or women who like waxed/shaved parts. It makes certain things easier down there and it has nothing to do with reverting to a child-like state. Plus it helps some of us feel cleaner. If you’re wearing a bathing suit, you have to groom in that region if not make it hairless. It’s not a “national myth,” it’s a personal choice. You wouldn’t expect Garafalo to grasp that anyone with an opinion other than hers is also right, though. She doesn’t seem like the most stable or tolerant person.
I don’t think I’ll take personal grooming advice from someone who looks like that! Fashion FAIL!
Girls with hair.. blech.. It’s like kissing a guy with a beard.
I also find it creepy. Groom away, okay. We all need to keep it tidy. But bare naked makes you look like a child. I think that is an ‘inconvenient’ truth if there ever was one.
Oooh, a big slice of dietary delusional cake for that full-of-herself/shit and spent whackadoodle.
… or at least a new wardrobe, hairstyle and a roll of duct tape for her mouth so she can maybe learn something for once just by shutting the hell up about things she has no clue of (but asserts that she does).
She came “thisclose” to calling folks (who “prefer it bare”) pedophiles.
It’s one thing to be wrong, but it’s another to be insanely and dangerously wrong.
Ugh, GOD. I can’t stand her at ALL. She reminds me of the ultra-militant feminists I went to college with in the early ’90s. Just an angry, unhappy person.
Whatever, I don’t think her opinion is going to get people arrested. BUT have you seen her horrible nose job and maybe lips and extreme botox?? She used to seem more real now I just think she has really low self esteem.
I regularly get full brazilians. I used to go 100% bare but I really did feel like a 10 year old, so now I leave a little triangle just so it doesn’t look so weird. I have to be totally honest at the risk of over sharing.. “intimacy” of all kinds feels SO much better for me & bf alike. I used to shave myself bare but even that’s not the same. And besides that, it really just looks much more appealing to me.
I know it’s not for everyone, but why does she feel the need to make anyone of a different preference look like a child molester? Hopefully it was just for comedy’s sake?
Yeah, no. I don’t often shave entirely down there, but when I do, I absolutely do not look like a child.
I do think that sometimes in the U.S. women are made to feel like there is something wrong with them if they don’t remove all pubic hair (see spooge’s comment above), but shaming people who do go bare (and/or who like it when their partners do) isn’t going to fix that problem.
I used to think like she does; I no longer do. I realised I was projecting my own issues onto others – I’m a fuzzy girl, and have long been insecure about it, and so the view that men who like the Brazilian must be closet paedophiles had a certain appeal for my ego. These days, I own my fuzz, wherever it is on my body, whether I keep it or remove it, and I don’t feel the need to judge others for their preferences.
Some girls like to go bare, sometimes or all the time. Some visitors are put off by hair because it gets in their teeth. Some people positively LOVE pubic hair – I had a gentleman who was disappointed when I trimmed my bits one time, preferring the full-on 70s bush I had been sporting through the winter.
When it becomes weird to me is when the world, or the western media, or anyone, adopts the notion that female pubic hair is wrong, or disgusting, or unnatural, or that women OUGHT to remove it, the same way it’s been doing with leg and underarm and upper lip hair and other “unsightly” fuzziness since forever. It’s not unnatural or disgusting or unhygienic, it’s not wrong, it’s PERFECTLY natural and nothing to be ashamed of, and if ladies choose not to trim, wax, shave or otherwise depilate, that is perfectly fine. They’re not obliged to be hairless anywhere on their bodies and shouldn’t be mocked, whether it’s an unruly bikini line, a furred ankle or a full-on handlebar moustache.
But to try to demonise as paedophiles women and men who have a preference for a bald pudenda is just dumb, damaging, ridiculous. A closet paedophile is unlikely to be turned on by a fully-grown woman and her grown-up breasts and buttocks and menstrual issues, regardless of how smooth her pubis is.
(Oh, and I did shave it, once. Did not look especially youthful, though after a day or two it felt rather like a California forest fire. Ouch.)
[/rant]
Lenore i agree absolutely with you but would like to add that J G has turned into a mean and bitter person and that makes me sad I used to love her in the 90’s.
I am really looking forward to how these comments spiral throughout the day
70’s wintertime bush -lmao
I think her point on the national myth statement was that it’s like a lot of things that are deemed fashionable. How many of us have had a hair cut (I mean on our heads), worn a hideous piece of clothing, got a tattoo or piercing etc etc to be more fashionable, not necessarily because we felt strongly about it? Some of us wear high heels at great risk of some form of physical injury – the question is whether we do it for ourselves or not.
As for prayer being anti-intellectual, that’s just an opinion from someone who sounds like an athetist, which is fine. You just have to know where the comment is coming from and in this case just disregard!
Who is she??
Well said ladies. What I’m sick of is being made to feel like I have to change. I’m never going to let my leg hair go and I don’t leave the house without make-up, etc and it’s all my personal crazy. But sometimes I’m just sick of being made to feel like I have to compete and measure up and be perfect and change things to match some ideal.
Sorry, that was rambling. I’m hungry and tired.
@Lenore, I agree! You put it better than I did. 🙂
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@MLN – oh, me too! I ADORED Janeane back in the 90s. She was awesome, so cool, like a grown-up Daria; I loved that she was a proud feminist, and I always took offence that she was supposed to be the frump in The Truth About Cats And Dogs.
Is Janeane Garofalo The secret mother of Ellen page (sp)???
@Lenore – after you shave, put on neosporin for 1-2 days. You will avoid those nasty red bumps.
I have a problem with man hair, back hair neck hair, arm hair, arse hair. I always say to my sil (re: her disgustingly hairy DH)if he expects you to shave…he could at least wax his back.
Janeane is saying men don’t expect us to scape…hmm interesting… she must be right at home at Walmart.
I even take issue with woman who let too much hang out. you just look unkempt. If I can see your crotch hair peeking out from what you’re wearing. I might as well be looking at your crotch
haha. Whatever, many women her age feel this way, and that’s fine. Maybe there is something to it, maybe there isn’t.
In any case, I loved her in the 90s and I love her now.
@CB – it wasn’t so much the bumps, as the stubble itch! My inner thighs felt like they were being sandpapered every time I walked. (How’s that for a TMI?) 🙂
Have you ever considered that doing something that _requires_ aspirin and ointment and all sorts of things might be something your body DOESN’T WANT? Your body is having, essentially, an allergic reaction. Bumps are irritation; you have irritated your skin.
That’s the basis for JG saying this is a “national myth.” Rather than being natural or even traditional, shaving down there is a cultural trend, and yes, sometimes it seems to look better to some people because they can’t seem to handle a natural female body. The astonishing and increasing number of rituals we’re expected to go through comes from an assumption that our bodies are fundamentally wrong. Screw that.
However, if you just want better bikini lines or think the sex is better, more power to ya.
LMAO. I don’t nessecarry think you have to be bald down there, but I do it because it feels better and cleaner. TO ME. I have had a bush plenty of times and it gets bothersome, but I didn’t start waxing it until I entered my 20’s.
Some guys do like it completely bald because they feel its childlike, but those men are sick as hell.
Whatever–I can’t be bothered to do any shaping down there. Shaving is an all or nothing situation for me. So I just get rid of all of it. People with a problem need to stop projecting their insecurities on my labia.
Lenore…I think I love you.
Again, TMI, but for a while, I was at a loss as to how to shape the “upper” part. My inner feminist rebelled at having that stupid Playboy-style “landing strip” pube mohawk, so for a while I opted for a horizontal rectangle. Then I realized it looked like Hitler’s mustache, so I went to kind of a trapezoid. True story.
Also, I encourage anyone who is into this sort of thing to read some genuine Victorian erotica. Those dudes loved them some lady hair. Ever heard underarm hair extolled in poetic prose? No? Well, you’re in for a real treat.
I’m darker skinned, so removing my extremely thick and coarse hair down there is a b*tch. I just do my best to shave my bikini line — the hair removal cream doesn’t work, and I’m too much of a wuss to wax — so I don’t horrify the other parents when I take my son swimming, and call it a day. Also, if I don’t shave my underarms/legs regularly, I practically need a chainsaw to get through that mess.
I’d like to know what possessed the OP to think it was okay to assess a person as “unstable” when they have no evidence and no right to do so.
I tried to wax, I really did. But it irritated my sensitive skin so much it looked nasty until it healed…which was when the hair grew out again. I never went totally hairless, though. I swim a lot and seriously, a shaved crotch is instant camel toe in a speedo. Now I keep it trimmed, shave, and wear boy shorts.
@Shawna: “Have you ever considered that doing something that _requires_ aspirin and ointment and all sorts of things might be something your body DOESN’T WANT? Your body is having, essentially, an allergic reaction. Bumps are irritation; you have irritated your skin.”
Yep, I noticed. 😀
My body also doesn’t want me eating that extra slice of Domino’s, or forgoing a nice healthy salad in favour of a cream cake, or wearing those high heels, or doing stupid things to my hair or using make-up that clogs my pores; if you want to be honest, it probably doesn’t want me wrecking the environment by driving I when I should walk, or spending forever emailing people or chatting on a gossip site when I should be doing something productive.
Hey, I do stuff that I like, for frivolous and/or superficial reasonds, that isn’t necessarily good for me or the planet! Who’da thunk? 😀
(This is meant in jest, and not in argument, by the way.)
Cannot stand this woman. Wish she would just shut up.
Well said, Shawna.
Personally, I love Janeane.
And yeah it was ridiculous that she was supposed to be the plain one next to Uma Thurman. (Uma’s an awesome gal but she is NOT pretty!)
And on the shaving thing, I too get very sensitive skin afterwards, but I always keep a Map of Tazzie, I never shave the whole thing off. God that must be torture!
@Lenore, yeah, if you saw the strawberry milkshake I had at 11 pm last night, you’d totally call me out on it. It’s just that I’m more willing to have a tummyache than to feel like there’s sandpaper between my legs, like one person said. Shudder.
Haha, I still remember the hairy 70’s… I am too old for this trend (like I don’t have enough to do already??). But it just seems like a trend like any other. Do it, don’t do it, but don’t trash everyone else’s decisions.
I don’t think she is calling anyone a pedophile, just saying that she doesn’t think there is really that much demand for it. I kind of agree on the “sold a bill of goods” insofar as we get sold on all kinds of trends (like heels, hairstyles, etc. as another poster pointed out). So I don’t mind her comments (but I don’t mind my own hair, either, so there’s my bias right there!). I think it is nice if people stop once in a while to think about *why* they are doing *what* they are doing.
My personal hair challenge is the eyebrow my chin wants to grow as menopause approaches. . .
I dunno I always felt the way Janeane does in that going bald does take away from the experience of being a woman. I mean we go through these changes for a reason…so why wipe it clean so to speak?
I do get that it is cleaner feeling and hey trim jobs and bikini lines are one thing, in effect keeping everything under control, but going completely bald to appease some dude or ideal of what is considered beautiful and normal in our society is just too much work.
Also I find the same guys who like hairless chicks are also the same who insist girls don’t get gas and want us to hide it, and likely want nothing to do with us while we’re are on the rag. Basically pretending like we don’t actually have fully functioning bodies. Rather, we’re barbie dolls and shouldn’t flaunt our so called imperfections.
I am fortunate enough to be with someone who understands I’m a human. I wish other people could be so understanding and buy less into the hype.
After all the Brazilian waxing is something of an industry now that people have bought into.
Well, humans have been losing body hair for quite a while, it´s part of the evolutionary process, so I don´t see it as unantural as many people like to think. Is just that now it has turned into a more conscious act , maybe to prepare us for more hairless times in the future! lol But to each their own!!!!
@Majosha : I´d especially recommed the wax for you, it does wonders to coarse hair as it´s the most efficient way to remove it ,plus your less prone to ingrown hair and irritations caused by blades and creams. The more sessions you do the longer it will take to grow back and the less coarse it will get! But do not try this at home , you may have the strenght , or courage, to pull the bands correctly . The first few sessions might be very painful, but it only gets better! The results are worth a try!
And no, brazilian wax or any waxing form is not an Industry! Puh-lease!
It was created by women who had the need to find better ways and results to their OWN necessities. It doesn´t mean ALL WOMAN should act and do the same!
This is what I’ve always thought. Why do women want these hairless men? Armpit hair is bad, chest hair is bad, pubic hair is bad…what?! Get rid of all that stuff, and he’s basically a 13 year old boy again. Sick, dude. Come on.
Same goes for the ladies. I understand that guys want us to be “clean” down there, but to have nothing down there at all is weird and yes, looks pre-pubescent. If I was with a guy who couldn’t get into it unless I was fully shaved, I’d get creeped out.
Well first leaving a little hair down there is actually better for a woman health wise- yes it’s been proven
I think where she is coming from is the abundance of porn these days that shows young petite hairless girls that actually do make you ask if they are actually 18 and not 14.
As far as needing to go bald for the Bikini have you ever considered that if you feel the need to wear that small of a bikini you might have self image issues?
Want the all over tan go nude!
majosha: I have a few friends who get lasered. really stubborn hair. it’s pricey but the inbetweens are covered in the price and it’s supposedly permanent. Although, it takes a year to be permanent. I’m awaiting their results before I pony up the cash. So far, I hear good things
I’ve always liked Jeanene even though I haven’t always agreed with her. I feel like inside she’s just really shy and insecure and freaked out by showbiz and the craziness of Hollywood. I don’t know. I just feel for her.
Now, bodyscaping. I shaved bared when I was younger and it was just too much. And the regrowth was MADDENING. The days of the bikini are long past and I now prefer board shorts, but I still shave a little bit for breathability, etc. Good to know about neosporin. I may wax and trim a bit actually, now that it’s summer. Doesn’t matter what guys think, haven’t had sex in eons and doesn’t look that’s changing any time.
@lenore and shawna,
i am on board with you two.
why don’t men have to get brazilians?
I prefer the natural look — completely unaltered untouched, un-nothinged. I happen to be with a guy who cant stand that, thoguh, so the most I have done is just trim it short.
I havbe to admit it is more comfortable in the summer and better during menses etc– cleaner and fresher and cooler down there. 🙂 But I would never ever wax, or shave. Not comfortable and ugly, and ridiculous I think. Its there for a reason, biologically, and I happen to find a “fully fuzzy” man ravenously sexy. So I like to think that men think the same as me when it comes to my own fuzz 😉
At the least I am not at all ashamed and dont hink its ugly or gross in one bit; even if I do trim it now I am still not ashamed of my own body.
“…. a lot of guys who find adut females with genitals that look pre-adolescent attractive … AND IF THEY DO -that’s a problem …”.
-She was most definately trying to insinuate that guys who prefer bare are pedophiles.
She wasn’t saying it was a “problem” due to more women may shave because of that preference … she was insinuating pedophelia.
She’s a disturbed person, angry and insecure, flat out.
Anyone listening to her insecure garbage has the right to assess her “stability” (or, lack thereof).
She’s a complete ass.
I like Janeane Garafalo and I like feminists. I hate the label that feminists are “angry” and hate-filled. There are things to be angry about! I’ll bet abolitionists were angry about slavery too.
I’m not a fan of our cultural hatred of pubic hair. Our society pretty much says that women who are not sexually juicy and desirable need to cover up and hide away. Our society is obsessed with young women (the Olsen twins before they turned 18, a 10 year old Kirsten Dunst kissing Brad Pitt in Interview with a Vampire, Britney in her panties @16 on Rolling Stone, Miley Cyrus, the list goes on and on) and their budding sexuality. And women like Kim Cattral being sexual in their 40s and 50s makes people disgusted and even downright angry.
To suggest there is no connection between a hairless pubis and prepubescence is pure denial. Comfortable or not, there is something creepy about a grown woman with no pubic hair being the sexual preference of an adult man. I agree with Janene 100% on this. I trim and wax my bikini line so that I don’t expose my pubic hair while in a bathing suit. My husband prefers that I llok like an adult with my pants off.
She’s spot-on. Men who like bald pu**y have serious issues with adult women. You can mow the playground to a short length for frolicking, but bare down there is only reminiscent of pre-pubescent girls, and any dude that prefers that (and criticizes gals who prefer to keep some crops on the field) have underlying problems.
How I miss the early ’90s, when intelligence and intellectualism were admired traits throughout society.
…..
As for the subtopic going on here- I won’t do completely bald, only because I don’t like the way it looks on me. Otherwise, to each their own.
@teehee, i too am a fuzzy lady, keep it neat, again not because i don’t love myself just as i am, but i swim a lot.
there is a reason for the hair down there.
it actually carries pheromones.
there is nothing wrong with hair this strange pressure on woman to be “clean” and “tidy” down there it really annoys me.
when did it become such a thing?
regrading the whole pedo thing, while i wouldn’t be that extreme, i tend to think that men that insist on having no hair down there, are a little funny, and they creep me out. it’s a deal breaker as far as i am concerned.
but that is just my personal opinion and it most certainly does not mean that i think all men that want hairless women are pedophiles.
What some are calling “the 70s bush” is the way our dainty parts looked, to varying degrees, for all of human history. It wasn’t just the 70s. Jeesh.
Lazering is fantastic. I have no qualms with lazering every inch of me. I love being hairless and dont feel liek a child and if anything I feel CLEANER. …and my boyfriend has no complain either XD.
I can’t name one of my friends who doesn’t shave bare, so I thought that was pretty much the norm! It must be a generational thing. A lot of the pro-pubies seem to be a little older.
Why does this humorless C actress even get air time?
I’m betting she’s as hairy as a polar bear down there because nobody cares to venture there.
Once you get used to shaving every other day when you take a shower you get used to it. I for one like to leave just a small dot cause you don’t want your vadge to look like that of a little girl, and I’m 51.
@Shawna – stomachache after one milkshake? You lightweight! (Actually, no – I’m thinking of English milkshake here. If you mean an honest-to-God American shake, then I sympathise totally and salute your nation’s ability to turn humble cow juice into something that doesn’t come out when you turn the glass upside-down, and yet tastes like God’s own lip-balm. Also, anyone in NYC, try the shakes and the apple pie at Big Daddy’s diner, because I cannot.)
And to continue the TMI, I only shaved “down there” the once. The aesthetic curiosity was NOT worth the looks I got from people as I stood in the bus queue wriggling, cross-legged like I had crabs.
@Trimmer – sorry, I introduced the “70s bush” into the discussion, my faux pas. I know that’s how it looks naturally, of course, at least on those of us who are blessed with luxuriant foliage. However I’m thinking more of the way pubes have been presented historically. 70s bush is very distinct from, for example, the 90s landing strip bush, or the Renaissance Art bush.
The bush au naturel is, of course, just bushy in any age, but in my mind at least, I associate the 70s with that particular type of bush being visible and fashionable.
And can I just say how much I’m enjoying all the euphemisms and endless opportunities for saying bush this thread has created? Like I said, I used to be hung up on my hair. Not so much these days. 😀
I might create a website for the appreciation of the Bush. Natural, coloured, trimmed, waxed, absent entirely, or with little sequins sewn in so it winks at you. Hooray for the bush!
To each his own, but I think it’s called “trim” for a reason! I’m part Sasquatch, so I have to shave every other day AT LEAST, so going completely bare is not an option. Besides, I tried shaving completely and hated it, so now I just keep things clean and tidy.
My attitude now is “love me, love my vagina!”
Nothing personal, but my man likes it clean, not hairy.
I know a guy who used to date Janeane, and he said she is “full out bushed” down there. Goes with her philosophy.
As a feminist, she is opposed to oppressive traditional female grooming habits and fashion sense (as is obvious).
No wonder she’s jealous of women who put some energy into their appearances.
Well, I said it once before in a post awhile back and I still feel the same way. Keep what comes naturally.
I’ll never forget back in the day when I got regular waxes (I now use other methods, but damn! I loved those waxes!) the gal used to tell me about a client she had that wanted to be completely bald *down there* and would always ask “do I look just like a baby?” So….it’s not always that women are doing it for the men.
My man likes to be able to see what’s going on, but he also wants me to look like a woman, not a prepubescent girl. Having said that, I too ‘own my fuzz’. ;D
she looks like she’s had botox or something. her face is suspiciously tight.
I shave down there all the time. Not for my bf but for me. I’ve shaved that region clear since I was a teen, long before I had a bf or even had sex. It’s about my comfort. I hate having hair down there, I find it gross and uncomfortable.
This twit is out of her mind and is butting into other peoples business she has no right to. She’s making gross accusations about things she knows nothing about.
She spends a lot of time thinking about little girls’ genitals.
OMG 60 comments!
Do you track what articles get how many comments? Just curious what makes people talk the most!
I was hoping the conversation would go off in the direction of man hair. Like, guys who need to mow their backs. Do some women like it that way?
One thing you can say about this discussion: to each his/her own!
“Nothing personal, but my man likes it clean, not hairy.”
Hairy ≠ unclean.
And hairless certainly ≠ clean.
Since when is “clean” the opposite of “having hair”? Having hair is not dirty, people, and that attitude is exactly why being hairless is a fad in our antiseptic, “kill all micro-organisms that might be germs” times!
I had mine lasered into a bikini-friendly shape, and I never have to deal with bumps and shaving again. It’s HEAVEN and I highly recommend it.
Why am I always “awaiting moderation”? I comment here often and I always avoid bad language!
Mmm, I don’t know. I always thought that the water-soap-water process was pretty adept at creating a ‘clean’ workspace.
Wax, shave, perform exorcisms, get a tatoo of Burt Lancaster–whatever, do you as you please. But here’s the question: if the pubic hair is so detrimental to my personal hygeine, why does everybody grow it naturally? This is a self-cleaning membrane, that (with the aid of the hair) cleans out the area itself and gets all of the whatever outside of the body. Introduce a washcloth into the mix, and you’re flying, baby!
It’s a choice, of course. I just think that the cleanliness claim is kind of dubious. I’m not particularly keen on stratching at the gates of the velvet cave once the moss starts coming in again, but it’s all about choice.
So apparently if you are attracted to men without beards you’re REALLY attracted to little boys.
Yep, ace observation Janeane.
I prefer the natural look. Armpits as well.
But then, I’m an old hippie.
This is just another attempt by C-lister Garofalo to shame people who don’t agree with her opinion. That’s what she does. She’s a coward. She is incapable of debate. She has to talk over you or throw out some idiotic one-liner to derail the topic. She is not the intellectual she wishes to portray.
Anyone who disagrees with me likes Hitler and thinks he was cute, etc.
I used to love her, until she became a card-carrying apologist for Scientology. FAIL.
I understand what she is saying, but I don’t agree that everyone who likes the “hairless” thing also like the “underage” thing.
I am often bare down there because I am constantly swimming, surfng, scuba-diving (general beach culture stuff), and I like it to look clean.
That being said, if I were to date a man who exclusively liked women without hair, I would consider that a problem; one must be open-minded to all the nether-region options.
Men like it “clean” so when they go down there they don’t have a mouth full of hair.
I think she is using a really out-dated rule book to gauge sexuality by.
In the 80’s I trimmed weekly, and shampooed AND conditioned my *area* every day. Once a week I would even do a deep conditioning. Laugh if you want, but it was still HAIR, and I treated it no differently than what is on my head.
By the end of the 80’s I had gradually started shaving more and more of it. By the mid nineties I was bare. I find it cleaner (especially when Aunt Flo visits) and I also found I stimulated easier duing love making.
It is a personal choice, one that I make with no thought or care as far as men and sexy times go. I don’t do it for my boyfriend(s). It makes ME happy, and it is how I am comfortable. Men can take it or leave it, as far as I am concerned. I don’t tell my lovers what to do with their *area* and I would not take any suggestions from them about mine.
Do you shave your armpits and legs, you daffy sow?
I use a beard trimmer which leaves a 1/4 inch of stubble, and during bathing suit season I shave off the visible bits. I also put a heavy duty hair conditioner on the stubble when I wash my hair so it’s soft, although I haven’t been laid in so long I don’t really know why…..
So, then what of men shaving their face? Does that not also leave them looking prepubescent?
Women shaving armpits? Legs?
Gimme a break.
Ugh. She is just… ugh in every way.
I think men like it “clean”, because they see it right away, without having to dig in the bush. Giraffalo insinuating that it’s some kind of perversion is ridiculous.
This is as stupid as claiming that women who prefer dating older men secretly want to fuck their fathers.
@Lenore, texasmom; Majosha, WTF?!?
Thanks for the good laugh! Your comments killed me!!! 😀
I’m loving this thread 😀
Larissa: Yeah, I’ve heard regular waxing can help the hair texture, but it just hurts so damn much. Thanks for the advice, though!
Lem: I would go the laser route in a second if I had the money. I need to start buying lottery tickets or something.
JG has had mental disorders all her life. Her family has admitted as much. She has a looney opinion about everything, sometimes hitting on something that makes sense. Broken clock, and all that. Shave, wax, go hairy, who cares? Do what makes you feel happy, not someone else.
Your natural state is not “dirty”.
“Hairless” is not a synonym for “clean” or “hygienic”.
Call it “bare” or “bald”.
Thank you Celebitchy for a post that ignited such an entertaining thread of comments!
Texasmom and Lenore you rock!
Hey, why did you post pictures of Sasquatch at the top of this article?
Yes, because when a woman gets a Brazilian Wax, that magically allows men to ignore her adult breasts, adult height, adult hips, adult voice, adult muscle tone, and adult facial features.
Any woman who prefers a man without a full beard is obviously a pedophile. As Ms. Garafalo would put it:
“It couldn’t possibly be true that there are a lot of gals who find adult males with faces that look pre-adolescent that attractive,” she said. “If they do, that’s a problem.”
To be honest, I’m not sure if I ever had a bush. It’s been a little fuzzy but nothing major.
Personally, I don’t like hair. At all. I would get laser hair removal everywhere except for my head and my eyebrows. I even shave my arms.
I just prefer to be bare, my husband doesn’t really care as long as it’s not in his way. I certainly don’t feel or think I look like a little girl. I never have problems with razor burn. I’ve read that hair down there traps odors. Not sure if that is true though.
Wow, so much self hating.
To the people trying to compare men’s facial beards to women’s genitals, here’s a more apt comparison:
What would your man say if you expected him to shave all the hair off HIS genitals and under his arms and on his legs?? And if he didn’t, he would be “dirty” or “unattractive.”
It IS like trying to turn women into “girls.”
We do very strange (painful and expensive) things to ourselves and it’s kind of f*cked up.
All this plucking and shaving and lasering and waxing and plastic surgery and injections.
Every time I put myself through this stuff I have to stop and ask WHY once in a while.
By the way, she’s a comedian and what she said doesn’t make her mentally unstable or intolerant, for god’s sake.
If my man got turned on by a bare vadge I’d think it was creepy as hell.
I’m tired of women being pressured to make themselves look as skinny and frail and weak as possible to make men feel stronger. Why is that beautiful?
And I think this trend of ripping out all our pubic hair is just another way of infantilizing women.
It’s just a trend and it’s no biggie if women decide to do it, I just think we should stop and ask ourselves why once in a while.
I definitely keep mine “clean”, laser works best.
Post? What post? I’ve got to comment on the comments. This thread is the best thing I’ve read all day!
Is she trying to bring the bush back from the stone age or what?? Just because she looks prepube doesn’t mean fully developed women will look that way – please, bitch – do research on women genitalia, (learn your g-spot while you’re at it) and stfu!!!
So if a person only likes kissing a clean shave man, does that mean that they have a thing for pre-pubescent boys?
Anybody who looks at a waxed or shaved genital area and instantly thinks of young children is the one with the problem.
For some one who is always screeching about tolerance, JG certainly is pretty intolerant of people who do not hold her same views.
I will agree that SOME people might have that issue (preferring no pubic hair) because of something pathological. However, to project that onto EVERYONE who prefers it is pretty stupid. Pedophilia is not all that prevalent in the population. Sometimes people do it as a once in a while thing, some people just find it easier to deal with while on their periods. There are probably tons of different reasons for it.
Oh wow, I could go off on this topic FOREVER, but I’ll try to keep it short. Also, beware of my epic overshare and TMI 🙂
For some reason, this Brazilian/bush debate and its underlying implications has always fascinated me. (weird, I know). Personally, I prefer to be almost completely natural and just remove the hair that sticks out of panties or bikinis, and I find the totally hairless look somewhat revolting on adult women. However, I’ve had every type of bikini wax/shave imaginable (except vagazzling). Ultimately, everyone has a right to groom their pubes the way they want to. I don’t think that men who like hairless lady parts are pedos, they just are turned on by it for these reasons: 1)It is seen in almost all porn, and 2)It really does feel super soft and velvety. What irritates me is when guys expect women to have no pubic hair at all. Plus, I find it somewhat ridiculous that so many women are getting labiaplasty because their Brazilian waxes leave nothing to the imagination, including asymmetry and other perceived flaws. It’s like shaving your head and then complaining that your skull is shaped weirdly.
Personally, I think men also like bare because they can see everything in VERY explicit detail, and very little is hidden. And the reason why I like to keep at least a thick landing strip down there is bacuse I don’t feel so exposed and vulnerable. Like, If someone were to pants me at a pool or something, I’d much rather have everybody see my pubic hair than my completely hairless intimate regions!
“People with a problem need to stop projecting their insecurities on my labia.” – Zelda
Amen.
My personal opinion is that its your personal hair, do what you want. Just don’t foist your opinion upon me by insisting your way is the only way.
I’m also going to go against my own opinion to agree with the poster who said that s/he might as well be looking at your crotch if s/he can see your pubic hair. ‘Cause vagazzle, prune, weedwhack, dye, manicure, or poof, its hair in a private area that I would only want to see if I were getting up close and personal.
@ Lenore – I’ll just co-sign the other positive comments to your posts! Thank you for articulating it so well, and for the laughs!
@ texasmom – I’m totally sympatico with your “chin eyebrow” situation.
I like my man to look like a man, and he does. Hubby has chest hair (but not a blanket), pit hair, and facial hair. No back hair (yet) and very little hair on his head (I find bald very sexy).
My point: he doesn’t ask me to do anything he isn’t willing to do himself, nor would I ask that of him.
I love this article. First she says men who like shaven have pre-pubescent fetishes. And then at the end of the article are pictures of her dressed like a pre-pubescent girl.
Self awareness: zero
BTW, add a vote for trimmed not shaven. A nice neat triangle is sexy!But I guess that’s just my geometry fetish peeking out.
I’ve never seen a commentary this misguided woman has made that in any way gives anything but an EXTREMEly leftist way of looking at every conceivable situation. It’s all unschooled black or white thinking. Talk about anti-intellectual! So if you disagree with her (shave, disagree with her posiltics, etc. ) then there’s something wrong with you in her book. Does she shave anything? Armpits? Legs? If she does, then she is as normal as the average woman. She can also keep her religious opinions to herself. That’s a very personal topic.
Removing all the lady foliage is not a new thing. Three thousand years ago, Egyptian women (and men) used to pluck(!) out all of their body hair, including their pubic hair. It was a look that was associated with both beauty and ritual cleanliness. So the association of hairlessness and cleanliness is an old one and deeply ingrained one. Ancient Greek women kept it bare and considered hariness a sign of barbarianism (although maybe the whole ancient Greek argument might not help the pedo angle . . . ) Victorians kept it super hairy and found massive pubic hair intensely erotic. (The Victorians were also had a HUGE subculture of erotic revolving abound underage girls. So bush stylin’s don’t have a whole lot of coorelation with pedophiliac tendencies.)
Pubic hair styles are cylical, like all fashions, and have often carried a whole lot of connotations beyond simple asethetics. That hasn’t changed, I think we are just way more comfortable about having conversations about what our choice say about us. Some of us view if as a simple preference. Some (like Jeneane) clearly feel pubic hair styles have a deeper cultural message. I think both views are probably correct. Sometimes something is just a personal choice. And sometimes people make personal choices designed to send a more public message. I think we are also more comfortable forming our own fashion choices than women in the past. If you like it bare, good for you. If you like it hairy, good for you.
It’s never been about looks to me its more about oral. If a girl has a big bush it doesn’t turn me off I just have no interest in taking a trip downtown.
Hey! Keep your lady garden any way you want! Lush, overgrown, and natural or smooth, bare,and desert like… your choice! Just remember, no matter how you chose to cultivate said garden, anyone invited to enter this thing of beauty should be grateful and happy no matter how it is landscaped!
I partially agree with her. To give an example, Joe Francis is the type of man I picture expecting a woman to not have a stitch of hair on her lady parts. I’m not saying all men who like bare coochies are like him, but a lot of them are, or at least have similar expectations for women.
I thank God for wax! I don’t think I could let anyone else wax me though, it’s way too personal :/
I never took her for a huge prude, but yea I prefer at least landscaped. Most girls Ive been with prefer at least the same on a guy.
I don’t want the carpet to match the drapes, I want tile. Smooth as you can get it. Much cleaner and no hair to trap smells. Women shave legs and armpits??? why not other things also???
I like to keep mine shaved. Like a poster above me, I started shaving as a teen because I liked the way it looked and felt for me.
My boyfriend does prefer shaved but from the beginning told me he would never demand I keep it any particular way for him. One Valentine’s Day, he shaved all his off for a present to me. He didn’t know about razor burn and ingrowns, and asked me afterwards if I was sure I wanted to keep shaving. I laughed and told him to get over himself, I did it for me :p
On the topic of ingrowns/irritation/rash, I’ve found that rubbing down there with the same astringent I use on my face, and following with my facial moisturizer, really helps. Using an exfoliating scrub before and after helps as well.
For the last photo- that outfit may look good on a 12 yr old girl, Janeane, but not you…
Regular waxing has never refined the hair texture for me, and it has increased the occurence of ingrown hairs.
I hope you gals promoting waxing for the sake of “helping” coarse, thick hair aren’t just spewing unscientific blabber.
Janeane is right on and makes people uncomfortable because people prefer being sheep, albeit sheared sheep. Keep fooling yourself that you’re shaving/waxing there as a personal empowered choice. What subservient dopes women can be. And the blog writer doesn’t seem the most stable or tolerant person/people either.
I’ve always been creeped out by guys who insist everything be “baby” smooth – I dumped a guy who suggested more than once that I go clean shaven. I can’t imagine how much time and money that costs. And it “traps smells?!” Good god, that just strikes me as self hatred there. As long as you shower daily and after heavy exercise, smells should not be a problem.
@109: Is not unscientific and if you are having problems with waxing there are 3 possibilities:
1. It´s not being done(pulled) correctly.
2. The wax product being used is not appropriate for your skin/hair type.
There are several types of wax available.
3. “Cold” waxing is not recommended for coarse hair. Which means the wax HAS to be HOT when applied directly to the skin and not in “pre-glued” bands/straps.
As for keeping hair down there for natural protection, all I can say is that as long as you don´t live naked in the wilderness and keep yourself to basic standards of hygiene there is no harm whatsoever in removing the hair!
Of course that´s a VERY personal option . This discussion about if it´s weather right or wrong , keep or remove, is complete non-sense!!!!
Fascinating topic. I am the sort of person for whom looks are not on the top of my priorities, so the ridiculous amounts of maintenance needed today to uphold a certain image just get on my nerves. And that includes the nether regions. I wax the edges every now and then, especially when I’m going to the beach so that nothing peeks out of the suit, but I’d never go bare. Personal preference though. I also love hairy men. Hairy chest, arms and legs are an absolute must for me, and if he’s hairy down there, well… part of the overall package 😉 And I’m sure if I am in love, not even back hair can turn me off. I hate the current trend of chest waxing and overall grooming on men anyway.
Well, to each their own. The important thing is that you wax and groom and pluck because of how YOU want it, not because you need to conform to a certain image.
Why do so many people equate hair with being dirty? I don’t see a bunch of bald women. So it would seem that you only mean arm pit & pubic hair. I think that’s lame. you don’t see the majority of men with no arm or crotch hair. When did it become disgusting for women to not be bare? Call me an angry feminist if you want, but it pisses me off that women have been programmed to think like this.
I don’t judge men who prefer less hair on women or other men, because I feel the same way about my men, even though I’m a Gen-Xer who didn’t grow up in a world with these expectations. It really is a varied thing between people. I’m just not attracted to hairy guys, and I prefer going down on men when they’re groomed (men who naturally don’t have ball hair are a gift), and I reciprocate by keeping myself groomed as well (without going totally bald–I like trimmed pubes on myself and on others).
Like what you like, and by all means go bald or go bush as you please, but don’t expect anyone, male or female, to do what you won’t do to yourself, male or female. If you do, you’re an entitled fuck. If a guy asked me to go full Brazilian but expected to keep his hairy ass and balls (without first asking my own preference, in turn), I’d walk out real fast. That’s pure madness.
Vagazzling?
Please tell me that doesn’t involve clamping fake jewels on your labia.
I have always thought guys who liked any entrely shaved pelvic area are pedophiles. There is nothing wrong with keeping it neat/trimmed but bald?? ewwwww!!!! who wants to be looking at a 11 year olds privates? pedophiles – thats who. When guys shave all their chest hair its so gross because they look like 11 year olds and that SHOULD be major turn off to an adult woman.
Girls who say they like it fully shaved are full of it. They do it for their men period. They are lying when they say they prefer it. Its uncomfortable & unsanitary. That being said i dont care what a woman does with her vagina hair -its her choice but i dont believe women or men on the whole like it fully shaved.
Garofalo sure is talented at putting her foot in her mouth.
Actually what bothers me is the double standard. I don’t like how women are EXPECTED to shave/wax/whatever depilatory their legs and underarms and facial hair and between their legs etc etc etc. It’s EXPECTED for a woman to have little to no body hair, but of course the hair on her head is long and shiny and soft etc etc etc.
Guys on the other hand have short head hair and as much body hair as they want.
It’s the sexism of that standard that bothers me.
Look at any ad with a woman and show me if she even has hair on her arms!
Bare women isn’t new. I remember an old art class with paintings of naked women and how they were often bald down there too. Teacher said that body hair was a sign of virility, and guys could be virile but women weren’t supposed to be.
Interesting how that’s come around again. Interesting that hair on women is considered dirty and being bald is somehow considered clean.
I think she is just saying that our (American) obsession with hairless female genitalia reflects poorly on our culture.
Put it bluntly, if everyone in America only wants hairless pussy, it’s a little weird and indicates a culturally institutionalized acceptance of pedophilia.
Very similar to the over-sexualization of female starlets and singer from a very young age. Hello Britney and Miley, just to name a few.
I have to admit, the same thing has crossed my mind. It seems like the ideal look these days is very pre-pubescent: skinny all over, narrow hips, bare pubes… (boobs are okay only if they look fake – if there’s a natural sag to them people cry foul and suggest a lift) – it’s all kinda creepy.
But you can’t really chalk it up to sexism since every GUY actor/model is waxed, too. So, maybe it’s a reflection on our whole obsession with youth. Or maybe just a fashion rebellion against the hairy ’70s and ’80s.
I kind of agree that those who are radically into it are a bit strange!
But those who like a bit of anything and everything – I don’t think it’s wrong.
Also, no matter how confident I am in the bedroom or naked, I do find that when I am bare it’s a whole new completely inhibited wave of confidence!
Me and my 70s bush love her.
It’s a personal choice. Whatever floats your boat. There’s no need to demonize the other side.
But I do think the idea of “bare is better” is part of the American obsession with youth.
Team Janeane.
I don’t think finding hairless women appealing has links to pedophilia- there are other levels on which it appeals. A shaved woman might appear cleaner, and won’t tickle your nose. Also, it gives the impression that she’s “ready to go”. There’s the old adage that a woman will wear her nice undies because she’s already decided she might sleep with you. If she’s gone out of her way to shave or wax, it’s an even better sign she’s been planning on introducing you to her nether regions.
Ahh, it carries phermones? Well that would explain my totally attraction and turn on effect that if has one me!! 😛 I must be very sensitive to it. However I am hugely influenced by detectable smells, so go figure. 🙂
And since meeting my BF, I’ve asked him to grow all of his out. So its like we traded LOL I get what I prefer, he gets what he prefers. I can settle for that.
i don’t like hair in my food – has nothing to do with looking pre-teen.
lbees – an idiot. probably an oprah idiot.
please, stay plastered to your tv for your next set of instructions…
Personally, I love Janeane. I used to think like she does
Come on, she was just asked her opinion on these issues, she is not “projecting” anything about her insecurities by being against brazilians. Don’t forget its also super painful and you are more likely to get ingrowns- that seems to me enough to be pro “lady hair”.
She does seem a little anxious in this video but I think comics are a little different to other entertainers. They think a lot, its what they are paid to do. I also see no botox, no blow out, just a woman responding to questions honestly, just perhaps a bit too honestly for hollywood (maybe without having them pre-screened by an agent.)
I personalty fail to see how guys who like it bare are closet pedo guys who like little girls aren’t going to be attracted to adults with fully developed adult bodies just cause they’re bare down there. =/
Men are naturally predisposed to be attracted to (and care for) youth and beauty. Most can’t -help- but like bare women. Men are more likely to MARRY and stay with women who look like children (round face, big eyes).
Men who are attracted to hairy women are genetic suicide seeds.
Sorry, but anyone who thinks that pubic hair is equal to uncleanliness obviously hasn’t been taught how to use soap properly- it’s a shame for you but most of us got over the bare minimum of parenting.
Such a pretty smile, on such an unhappy person. The “tolerance” of the extreme left is never really displayed in real life. For all of their accusations that the right are bigoted/ignorant/intolerant/etc., it is they who attack all who disagree with them. They should thank Christians for their American freedom to be atheistic! Self-centered children.
Stop believing the hype, kids! Don’t listen to what liberals in entertainment and politics SAY, watch what they DO!!!!!!!!!!!!
p.s.
!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have to say, I’ve thought the same thing as Janeane for years now re: the pedophile angle. Not that I truly think somebody who wants it bare is a pedophile, but more like – that’s what a child looks like, so why is that appealing? I think the expectations of what women vs. men are supposed to do down there bothers me. I also think it’s a generational thing. I heard a few years ago that the cutoff was 35. Every woman under 35 shaves it all. I was 36 or 37 at the time. Luckily, I’m married and therefore not in the dating pool with a bunch of women willing to go thru all that trouble!
I’m amazed so many women think that a hairless adult vagina looks like a 10 year old’s vagina. There are an awful lot of differences between a prepubescent and adult vag than just hair!
Also I’m a guy and I trim and shape my underarm hair and pubes, i shave my butt and chest hair completely because it looks better and chicks like it (the chest hair is debatable, yes, but mine gets really long and thin and it’s asymmetrical, and don’t act like you’re not thinking ‘ew’). The reason I don’t do the brazilian/shaved armpits is because chicks would find it weird and creepy. If they wanted me to shave everything then I probably would, because I don’t give a rat’s ass. I do believe in equality which is why I shave what a girl would want me to. Girls don’t have to shave the armpits but they should know guys will find them less attractive. I don’t think that’s a lie.
Also, from Filmdrunk.com (which is where I got this link) “You’re right, Janeane, I have fascist, pedophilic tendencies because I also prefer pre-adolescent-looking armpits, legs, eyebrows, and upper lips, and I even like it when women wear deodorant so that they can smell like my marginalized, objectified, pre-adolescent playthings.”
HELP, I’m turning 50 and long for my heyday when I went to Junior college and looked maybe kinda okay if ya had a beer or five. How bout your Hollywood Hottie buddies, honey? Uma and your other pals don’t try looking like little girls? How bout you still wearing those ridiculous thrift store duds like WWWAAAYY back in your post High School/pre College days kitten? Oh, here’s an idea– why don’t you and some of your oprahrobotzombie gasheads start running for public office instead of being little snarky cowards and put yourselves out there for the world to admire just how like OMG F-ing awesome like totally like brilliant you are. Oh Yeah, cuz you’re still that insecure twerp you were in High School, only now you have $$$$. A Pig w/ a silk purse.
I LOVE men with naturally hairless chests!! Or just a little bit of hair. In some ethnic groups, the men have very little body hair – obiously in others it’s the opposite.
Vive la différence I say.
I concur that women who say they enjoy going hairless are full of shit- they are doing it to please their man. It’s feels awful, slippery, gross, itchy, bumpy, irritated, sex hurts when there is even the tiniest bit of stubble. And what the f*ck does pube hair have to do with swimming? Are you in the Olympics, or something? It’s creating too much drag? Your bathing suit can’t contain it? WHAT? Good lord.
And the thought of a man shaving his body hair is such a huge turnoff. Maybe trimming the pubes down for length, but shaving your ass hair, Nick? I am imagining you as ‘the Situation’ on Jersey Shore. Are you actually asking these young ladies how much they enjoy your shaved butt crack?